Black Hills Fishing Report for July 3rd 2017
Focus on the main streams for this coming week- Rapid Creek, Castle Creek, and Spearfish Creek. Warmer temps will make fishing more productive early and late in the day.
Rapid Creek continues to fish well through most of the drainage. Flows above the lake are down a bit as warmer drier conditions have settled in. Fishing above the lake in the Silver City area is best early and late. Tricos and caddis are hatching above the lake. During the day little yellow stone flies are hatching as well. Use a dry and dropper rig for most of the pocket water. Get down as deep as possible with an indicator rig in the bigger pools. Any anglers looking for solitude should head to the higher drainage near Rochford. Good fishing all the way up to Black Fox campground. Below Pactola Reservoir fish attractor dries with droppers, hopper patterns, and nymph rigs in the deeper pools. In town there are trico mayfly hatches early and caddis hatches late in the evening. Fishing in town may slow a bit mid-day through late afternoon. Be sure to hit the early and late hatches in town.
Spearfish creek continues to fish very well. Mostly nymph fishing in the canyon and in town. However, late evening mayfly and caddis hatches are an option for dry fly anglers. To make the most of the hatches look for longer slower pools and runs. When nymphing get down deep with tungsten weighted flies. Fish are starting to pay more attention to attractor dries and small hopper patterns. Beetles and ants can also be productive along the edges. Fishing is good in the canyon as well as in town. Don't forget about the higher reaches along Highway 85. These fish are a bit smaller but very fun to pursue with a light rod and dry flies.
Castle Creek below Deerfield Reservoir is another good option. Good amount of surface activity here. Little stoneflies, caddis, and pale yellow mayflies. Some Tricos as well. A dry dropper rig is a great all-around way to fish here. Fish have been aggressive enough on the dry that many times that's all that's needed. Terrestrials are starting to turn on up here- try hoppers, beetles, and ants. To reach some of the fish in the deeper pools closer to the damn you may need to use a nymph rig.
Fishing in Custer State Park is best early in the morning and late in the evening. The two areas to focus on are the Grace Coolidge walk-in-area and French Creek. In Grace Coolidge area focus on the ponds. Early and late you will find fish feeding on the callibaetis mayflies as well as Caddis. Ant and beetle flies are always productive here as well. Fish a nymph rig to get a bit deeper in the ponds. Try a copper john with a zebra midge dropper about 4-5' below an indicator. When fishing French Creek focus on the area near the Horse Camp. For fishing French Creek try a dry dropper rig with a yellow stimulator and red copper John.