Fishing Report May 14th 2022
Much needed moisture has boosted stream flows in the Black Hills over the past couple of weeks. The added water makes for better fishing conditions. The forecast for May shows that more moisture should be on the way.
Rapid Creek above Pactola is fishing well. The water is off color due to rain, but nymph fishing and streamer fishing is quite good near Silver City. Concentrate on the deeper runs and pools. Our best flies have been Tungsten G String Worms, Pats Rubber Legs, Pheasant Tail Jigs, Thin Mints, and Lil Kim Streamers.
Rapid Creek below Pactola Reservoir is in great shape. Friday afternoon the flows below Pactola Reservoir bumped up to 61 cfs from 39 cfs. This will improve fishing from the dam all the way down through Rapid City. Look for dry fly opportunities to continue. Blue Winged Olives are hatching most days and fish seem eager to look up. Attractor Dries are working as well. Chubby Chernobyls are working well in town. Dry Dropper rigs with the chubby on top and a skinny jig or perdigon dropper are a good go to. With the added flows nymph fishing with either an indicator rig or euro Nymphing may be more productive in some stretches than the dry dropper rig.
Castle Creek is fishing very well below Deerfield Reservoir. Dry fly fishing is quite good most days. Blue Winged Olives are hatching late morning and into the afternoon. Dry Dropper rigs are a good way to fish most the runs and pools below the dam. The same Chubby/Perdigon combo will work here. Switch to a Baetis dry fly when the hatch picks up. Fishing should also be picking up above Deerfield. The best fishing will be the first quarter mile above the reservoir.
Spearfish Creek is flowing around 87 cfs. Nymph fishing is the most product technique in the Canyon and in town. Dry fly fishing will be limited to the small impoundments in the Canyon and to long slow runs. Euro Nymphing or tight line nymphing is the ticket for Spearfish Creek. With the higher flows don’t be afraid to fish some larger flies like tungsten Pat’s Rubber legs. Follow this with a smaller dropper. The added weight of the larger fly is need to be more productive in fast water.
Pike and warmwater is heating up on Black Hills lakes and out on the prairie. We hope to get out more ourselves to make a better report, but we have talked to several anglers in the shop who have had good fishing on prairie reservoirs for bluegills, crappies, and bass. Some anglers have had success finding carp as well.