Land of the Giants Fishing Report – May 2026

The Land of Giants is fishing as well as it has all season. Flows out of Hauser Dam at 3,330 CFS, water temps in the low 50s, and the rainbow and sucker spawn is finished. The fish are done with that business and back on the feed.

Current Conditions

Flows out of Hauser Dam: 3,330 CFS | Water Temp: Low 50s°F | Conditions: Excellent

The Crowds Are Gone

May does this every year. Spring pulls people in, and when it wraps, they leave. Right now you’ve got the canyon to yourself and the fish are eating. That combination should last until the dry fly fishing picks up.

What’s Hatching Below Hauser Dam

BWOs and midges. Afternoons are when it matters, once the air warms and the bugs get moving, fish start stacking up in the slicks and along the feeding lanes. Give it until early afternoon before you expect any dry fly action. It can be worth the wait.

PMDs are coming early. This year has been running two to three weeks ahead of schedule across the board, and we expect PMD activity well before the typical mid-June arrival.

Nymphing the Land of the Giants Section

Leeches, Little Green Machines, Two Bit Hookers, Frenchies and spanish bullets. Fish are distributed through the canyon and holding in the softer water. By afternoon they’re suspended and actively feeding in the lanes and eddy lines get in the zone, stay there, and keep your presentation clean.

Streamer Fishing the LOG

As water temps push into the low 50s, the streamer fishing has picked up noticeably. Fish that were sluggish through the cold water of early spring are moving now, and they’re willing to chase. Buggers and black leeches have been our go-to, fish them on a sinking line through the deeper runs and along the canyon walls. Work the softer edges where fish are holding out of the main current. We have been seeing a few northern pike while targeting trout on the lower reaches so if you get bit off that’s probably the culprit.

Upper Holter Lake – Chironomids

This is where May gets interesting on the Land of the Giants. The chironomid hatch on Upper Holter has been exceptional. Fish are cruising the depth changes and ledges, feeding tight to the bottom on emerging midges.

Red, black, and silver chironomids. Fish them close to the bottom. If you’re in 7 feet of water, set your indicator to 6 feet to your bottom fly and work from there, the feeding zone can be narrow. Crack the depth, don’t move until the fish tell you to.

This is technical, focused fishing. When it’s dialed in it’s as good as anything on this section of river.

Looking Into June

We’re ahead of schedule and that’s good news for anyone with a trip on the books. The final weeks of May should fish as well as anything we’ve seen this season. As we move into June, caddis will show alongside the early PMDs and the dry fly window will open in a serious way. When that happens, the canyon can fill back up with the dry fly angler.

Right now it’s quiet water, feeding fish, and no one else around. That’s the Land of Giants this late May. It doesn’t stay that way long.

A few summer dates are still available. Reach out now, peak season books a year out.

Land of Giants Fishing Report May 2026 , current as of May 23, 2026