Week of June 21st 2025: Summer is On!
Week of June 22nd: Summer is On!
Last week saw some cool mornings and cool river temperatures. A few storms helped keep the flows up and the fish happy. There, from what I have seen and heard, was not a whole lot of insect activity or significant hatches, but, overall, fishing was very good. Just about everything was worth trying: small streamers, buggers, nymphs, and wets throughout the day.
A loyal customer, and Fly Tying 101 alumni, shared this great picture of a brown he found using a rubber leg Prince nymph he tied up that may have resembled a stonefly.
Dry droppers, with a larger Isonychia or Light Cahill on top, are always a nice way to drift small emergers that would otherwise disappear in the film. If one really wanted to see some top water activity, the dusk and evening in the deeper pools revealed where the wary and temperature sensitive trout were when the sun was high. Caddis, light color mayflies, Isonychia, and stoneflies are all good choices - or they were last week.
This week is already forecast to be very hot. Towards the end of last week, the temps rose quickly and in the morning on Friday, they were already above 65 degrees, which raises the alarm for conservation-minded anglers. If you choose to fish when temperatures are this high, prepare to keep your catch. If you would like to see more hold-over trout in the fall and winter when they can grow and perhaps even reproduce, head towards the lower sections of the South Branch, Musky, and Pequest, where they meet the Delaware. Here, smallmouth bass and, more and more, striped bass and shad, can be found using streamers and other warm water patterns. Alternatively, seek cooler waters in the Catskills or Pennsylvania. Living fairly close to the PA border makes quick trips possible and I popped over at dawn to a cool stream about an hour or so away. The traditionals were not working, so I tried a little #20 pink rainbow warrior on a jig hook and found one just as the sun was getting over the tree line.
Local ponds are fun, too! We have poppers, mini-poppers (bream), and other flies sure to entice panfish, bass, carp, and others. I was surprised to catch a perch at Mountain Farm Pond in Lebanon Township, where I often catch crappie and some fairly large bluegill. I like a shorter leader and wooly buggers without a bead. I will add some split shot to sink the fly a little bit, but keep it off the bottom and out of the weeds and algae as best as I can. Every so often, however, you’ll likely have to remove some gunk from the getup. Floating flies, including cicadas, hair wing caddis, terrestrials and chubby chernobyl, are great to pitch along the banks and we don’t have to worry about drag-free drifts or mending lines across competing currents!
There’s plenty to keep us flea-flickers busy throughout the summer. We have all the fur and feather, beads and blended dubbing, for tying warm water flies. Wet-wading shoes and socks, wading staffs, and all sorts of day packs are waiting to be taken out in search of dinner plate panfish and bass that could swallow your fist.
See you out there, Roy B.