Black Hills Fishing Report June 9th 2022

Black Hills streams continue to fish quite well. Recent rains have maintained stream flows over the past week. Some water is slightly high and stained, however, fishing has been good to excellent. Despite some of the higher flows, anglers continue to find good dry fly fishing opportunities. Blue Winged Olives hatches start mid-morning on most streams. Caddis are showing up in the afternoons and evenings. Some anglers reported seeing PMDs earlier this week.

Flow Changes- Last Report to Now June 4th- June 9th

• Rapid Creek above Pactola near Silver City- 82.9 CFS up to 105 CFS
• Rapid Creek below Pactola Reservoir- 72.8 to 108 CFS
• Rapid Creek in Town- 80 cfs to 130 cfs
• Castle Creek above Deerfield- was at 18 cfs last report, went up early this week, back 18 cfs
• Castle Creek below Deerfield- no change 25 CFS
• Spearfish Creek at Spearfish- 114/120 ish down to 107 cfs

Hot Flies

• Dries- Micro Chubby Chernobyls, Elk Hair Caddis, Sparkle Dun BWO
• Nymphs- Tungsten Jig Assasin, Tungsten Blue Diamond Perdigon, Zebra midges, RS2s, Bubble Back Midges, Frenchies
• Streamers- Lil Kim, Kreelex

Rapid Creek above Pactola reservoir is fishing well. The water may be a tad off color, however fish are hungry. Same as last report larger prince nymphs, pats rubber legs, and streamers.

Below Pactola the fishing has picked up since the last report. Caddis, PMDs, and some Baetis are hatching, creating good dry fly fishing opportunities. Nymph fishing has picked up as well. Try a tungsten split case PMD or Baetis Nymph with a small RS2 dropper.

Rapid Creek in town is fishing quite well. Water is up a bit so more weight is needed to get down to the fish. Try slightly larger tungsten jig nymphs (12-14s) with smaller droppers. RS2s and other emergers are working well. Dry dropper fishing with a chubby Chernobyl continues to work as well. Some of the larger fish have pushed into fast shallow riffles, so don’t overlook shallower runs and riffles.

Castle Creek continues to fish well below Deerfield Lake. Fishing should improve above the lake in the coming days. Rain earlier in the week made for muddy conditions above the lake, but flows are dropping as of this report. Flies for Castle below Deerfield are similar to those below Pactola. Dry Dropper Rigs are an option as well. Smaller Chubby Chernobyls or Hippie Stompers (12-16s) are a good choice for the lead fly in the dry dropper rig.

Spearfish Creek is in good shape in the Canyon and in town. Flows are just north of 100cfs. For nymphing fish with tungsten jigs with slightly bigger beads to cut through the current. We like perdigons, jig assasins, and mic drop jigs. Dry fly fishing was good this past week and should continue to be. Especially when there is some cloud cover. Baetis continue to hatch, but we should start to see more caddis, little yellow stones, and a mix of yellow mayflies.

The recent rains have perked up Box Elder and Spring Creeks. Both will fish well for next several days. Hopefully, we get some more thundershowers to keep some water in these streams. Caddis are hatching on both Spring and Box Elder. Dry dropper rigs are a great option for both. Nymph fishing the deeper runs and pools is always productive.

For more updates swing by the shop. See you soon!