Black Hills Fishing Report October 2nd 2014

Black Hills Fishing Report

Rain! We had quite a bit of rain early this week. Flows went up across the Black Hills. However, levels have dropped to fishable flows on Rapid Creek Below Pactola, Castle Creek Below Deerfield, and Spearfish Creek. Rapid Creek will have lower flows this fall as the releases are scaled back to allow for construction of the new dam at Canyon Lake. Releases from Pactola Reservoir are now in the neighborhood of 20 cfs. Blue Winged Olives and Pale Morning Duns have been hatching in the mid to late afternoon. Hoppers are working below the dam. Above Pactola Reservoir Rapid Creek is about 30 cfs higher than it was last week. Fishing will improve as the flows drop. It is possible the added flow will get some browns running out of Pactola for the spawn. Try Streamers and Larger nymphs. Castle Creek was fishing great last week below Deerfield. The lake is turning over so you will notice an off color to the water below the dam. Despite that nymphing was good close to the dam- jigged prince nymphs worked great! Baetis are hatching mid day. Good dry fly fishing in the meadow near the parking lot below the dam. Black Hill brook trout fishing at its best! Spearfish Creek is running slightly higher than last week, but not much. The rain was gradual so flows didn't spike rapidly. Nymph fishing has been great in the canyon. Small baetis (blue winged olives) are hatching mid to late afternoon. Dry fly fishing is best in long runs or on the small pass through dams in the canyon. Our latest video: http://vimeo.com/107180445