Mandy with a perfect 19" (yes, measured!) female brown she nymphed up Sunday- notice the intact adipose & nice fins, this one is either a multi-year holdover or a wild fish. Looks beautiful today, with sunshine and a high of 55, not windy at all. Water temps are averaging upper 40's to mid 50's, depending upon the day and time of day. Despite very low water (70cfs total flow in permanent Catch & Release section), the fishing remains good to excellent for many people. The upsides to low water are: 1) more fish rising when there is a hatch, and 2) it concentrates the fish and makes reading the water very easy. Unless you see rising trout, skip the shallow and/or very slow spots and cherry pick the best water (where you have depth & current). Sunday's overcast, mild weather saw good hatches of Olives, Iso's & Caddis. Look for Blue Winged Olive hatches to increase as we move into November, but be prepared with the proper small patterns (#24-28 dries/emergers/spinners), 12' leaders and light tippet (7x). Cooling temps mean that other than the morning hatch of Winter Caddis, the bugs will be active & hatching in the afternoons when water temps are highest and it's also the most comfortable time of day to fish (some nights have been below freezing in our neck of the woods). Make sure to have fingerless gloves, warm hats, thick wool socks, and layers of thermals & fleece if you are out in the mornings or on colder days. Long Range highs average in the 50's, with lows in the 30's to 40's. We will FINALLY see some actual rain on Wednesday into Thursday morning, with about 2" predicted- the whole state could certainly use this. While many trees have lost their leaves, there is still quite a bit of nice fall color on the hillsides.For optimal success, make sure to adapt to the low water 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 see Winter/Summer Caddis. Fall 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 olive, white, yellow, tan, black. 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. Having said that, we are getting good reports from the dam in Riverton, all the way down through Unionville.
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 #16-22, Yellow Sparkle Prince #14-18, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Caddis Pupa & Larva in both tan & olive/green #14-18, Pheasant Tails #16-22, 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