Blackfoot Valley Fishing Report July 10

The 4th of July Festivities are over, the crowds have slightly thinned, the weather has been wet and cool, but the fishing remains hot!

With all the rain over the last couple of weeks, Mother Nature is keeping the rivers flowing. The levels are lower than normal and are a bit concerning. For instance, as of the day of this writing, the Blackfoot at Bonner was almost half of what is considered the ten year average; despite a cool beginning to summer and a decent snow pack this winter.

Greater minds than myself have discussed this, but the only reason that comes to mind is that the 2017 fires took out a lot of trees which create shade, which slows the snow melt in Spring. Therefore it is possible most of the snow came down quick and earlier than "normal". If that is the case...we may be seeing the New Normal. But that is just this humble writers opinion.

In the Good/Great News Division: It is seldom that we get a heavy salmon fly arrival on the Blackfoot along with clear, cold waters. So the fish went on a two-week gorge. Think Thanksgiving dinner for two weeks. The fish were practically hunch backed their bellies were so full and extended. Happy fish!

Altho there are still some salmon flies in the area, the fish are also targeting golden stones like Chubby Chernobyls. Also receiving trout approval are caddis, and mayflies in the grey, green and yellow body colors.

For floaters, the Harry Morgan put in at the North Fork has gotten too thin for hard drift boats (River Junction access is recommended), but inflatables are still able to negotiate the waters.

All in all it has been a great start to the 2019 fishing season with more to come!