Castle Creek has been fishing well, mostly with dry flies. As it has been the last few weeks, the water is a little on the skinny side and it's made it hard to fish nymphs in much of the creek. That being said, the fish have been very willing to come up to the surface. Stimulators, Parachute BWOs, Purple Hazes, Parachute Caddis, Adams, and smaller beetles and Hippie Stompers have been working well. If it's deeper than your boot and on a seam, there's more than likely a fish in it. The brookies are getting their fall colors right now, and they look fantastic. Both above and below the lake has been fishing well. The walk in area below the dam has been fishing well, but there's a lot of water below Slate Prairie that doesn't get fished much at all.
Crow Creek and Sand Creek are still a little on the weedy side, but are fishing well. On the cloudier overcast days, there's a lot of fish up on the surface on BWOs. The same flies as Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek will work well. There's still enough beetles and ants around to interest the fish as well, so have a few small dark terrestrial patterns in your arsenal as well. Stealth is the key on both of these creeks, so walk slowly and you'll be surprised how many fish you find!
Some of the lakes around the hills have been fishing well also with the cooler temperatures. Center, Sylvan, Roubaix, Bismarck, and many of the other small impoundments are fishing well. Leeches and other larger nymph patterns in a size 8-14 are working well, both on a slow strip and fished under and indicator if the wind is making a little chop on the surface.
Overall the fishing continues to be solid. We've had some great guided trips out lately, and we still have a few openings through the end of the month and into October. Give us a call if you'd like to set up a day on the water with one of our guides, or swing by the shop and we can show you the latest bugs and places to go!
Ryan
Black Hills Fishing Report - 9/19/2017
Ryan Gabert |
We're having some more seasonable weather this week, and it's made the fish a little more willing on many of our local streams. The temperatures over the next few days are going to hang in the low 70s for highs, and then we dip down into the 50s for highs this weekend. The cooler, rainy weather this weekend and into next week will help the fishing out, and will probably make for some good BWO dry fly fishing on a few of our local streams as well.
Rapid Creek above Pactola has been fishing well, namely with dry dropper style rigs. There's a lot of fish in the little bit faster water, and you can easily fish just about all of it with an indicator fly and a tungsten nymph. Some of the more productive nymphs in the Silver City area have been Jig Pheasant Tails, Tungsten Rainbow Czechs, Assassins, Hare's Ears, and various Zebra Midges. You can bring some fish up to attractor dry flies as well. Hippie Stompers, Klinkhamers, and smaller hopper patterns will get a few looks and make a great indicator as well. Make sure and cover water and you'll find plenty of fish! Rapid Creek below the dam has been fishing well, although the fish are their normal picky selves. There's some BWOs coming off most days, but they're pretty small. Flies in the 20-24 range are working the best. Sparkle Duns, F Flies, and Students are some of the best bets, but keep changing until you figure out what they like. Sometimes you can fool 'em with a WD-40 or RS2 below your dry fly a foot or so as well. Nymphing has been the same old story as usual, the scud/worm trailed by a midge/BWO will get the job done. Make sure you're getting it right in front of their face and you'll figure them out eventually. Good droppers include Split Back Baetis, Serendipities, various midges, and Two Bit Hookers. Rapid Creek in town is fishing good, and continues to get better as the fall weather approaches. The fish in town are pretty willing most days lately, with various smaller jig flies working the best for us. Use a Hippie Stomper, Klinkhamer, or Stimulator as a dry fly and drop a size 14-16 jig PT, Assassin, Soft Spot, or Brush Hog below it a couple feet. If the fish get picky, try a tungsten midge or Two Bit Hooker as a dropper instead.
Spearfish Creek has been fishing very well. The leaves in the coming weeks could make for a few issues, but for the time being the fishing has been excellent. I've mostly been nymphing, but there are BWO's coming off in the early to mid afternoon if you're inclined to fish dry flies. Try Hackle Stackers, Students, F Flies, Sparkle Duns, and regular old Parachute BWOs in a size 18-22 depending on how swift the water you're fishing is. Fly choice seems pretty paramount for the fish on the surface, so don't hesitate to change if the fish don't dig your fly. Nymphing has been the way to go if you're looking to stack some numbers up. I've mostly been doing a double-jig setup, but if you run across some pickier fish try a midge dropper instead. Try a size 12-14 jig as a lead fly, and a size 16 as a dropper. The front fly is mostly weight to help get your second fly down, but you'll catch fish on both. Assassins, Peacock Jigs, Pheasant Tails, and Brush Hogs are good patterns, but adjust as needed. As the water gets more leaves in it, you'll probably have to fish larger scud and worm type flies. Fishing has been very solid up there, and should continue to be for the next several weeks.
Castle Creek has been fishing well, mostly with dry flies. As it has been the last few weeks, the water is a little on the skinny side and it's made it hard to fish nymphs in much of the creek. That being said, the fish have been very willing to come up to the surface. Stimulators, Parachute BWOs, Purple Hazes, Parachute Caddis, Adams, and smaller beetles and Hippie Stompers have been working well. If it's deeper than your boot and on a seam, there's more than likely a fish in it. The brookies are getting their fall colors right now, and they look fantastic. Both above and below the lake has been fishing well. The walk in area below the dam has been fishing well, but there's a lot of water below Slate Prairie that doesn't get fished much at all.
Crow Creek and Sand Creek are still a little on the weedy side, but are fishing well. On the cloudier overcast days, there's a lot of fish up on the surface on BWOs. The same flies as Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek will work well. There's still enough beetles and ants around to interest the fish as well, so have a few small dark terrestrial patterns in your arsenal as well. Stealth is the key on both of these creeks, so walk slowly and you'll be surprised how many fish you find!
Some of the lakes around the hills have been fishing well also with the cooler temperatures. Center, Sylvan, Roubaix, Bismarck, and many of the other small impoundments are fishing well. Leeches and other larger nymph patterns in a size 8-14 are working well, both on a slow strip and fished under and indicator if the wind is making a little chop on the surface.
Overall the fishing continues to be solid. We've had some great guided trips out lately, and we still have a few openings through the end of the month and into October. Give us a call if you'd like to set up a day on the water with one of our guides, or swing by the shop and we can show you the latest bugs and places to go!
Ryan
Castle Creek has been fishing well, mostly with dry flies. As it has been the last few weeks, the water is a little on the skinny side and it's made it hard to fish nymphs in much of the creek. That being said, the fish have been very willing to come up to the surface. Stimulators, Parachute BWOs, Purple Hazes, Parachute Caddis, Adams, and smaller beetles and Hippie Stompers have been working well. If it's deeper than your boot and on a seam, there's more than likely a fish in it. The brookies are getting their fall colors right now, and they look fantastic. Both above and below the lake has been fishing well. The walk in area below the dam has been fishing well, but there's a lot of water below Slate Prairie that doesn't get fished much at all.
Crow Creek and Sand Creek are still a little on the weedy side, but are fishing well. On the cloudier overcast days, there's a lot of fish up on the surface on BWOs. The same flies as Rapid Creek and Spearfish Creek will work well. There's still enough beetles and ants around to interest the fish as well, so have a few small dark terrestrial patterns in your arsenal as well. Stealth is the key on both of these creeks, so walk slowly and you'll be surprised how many fish you find!
Some of the lakes around the hills have been fishing well also with the cooler temperatures. Center, Sylvan, Roubaix, Bismarck, and many of the other small impoundments are fishing well. Leeches and other larger nymph patterns in a size 8-14 are working well, both on a slow strip and fished under and indicator if the wind is making a little chop on the surface.
Overall the fishing continues to be solid. We've had some great guided trips out lately, and we still have a few openings through the end of the month and into October. Give us a call if you'd like to set up a day on the water with one of our guides, or swing by the shop and we can show you the latest bugs and places to go!
Ryan