Friday, June 30, 2017

Friday 6/30/17 Report- good fishing, Cortland tippet, and some Sage rod closeouts

Andy Lyons providing us with some nice fish porn once again, a long & lean brown nymphed up outside the permanent TMA/Catch & Release area. Good nymphers like Andy continue to catch trout all day long here- think Caddis Pupa #14-18 & Midges #18-22 in the AM and into the afternoons, and then try Sulfur-type nymphs #16 (can be a specific imitation or even a Pheasant Tail) from late afternoon until dusk.

We will be open normal hours this holiday weekend: Friday 'till 6pm, Saturday & Sunday 6am-5pm, Monday 8am-6pm, and then closing early Tuesday July 4th 8am-3pm.

Current flow is 313cfs in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) with 275cfs from dam in Riverton plus an additional 38cfs from the Still River. Water temps are running low 50's to low 60's depending on distance below dam (coldest near dam). Evenings are prime hatch time right now, but you may find risers in the mornings & afternoons too. Fishing remains good to excellent for many anglers, with Sulfurs still being the glamour hatch. They are now all the way up into Riverton. In the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R), look for them in the evening, and maybe a little earlier up in Riverton (colder water near dam there).

We will be closing out our Sage Salt, Sage Accel, Sage Bolt,  Sage Approach and Sage 4200 series reels starting tomorrow (Sat 7/1), both in store and online and can be found on our Used / Store Specials page. These rods are being discontinued to make room for Sage's 2018 lineup which will be announced in a couple of weeks. Our closeouts are first come first served and won't last long so don't wait to come in or place an order.

Cortland's "Top Secret" Ultra Premium Fluorocarbon Tippet is now in stock in 3x-8x. This stuff has literally been flying off the shelf since it arrived last week. So far customer & guide feedback on this new product has been exceptional. No hype or exaggeration, it literally is the world's best fluorocarbon tippet, hands down. Grady and I have both fished it now, and we found it to be super strong, unusually flexible, hold & knot like a champ, very abrasion resistant, have excellent clarity, and just is an amazingly durable tippet. The combination of high break strength, stretch, and perfect plasma optical quality outer finish make it hard to break off fish & flies, and despite the slightly higher price tag, most using it report they go through it at about half the rate of normal tippet due to it's amazing durability. 

Hatches continue to be good: Sulfurs #16-18 (Invaria & Dorothea), Cream Cahills #12, Light Cahills #14, Vitreus #14-16, March Browns #10-12, Blue Wing Olives #18-22, Summer Dark Caddis #16-22, Tan Wing Olive bodied Caddis #16-18, and spinners/spent wings of all the above. Starting to see a few Isonychia #10-12 in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release. Downriver in Canton/Collinsville/Unionville the Isonychias are hatching heavier, typically from early evening to an hour before dark. The best dry fly activity has been in the upper end of the pools including Pipeline, Roberts, Whittemore, People's Forest, Church Pool, Greenwoods, the Wall, and Town Bridge. Terrestrials, ants & beetles are working as well, especially midday when other hatches tend to be sparse.

Nymphing has been good to excellent for many using things like Caddis Pupa #14-18 (tan, olive-green),  Antoine's Perdigons #16, attractor/hot-spot nymphs #14-18 (Frenchies, Triples Threats, Egan's Red Dart, Rainbow, Warrior, etc.), Quasimodo Pheasant Tails #16-20, Fox Squirrel Nymphs #12-16. The Mop Fly continues to produce good results, and is a good pattern to play "clean-up batter" with in a nice run after you've fished your usual nymphs, it'll often score you 1-3 extra fish.