Black Hills Fishing Report - July 29th 2014

Fishing's good. Real Good. Why aren't you here? In all seriousness, fishing has been great. Like fishing dries? There's plenty of that. Nymphs? Lots of fish feeding subsurface for you to play with. Streamers? We've got good opportunities for that as well. Here's a short breakdown of the local creeks that have been fishing good for us! Rapid Creek has been excellent throughout the entire drainage, with a variety of techniques. In town continues to fish well, with good Trico hatches in the morning, and great Caddis hatches in the evenings. Nymphing through the day has been really great, especially with tungsten jig-style flies. The fish in town seem to have been getting larger, and they're all fat and sassy - we've been catching a good number of 14-17" browns right here through the city. Wild brown trout right through town? Pretty darn cool if you ask me. If you need a big fish fix, below Pactola has been fishing great. Terrestrial season is upon us! The fish up there are looking up for beetles, crickets, ants, and hoppers. Look for the shallower, quicker areas for terrestrial action. Also, don't be shy about it - 4x is fine if you're fishing larger flies like that. PMDs and BWOs have also been hatching throughout the day, with a few caddis thrown in for good measure. Nymphing shouldn't be a necessity there now, but it's been good if that's your thing! PMD nymphs have been killing it for me. Above Pactola near Silver City has been pretty good also, and the upper stretches by Rochford and Black Fox have been fishing good as well. Dry-Dropper setups should do the trick up higher. Spearfish Creek has been fishing pretty awesome as well - I was just up there last night and did great. Heavy tungsten nymphs were the ticket for me - Jig PT's, Soft Spots, Hare's Ears, and North Forks were awesome. Don't overlook the faster, shallow water. We caught lots of fish in less than a foot of water, with some 14-16" fish thrown in for good measure. The entire canyon is fishing well now, and right in the town of Spearfish has been great as well. Not a ton of big fish, but loads of 8-14" fish that are super sassy and fight like crazy. If you're a Tenkara aficionado, this is definitely the creek for you right now. All of the smaller streams locally have been fishing really well, including Castle Creek, Ditch Creek, Little Spearfish, Hanna Creek, Box Elder, and upper Spearfish and Rapid Creeks. Attractor dries such as Stimulators, Elk Hair Caddis, Parachute Adams, and my favorite, Klinkhammers, have been doing great. As far as nymphs go, Tung Teasers, Soft Hackle PT's, UV Czechs, and any of the smaller Jig flies have been producing well for me. Lots of action on these creeks - great water for introducing someone to fly fishing for sure! Overall, fishing continues to be really great! Many options to suit the needs of any fly angler, from newbie to seasoned veterans. Come on out and give the Black Hills a shot - you won't be disappointed. As always, give us a shout at the shop at 605-341-2450 if you have any other questions, or want to book a day with one of our guides! Ryan