Clark Fork Afternoon

Fished the Clark today for a few hours. I had back to back hits (probably from the same fish) and no other strikes. Saw a few fish rising and some mahogany duns hatching. Other than that fishing was pretty slow. The weather was very nice though and it felt good to be able to actually feel my fingers while fishing. Checked out some rocks to see what was on them and found plenty of baetis nymphs as well as some golden stones.

                                                       Golden Stonefly Nymph

The water clarity in the Clark right now is a little tinted and silty looking. That might be the reason for the fish being less active. I think that the river is in its transition phase and once it does get colder, then streamer fishing will get good. I also need to start looking for new sections along the Clark Fork because another problem might be that I'm just not covering the best water. Whatever the case, fishing should improve soon.

Until then I think I'm headed back to the Blackfoot. Garrets dad Gary is here for the weekend and hopefully I'll get the opportunity to fish with him and Garret before he heads back to South Carolina. Tonight Gary generously took Cody, Garret, Chris and I out to dinner. We all had a great time talking about fishing out west compared to saltwater fly fishing (which Garret and his dad do all the time). It was very interesting hearing about the different species and how fishing for them can be extremely challenging. It sounds like a blast though and I hope someday we'll all be on our way to the flats in search of tarpon or permit. Being an upstate New Yorker, anything south from NY would be a tropical vacation for me.

I want to thank Gary for his generosity and wish him and Garret the best of luck wherever they end up fishing this weekend.
We'll see what the weekend brings. Hopefully some big fish. Stay tuned....