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The upper has been getting a little warm in the afternoons. There is now a hoot owl closure in place from 8-mile down to the lake. That said, the river has been fishing really well as of late. Just about any rig you want to run has been effective. Double dry flies has been a go to on the calmer days, especially through the flats. The lower portions towards Ennis have been fishing well with a dry dropper. Most of the droppers have been caddis style. The nymph guys have been getting it done with big stones and caddis nymphs as well. The streamer bite has been solid too but mostly in low light conditions. If the sun is high throw a flashy or white streamer. If we had the day to go fishing up there right now, the chubby dropper is hard rig to beat for all around fishing. The chubby to a stone in the morning has been a good option and transitioning towards caddis nymphs as the day progresses. If your caddis nymph is green it will probably work.
Dries:
X Caddis, Missing Link, Elk Hair Caddis (14-18), PMD's (14-18), Purple Haze (16-18), RS2 (18), Chubby's (8-14), Golden Stones (6-8), Goddard Caddis (8-10)
Nymphs:
20 incher stone (10-12), Psycho Prince (14-16), jig prince nymph (16-18), Kings Prince (14-16), pheasant tail (12-16), Fertal Caddis emerger, Delektable Stoneflies (8-12), Blow Torch(14-16), Green Machine (18-20), Frenchie(14-16), Black Copper John (16), Rubber Legs (6-12)
Streamers:
Dungeons, Sparkle Minnows, sculpzilla, Boogie Man, Double Screamer, rusty trombone, mini sculpzilla, Kreelex, Mini Dungeon