Week of Sept. 7th, 2025: Bass Are Moving

NJ Fly Fishing Report | Sept 7, 2025 | South Branch Outfitters

Some precipitation fell this week.  It was brief and exciting.  There was thunder, lightning, trees down and, for a time, the cfs went up.  It is coming back down, naturally, and there’s another front making its way in on Saturday afternoon (9/6) which will likely rise and drop flows quickly.  Every little bit helps, but as I drove by Spruce Run, near Route 31 this morning, it became clear we’re going to need a few more little bits.  

Of course the concern is for the fish in these conditions, but the aquatic insects take a hit, too.  If more of the streambed is exposed and perhaps even dries out, there may be fewer insects who never get to hatch and reproduce next season.  The nymphs living in that portion of the streambed can burrow deeper and move toward where moisture exists. They’ll shift and adapt kind of like the river itself. There was a nice midday hatch on Sunday.

The bass are still here and activate with temperature and flow swings.  Find pockets and vary the speed of your retrieve when fishing streamers or poppers. Client and customer David F. checked in after a trip south of Clinton in between the storms on Saturday.  He reported quite a few small mouth in about two hours and sent this picture of a great catch.

With a few weeks remaining before the fall stocking we have time to tie up BWOs, caddis - tan and dark - and even some ISOs to round things out.  Once the stockies hit it’ll behoove you to keep some Mop-n-glo and Simple Golden Stone patterns for nymphing; be warned that “simple” is relative, and keep these tutorials from Tim Flagler @Tightlinevideo bookmarked.  Another local legend, Matt Grobert, shares his Olive X-Caddis which works great on its own or as the lead fly in a tandem dry-fly rig.  Follow with a WD40 plus or an RS2 in grey or olive and hang on tight.

Of course we have the similar and darn close patterns to match if time is too short to tie up your own.  Premade, pret-e-pecher flies are hand selected and set aside in a snazzy SBO reusable fly puck each week or spend time perusing our truly impressive assortment of fleas to flick.

See you out there,

Roy B.