Gorgeous Black Hills Brown Trout caught this past week by Guide Dave GametBlack Hills Fly Fishing Update August 21st 2018
Here is the latest Black Hills Fishing Report- another similar story- good flows = good fishing. We have had a great summer moisture wise. Cooler temps have continued and we have seen a bit more moisture. All in all fishing conditions are excellent. A bit more dry fly fishing going on now that flows have dropped on most streams. Mostly the odd caddis hatch, early trico hatch, and terrestrial/attractor fishing. We are big fans of dry/dropper or hopper/dropper rigs this time of year- read Ryan's Excellent Post on 3 reason's to fish Dry Dropper Rigs if you haven't already. This is the go to rig for most streams right now, with maybe the exception of parts of rapid Creek below Pactola. Flows below the dam are still up a bit due to above average levels in the reservoir. If you are fishing below the dam, you will need to use a more traditional nymph rig to get down deeper, unless you find a long wide flat or fish tight to the bank. Otherwise give a dry dropper rig a go just about everywhere else. We like Bloom's Parachute Hopper, Cricket, or a Hippie Stomper for the indicator dry. Follow that up with a tungsten nymph- we're big fans of skinny tungsten jigs (check out the custom patterns we stock in our fly bins).
Dry Dropper Rig with a couple of our favorite flies this time of year- the Hippie Stomper and Tungsten Jig Pheasant TailThe go to streams are still going to be Rapid, Castle, and Spearfish Creeks. If you want to hunt around a bit and get away from other anglers checkout Box Elder, Spring Creek, French Creek, Elk Creek, and Whitewood Creeks. Lake fishing ought to be excellent now. The cooler nights have helped get the lake temps perfect for fishing. The big reservoirs will fish well- Pactola and Deerfield. Break out the float tube or pontoon boat and explore Sheridan or any of the smaller lakes in Custer State Park. This a great time of year to head out towards Wall and Phillip and explore bass fishing on many of the prairie lakes. The cooler temps and higher than average rainfall have made for great bass fishing this year. Still getting good reports on carp fishing at Angostura
As always stop by the shop for the latest intel. Feel free to give us a call 605-341-2450 or email dakotaflyangler@gmail.com. Our guides have had great luck this past few days and the fishing is only going to get better. Give us a call to book your Black Hills guided fly fishing trip today - 605-341-2450.
Fish Photos from the past week of Black Hills Fishing
Nice Brown with that was fooled by a hopper-terrestrial-foamie-fly
And now here are some streamflow graphs!
Red line is normal-ish- Spearfish Creek is flowing closer to normal than Rapid Creek below Pactola. Castle Creek is still a bit above normal. Not sure this is really all that interesting to most people- but hey I did it anyway!
