I had a chance to get out and fish the Black once in early May and a couple times so far this June. The water levels are starting to get back down to their normal levels and the fishing is really turning on.
A couple photos of the many antelope we have seen this year on the drive in.
I headed out with JG and Ken in early May to check out water levels and see if any smallies had moved into our favorite spots on the river. The water was flowing high at 250 cfs and we did not see any smallmouth yet. We did however find some nice browns. I had one on and close to landing that had to be over 4lbs, but it will remain the one that got away. I did manage a beautiful brown that went about 17″ and Ken landed a nice rainbow about the same size. The normal shin deep water was about waist deep and the water was still very cold.
I gave it a few weeks for the water to drop and warm, as well as waiting for our friend Mr. Smallie to show up. On Sunday June 1st I headed down again with Josh Owens. After a rough hike in we found more conducive water levels and smallies all over the shallows. We each landed 15-20 smallies in the 1-3lbs range, mostly sight fishing. A great day on the water.
The fishing was so good on Sunday that I just had to go back on Weds 6/4 to do it again. I headed out this time with Jeremy, JG and Brent. Brent and Jeremy had only been to the Black once and I was excited for them to see it when it was on. They hammered them, 24 for Jeremy and 21 for Brent. JG and I managed to add another 40 fish or around that for a total of over 80 fish between the 4 of us. I was into the sight fishing the shallows, but Brent managed to catch many of his fish on a bugger in the deeper pools. The flows were at 80 cfs which is about 40 cfs higher than normal for early June. All in all it has been a very productive Spring on the Black. I do not mention specific spots on the Black as there are over 70 miles of fishable water and taking the exploration out of it will lessen the experience. Go explore this great watershed and enjoy!!!!
