Week of August 25th: A Taste of Fall

Well this feels weird.  Don’t get me wrong, fall weather is great and competes with spring for my favorite season.  It was nice to wake up and feel chilly in the predawn air.  The local river temperatures reacted as well and there was a window to get a peek at the Musky and South Branch.  I am sure the other rivers dipped below 65, but I took the opportunity to see what was hanging around after the summer heat and some relatively low levels.

The answer – not much, but dang things sure are pretty!  I caught one small bass.  I saw nary a sign of fish.  I had better luck, as can be expected, on a day trip to the Catskills.  There, I had some success with a yellow stimulator, from about nine am to noon. 

After the sun was overhead and I stopped for a stream-side bag lunch, I switched to nymphs and found a rainbow (below)  in some fast moving, riffly water in the shade.  There were a few Isonychia and Cahill flying around, but not many bugs on the water.  Working back downstream, a hopper-dropper with a bead head pheasant tail picked up a few more brown in the 8 to 10 inch range.  Of course there was the one that got away who broke off at the fly, but looked like a nice fish from the brief glimpse I got. Sore shoulders and some menacing rumbles from dark clouds around three got me moving a little faster back to the car.

This week it looks warm again, perhaps reaching 90 degrees again on Wednesday.  I am afraid we will need our stream thermometers for a bit longer. The small mouth and pan fish are loving the storms that came through last week and the day after (check the flows, first) are opportunities for those fish to find food churned up by the sudden deluge.  There may be some rain at the end of the week, so stop by for some buggers and bass flies before you go.  Terrestrials, like ants and beetles, get knocked into the water after storms from water dripper off leaves and such and remain an important part of fall fly fishing for trout!

Speaking of fly fishing the fall for trout - get your caddis ready, and in particular the larger Gray Autumn Sedge (Caddis) in #10 - 12 for early September and then the smaller Dot Winged Sedge (Caddis) in #16.  You may not find a fly with these precise names, so your Elk or Deer Hair Caddis will do the trick. Stimulators, too, can work as a Caddis pattern.  There may also be October or Cinnamon Caddis available – but the gray color and size is key. Don’t forget Caddis pupae and nymph patterns either!  

Now is also a great time to upgrade the hardware!  Come in and check out the new Douglas DXF Gen2 Series that was released in July.  These are lightweight rods with seriously sensitive tips and a moderate fast action for precision casting.  Most of our guides fish a DXF, Sky G, or DXF Gen2 and it is, without question, a terrific mid-priced rod.  The reverse half wells grip and the addition of the line weight inscribed on the same keyed reel seat that Hardy uses make the Gen2  easy to identify among other already rigged rods and you can be confident it’s ready to fish.  One difference between the DXF and the DXF Gen2 is a slightly slower action making the rod a better fit for a wider variety of people.  

My heart (and rod money) goes to R.L. Winston rods, or Winston rods, for short.  They are premium rods and exquisitely hand-made in Montana.  The Air 2 is their all around rod and perfect for the nymph, wet and dry fishing most of us do, according to the conditions.  The Pure is ideal for casting dry flies and the Boron III Super 10 is made for Euro Nymphing but casts a mile, too.

Things are cooling off! 

See you out there. 

Roy B