Black Hills Fall Fishing Forecast

Fall is a great time to be fishing in the Black Hills, and this year is going to be one of the best falls we've seen in quite some time. We still have great flows from our wet summer, which is a nice change from our normal low flows in the fall. With the higher flows, the fish tend to run a little larger and be a bit healthier, and you can get away fishing larger flies than we typically would have to fish as well. Fall in the Black Hills means lots of folks are hunting or getting ready for hunting season, kids are back in school, and the vast majority of tourists are back home. In short, there's not a lot of folks around fishing. You can have your pick of places to go and most likely have it to yourself. We typically will have solid terrestrial fishing through September into early October, and this year looks to be no exception. If you like technical dry fly fishing, most of our local streams get solid Blue Winged Olive hatches throughout September and October. Nymph fishing is good as always, and there's good opportunities for streamer fishing if you're hunting for a big one. Fall fishing in the Black Hills is typically fantastic, and this year should be even better with the great flows we've been having! Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek are the two largest streams and fish the most consistently, but many of the smaller streams are good options as well, and they see little to no pressure most of the year. In the fall, we often spend much of our time fishing terrestrials and other small dry flies. Nymphing is productive as always, but there's good dry fly fishing opportunities if that's more your speed! If you're looking for the best Black Hills fly fishing experience, hire one of our guides for a day or two. We have the best and most experienced team of guides in the Black Hills, and they'll make your trip an awesome experience - here's a few fall pictures from the Black Hills to get you motivated! Click on them to make them larger. There's good pike fishing opportunities in the Black Hills and surrounding area, and they'll continue to get better as the water cools off into the 50s. We did excellent last year even into early November. Pactola, Sheridan, Stockade, and many prairie lakes all fish very well and the pike are looking to put on some weight before the lakes ice up. This is some of our favorite fishing of the year, and it's a nice change pace from trout fishing. Trout fish for a couple days, and squeeze in a day of pike fishing while you're here! Looking for something else to do on your fishing trip to the Black Hills, or want to have something for the family to do while you wade the streams of the Black Hills? The Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup is Friday, September 28th, 2018, and is a great event to take the family to. Want to hike the tallest peak in the Black Hills? Lace your hiking boots up and trek up the 3.5 mile trail to the summit of Black Elk Peak (formerly Harney Peak). Spearfish Canyon offers great fishing and awesome scenery as well when all the foliage changes colors. Typically, the peak of the fall foliage is sometime in the last two weeks of September. There's no shortage of other things to do in Rapid City, Spearfish, Deadwood, Hill City, and the rest of the Black Hills as well! This is going to be one of the best fall seasons we've seen in quite some time in the Black Hills, so come out and see the best fishing the Hills have to offer. Swing by the shop and grab a map and the latest hot flies for the area, or give us a call at the shop at 605-341-2450 if you have any questions or if you'd like to book a day with one of our guides!