Malad River, ID
Outing Information
- Date
- Start/End Time
- 5:30 to 7:30
- Best Fishing Time
- -
- Rating
- Poor
- Classification
- Public
- Water Temp
- -
- Water Clarity
- Clear - 5'+ visibility
- Water Level
- -
- User
- karl
Fish Caught
Rainbow Trout
| Caught | Avg Size | Pattern | Optional Fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8" | #18 Tan E/C Caddis |
Fish Depth: < 1' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Retrieve: drift |
| 1 | 8" | #18 White Caddis pupae |
Fish Depth: 3' - 6' Water Depth: 3' - 6' Retrieve: drift |
| 4 | 8" |
Weather
| Skies | Morning | Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mostly Cloudy | X | ||
| Precipitation | |||
| None | X | ||
| Wind | |||
| Medium - 10 to 15 knots | X |
- Air Temp High/Low
- 50.0°F / -
- Wind Direction
- -
- Weather Front
- -
- Barometer
- -
- Moon Phase
- 92% Full (Waning gibbous)
Other Patterns Tried
- #18 Brown Elk Hair Caddis
- #20 Tan Elk Hair Caddis
- #20 Rust Zebra Midge
Hatches
No hatch information for this outing.
Insect Seining
No seining information for this outing.
Fishing Partners
No fishing partners were saved with this outing.
Waypoints
No waypoints were saved with this outing.
Tides
No tide information was saved with this outing.
Notes
An anticlimactic ending to my Oster Lakes/Malad trip. I fished the 2 main holes below and above the old bridge. Saw some decent fish deep in the lower hole and a couple of them even rose once, one splashing my EHC. The water runs fast and deep in the plunge pool at the head of the lower hole. I need to work on some techniques that get the nymphs deep in a hurry (ie *alot* of weight) but still allow me to feel a strike and remain hidden from view. An added difficulty lies in the fact that this water is so clear that I'm pretty sure the fish can see the angler even through the turbulence in the plunge pool.
A technique to try would be to stand at the head of the pool - partially hidden by the rocks and most turbulence - and drop a couple heavily weighted flies into the very front edge of the plunge pool, all the way to the bottom. Then slowly lift the rod, bringing the nymphs off the bottom and allowing them to drift downstream (as much as the weight will allow them to drift anyway). Next time.
Comments
Jason
That's rough. You didn't enter any hatch info - so there wasn't anything hatching?
A couple thoughts on getting your nymphs deep quickly. One, try a heavily weighted point fly like a Copper John, or a wire-body caddis larva. Two - use a longer, thinner tippet to attach to the flies. The thinner tippet will allow the flies to sink much faster than a thicker tippet. From what I've heard (which I had data), the sink rates of 4X tippet and 6X tippet are quite different.
Can you approach the pool from the side, crouched, and flip flies up into the headwater and tight-line drift them through the hole?
kasta
There were just few caddis adults about, and no actual hatch that I could see. It must be the cool weather keeping them down.
I use 6x. Hmm, I'll have to tie up a few nymphs using alot of lead wire wrapped on the hook.
I might be able approach from the opposite side of the stream but there is a pretty strong current on that side. Of course unless I get out there some evening this week there won't be an opportunity to fish the MaRi again until June.