Very nice brown caught on a nymph by Antoine's Bissieux's client. Still getting plenty of good fishing reports from customers & guides. The water may be low, but the fishing is good for many anglers. One upside of low flows is that if there is a hatch, the trout are very prone to rise, due to ease of feeding on the surface (slower currents & shorter distance to surface). The other upside is that it makes it easy to find the fish, they are where there is still some depth & current. Cherry-pick and only fish the best-looking spots right now. We are definitely on the downside of foliage season, but it's still very pretty. I love fishing in October. Streamer fishing is good right now, the trout are aggressive. Peak times are early & late for that, but it can produce at midday too. Flow this morning is 70cfs total in the permanent Catch & Release section, with 53cfs up near the dam in Riverton. Make sure to adapt to the conditions- use longer leaders (12' or even longer), wear drab clothing, be stealthy in your approach, and use smaller flies & lighter tippets. Main hatches in the afternoons are Isonychia, Tan/brown Caddis, and small Blue Wing Olives. Mornings will keep seeing Winter/Summer Caddis. October trout get aggressive (it's spawning time, plus they put on the feedbag before winter), so streamers are catching fish- play with colors & retrieves, some of my clear water fall favorites are white, yellow, tan, black and olive. Sometimes in the normally low/clear waters of fall, especially on sunny days, slimmer old-school traditional patterns will outfish the typical modern bulkier flies- try Baby Brown Trout, Grey Ghost, Black Ghost, Muddler Minnow, Mickey Finn, etc. Riverton (from just below the dam down through Whittemore) was stocked in late September with well over 2,000 brown, brook & rainbow trout 12" and bigger, and not surprisingly has been fishing well up there.
Dries, streamers and nymphs are all catching trout. Look for deeper & faster water for the best action, spots like that will concentrate the fish at this lower level. Blind-fished dries are working well, especially in the quick water. Bigger dries such as Stimulators #12-14, Tan Caddis #14-16, and Isonychia #12-14 are all working well as searching flies in the afternoons, and can be combined with a nymph dropper for even more action. When nymphing, try smaller patterns (mostly) such as Zebra Midges #18-20, Yellow Sally Stonefly nymphs #14-16, Egg Flies #12-18, Hot Spot Nymphs #16-20, Wade's Clinger Nymph #16, Blue Wing Olive nymphs #16-20, Yellow Sparkle Prince #14-18, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Caddis Pupa & Larva in both tan & olive/green #14-18, Pheasant Tails #16-20, Prince Nymph #14-16 are all working well. Soneflies #8-14 (in black, brown, and golden/yellow) have been working as well.
We literally have a ton of sale and clearance items at the moment- rods, reels, lines, etc. We've been getting trade-in rods & reels faster than we can list them on our website, so make sure to stop in the store and take a peek, the best stuff goes fast. We just received a pile of closeout demo Scott rods from our rep, so if you are a fan, check 'em out ASAP. We also have lots of closeout rods & reels from Sage, Hardy, Winston, Redington, Echo and others. We are receiving next years products on a weekly basis, as most of the companies debut their new stuff in the early fall. This includes the new Hardy Zepherus rods, Scott Meridian rods, Redington Hydrogen and just about all of the new rods from Sage. Grady has let me slowly but surely let me beef up our book selection. There are some fantastic books available that can shortcut your learning curve big time. Take a peek, and don't be afraid to ask me (Torrey) for suggestions, I'm a book fanatic. FYI George Daniel's new streamer fishing book "Strip-Set" just came out, and it's phenomenal. Local fly tyer/guide/author/streamer fanatic Rich Strolis is prominently featured.
-Torrey