- Publish date:
FISHERMAN'S CALENDAR
SO—season opened (or opens); SC-season closed (or closes).
C—clear water; D—water dirty or roily; M-water muddy.
N—water at normal height; SH—slightly high; H—high; VH—very high; L—low; R—rising; F—falling.
WT50—water temperature 50°.
FG—fishing good; FF—fishing fair; FP-fishing poor.
OG— outlook good; OF—outlook fair; OP—outlook poor.
TROUT: NEW YORK: Hot holiday weekend found Esopus fish on vacation too, except to experts in early morning and evening who took on drys and nymphs. Portal still ‚Öì open; stream clear, constant and OG. Upstate streams like Ausable and Saranac L, C, with more skilled fishermen scoring with dry flies like Grey Fox and Light Cahill. Need rain.
PENNSYLVANIA: Yellow Breeches finally started living up to reputation with hottest spot Boiling Springs area where Light Cahill and Light Hendrickson did well. Allegheny tributaries L, C, and Hemlock and East Hickory providing good dry-fly action on mostly smallies. Tier streams also L, C, but WT OK.
MAINE: Fastest pond fishing for brookies in several years in northern Maine lakes. Allagash producing up to three pounds on mostly Grey Hackle and Professor. Royal Coachman favored in Haymock Pond and OG.
MICHIGAN: Light rains over state stimulated insect hatches with OG in daytime on 3X or lighter: evening FG, but night fishing for browns only fair until moon wanes.
IDAHO: Famed Silver Creek, near Sun Valley, opened with a bang and Cowdung took 'em. Pend Oreille fine for cutthroats around Cape Horn. Ice just out in most high lakes with Boulder and Louie best. South Fork of Boise and main Boise poor. Featherville area excellent. Blackfoot producing limits of big ones on woolly worms.
NEW BRUNSWICK: Trout being driven to cooler spring holes and smaller streams but OG in headwaters.
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Upper and lower Campbell continue to be best producers, with big fish regularly to spin-fishermen at Buttle. FG for evening fly-fishers. Excellent reports on kamloops from Peterhope, Lejeune, Paul, Knouff and other favorite spots.
OREGON: Twelve inches of snow at Timberline over holiday weekend queered fishing. Nights still cold on Deschutes, Metolius and Crooked rivers in Central Oregon; small gray and brown patterns doing well, N, OG.
CALIFORNIA: Streams held up well under estimated half million anglers attacking over long weekend. Easy limits for packers in high country. Cold nights holding back runoff in central region (Yuba, American and Mokelumne). Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, San Joaquin and Kings, L, C, upper parts. Higher lakes, Yosemite Park should pick up as ice-free. Bright spots: forks of Tule, East Fork Kaweah, upper part of Kern and side creeks. Crowley on east slope tailed off but browns to 10 pounds taken on trolled chubs. West and east Walker clearing; larger fish running up rivers. Morning hatches luring dry-fly addicts.
COLORADO: Snow runoff was making some streams H and SM. Willow Lake C, good for flies and lures. OG. Upper Blue H and M, PP, OG. St. Louis Creek, where our operator says Ike will catch much bigger fish next month than he did in New England. C, N. Says operator: "For us. OG, for Ike, VVG." Colorado River (Glenwood Springs area) H, but fair for bait and lures, OG. North Platte, H and M, FF for bait only, OF. Emerald Lake clear, FG and OG. White River L, C, FF, OG. Gunnison River receding and C, FG, outlook excellent.
MONTANA: Cold weather made FG in all Montana streams. SH but mostly clear. Madison River best with big trout taking flies and lures.
MUSKELLUNGE: WISCONSIN: Dry weather FF to excellent over all north with fish switching to surface baits and bucktails. Action reported in Cedar, Bone, McCann, Spirit, Rat and Riley lakes. Thirty-pounder from Scattering Rice Lake on natural bucktail.
MICHIGAN: Fishing in Lake St. Clair tops past week with "big fish hitting like perch" say boat liverymen. One boat landing saw anglers haul in 132 for weighin at a contest. Best bait is giant spoon trolled near surface at medium speeds around noon.
NEW YORK: SO Lake Chautauqua July 1 and FG with good size. Water level N and OG.
ONTARIO: OG. Callander Bay and west arm of Lake Nipissing producing well. Hay Bay near Napanee and Pointe au Baril region of Georgian Bay are other favored spots. Red and white plugs and spoons good.
BLACK BASS: NEW YORK: Ashokan opener real hot with bait fishermen taking well early a.m. and late p.m. Bass upstate, too, were obliging as SO with excellent takes at Silver Lake, Union Falls, Franklin Falls and vicinity, on surface plugs and deerhair bucktails. Chautauqua FG and running to good size.
PENNSYLVANIA: Billy Cox, recently retired third baseman, was doing great in the Juniata on minnows as SO as were ordinary citizens. Surface bugs fine around Harrisburg, try hellgrammites in Conodoguinet. Conneaut Lake produced up to 6-pounders on artificials and bait.
FLORIDA: Welcome rains every day for week proved godsend to lakes and ponds going dry and happy bass were merrily taking top water plugs early in a.m. Good spots: Shoal and Yellow rivers near Pensacola, Merrits Mill Pond near Marianna, Lake Talquin near Tallahassee, and Ochlockonee and Wacissa rivers.
MISSOURI: Bull Shoals and Lake Taneycomo M from rains and FF but OG later in week.
STRIPED BASS: MASSACHUSETTS: Back Cape shore from Provincetown around through Truro to Nauset better than any time until now. Plugs best on night tides.
ATLANTIC SALMON: MAINE: Very slow on all rivers. Landlocks providing only early morning and late evening action with heat driving fish into deep spring holes.
NEW BRUNSWICK: Same as above with water L and warm; coming week should show improvement.
NOVA SCOTIA: FG with week's total catch 196. Leader: Med way, followed by Gold River. Recent rains have raised low waters and OG.
PACIFIC SALMON: OREGON: Fishing on coast greatly improved. Winchester, Yaquina, Coos and Depoe bays all offering good salmon mooching for both kings and silvers. OG.
CALIFORNIA: Trollers hitting jackpot off Duxbury when winds permit. Sausalito and Fisherman's Wharf boats average two to customer up to 35 pounds. Twelve-year-old Peter McIll wain landed a 28-pounder.
IDAHO: Run is starting in smaller streams; fishermen having trouble with high, fast water. Rain and snow in high country and rain in lower elevations last few days. Fish count at Bonneville over 3,000 per day. OG.
WASHINGTON: Puget Sound sizzling with news of big king runs through Juan de Fuca Strait last week. Neah Bay and Sekiu on Olympic Peninsula report catches to 1,000 daily with weights to 50 pounds. Run expected in northern sound waters week of 10 to 17.
BRITISH COLUMBIA: Fine silver fishing and good numbers of spring salmon along east coast of Vancouver Island. April Point, Shelter Point, Oyster Bay, Bates Beach, Cape Lazo and Qualicum all good. Larger springs beginning to show in Discovery Passage north of Campbell River. Forty-two pounds best to date. Silvers best on hair flies, small spoons and herring. Springs to spoons, plugs and herring. OG.
