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| 8:30 am this morn, flawless wild brown by Zach's client Scott Meador |
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| Big Ben Canino & big brown |
Hot weather means that generally the best hatches (and fishing) are early and late in the day, when it's most comfortable to be out. You can catch fish at anytime during the day, but by far the best dry fly fishing is dusk to dark and beyond. Don't leave early or you will miss out on the best dry fly fishing of the day. On hot days the evening fishing may not really kick off until 8pm and peak at darkness, earlier on cloudy/cooler eves. From late morning to early evening, look for shade and you will find fish. I like to nymph in the mornings with a bigger stonefly nymph & small nymph (#18-20) combo. Later morning through late afternoon swap the stone out for a caddis pupa, and then a mayfly or sulfur type nymph for late afternoon through evening (big #10-12 Isonychia nymphs later in the day too). Play around with attractor nymphs too (that have flash/fluorescence/hot-spots). Dry/Dropper can be a fun way to fish now: use a bigger buoyant dry (like a Mini Chernobyl or big Isonychia) and drop a #16-18 tungsten bead nymph 1-3' below the dry. Most fish will take the nymph, but you will get some bonus fish on the dry also. Tie the nymph off the hook bend. Run it closer (12-18") to the dry during insect activity and in shallow water, run it further apart (2-3') in deep water and during non-hatch periods. It's like the fun of dry fly fishing, combined with the consistent effectiveness of nymphing. Plus it allows you target fish at distance.
Isonychia
are one of the bugs that will hatch in the earlier part of the evening,
remember that they are BIG bugs that live and hatch in fast water, so
don't look for them in the slower pool water (think pool heads, riffles,
pocket water, faster runs). Sulfurs continue to be the heaviest hatch
(think dusk, but sometimes we get a secondary hatch of them in late
morning), make sure to have several different imitations, and in more
than one size (#16-18, maybe even #20). Also seeing plenty of cream
mayflies (Light Cahills/Summer Stenos) at dusk in the #12-16 range,
standard Cahills & Usuals work well. We are also seeing Attenuata #18-20, they are a
small evening Mayfly that are often confused with Sulfurs. Attenuata
are a bright greenish-yellow, almost light chartreuse color. A
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| Sal Jr (son of Sal from Legends) with a good one |
In July/August/September flows are normally medium to low, and many of the bigger nymphs/larva have hatched, leaving the majority of bugs at #18 and smaller (exception: Isonychia & big Stonefly nymphs). Often I find the difference between a slow day of nymphing and a double-digit outing in July is using nymphs #18 or even smaller. It can be a game changer. In general the small size is much more important than the exact fly pattern, but I'd still have several options from drab to gaudy, and in different styles/shapes/colors. You can pair them up with a bigger fly. Stoneflies #4-12 emerge in the early to mid mornings, you will see them on the rocks in the fastwater, I tend to have my best luck
While the focus for the majority of our customers seems to have shifted to dry flies, the subsurface
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| Tommy Dzis with a nighttime 20" 2 Year Old brown |
Multiple hatches are occuring throughout the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R), as well as above it, and also downstream for quite a few miles (more elbow room down there FYI, but access gets trickier). Hot weather can push the evening activity closer to dusk/dark (that's been the case during the hot summer weather of late), and conversely cool/cloudy days can make it happen earlier. Nymphing with Caddis pupa (and Larva) is very effective from about mid morning through late afternoon. Mayfly nymphs are at their best from mid/late afternoons through evenings. Non of these hatch times are set in stone, so be sure to be observant & experiment. Streamers tend to be most effective during low light (early & late in the day), and on overcast or rainy days, and also in higher, off-color water. If you fish them on a bright sunny day, look for structure (downed trees, big rocks, undercut banks, overhanging bushes) in the shade. Wet flies & soft-hackles can be effective any time of day, but especially when the nymphs, pupa & egg-laying bugs are active/hatching.
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| Neal Spencer with a looong 2 Year Old brown |
FYI we have a KILLER assortment of custom tied soft-hackles in our bins by Dick Sablitz, they are
FYI we are now in our extended hours: 8am-6pm weekdays, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
We have
Devin Olsen's hot new book "Tactical Fly Fishing", and it's really good. It cover Euro style
nymphing, plus a whole lot more. Based
upon what he's learned from years of the highest level fly fishing
competitions against the best trout fly fishermen in the world. It
covers things in an extremely detailed way, and has some great "Case
Studies" where he shows you different water type pictures with photo
sequences of how they were able to successfully catch fish in them, and
what adjustments they had to make in their rigging, approach,
presentation & flies to find success. It's a good
new option that does NOT duplicate George Daniel's two books on
nymphing, but rather it compliments and adds to them.
Flow as of Friday morning 7/12/19: |
| Zach St Amand bowing to a pretty brown |
Click this Thomas & Thomas blog link for a very recent review I wrote about their awesome new Contact 10' 8" #6 rod for Steelhead & Lake Run Trout/Landlocks: https://thomasandthomas.com
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| Zach's client Kevin gettin' it done |
http://www.farmingtonriver.com/classes-news-reviews/10-of-torreys-favorite-books-december-2018/ I'll be doing more blog posts on recommended books in the future, there are many great books out there.
We are open 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
Water Temps:
Look for water temps to average in the upper 50s/low 60s in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (low/mid 50s in Riverton above the Still River), but will vary depending upon the weather, time of day, and specific location. Downriver in Collinsville/Unionville will be slightly warmer, probably low to high 60s and into the low 70s if you venture far enough downstream on hotter/sunny days. Long range highs are hot with highs 85-90 and nights mid/upper 60s- this will push the downstream water temps up, so check water temps with a thermometer if you are down in Canton/Collinsville/Unionville. The best time to fish downriver during hot summer weather is in the morning when water temps are lowest. Warmer, sunny days will see the biggest water temp increases. The exception to this will be during periods of high water releases from the dam, as the colder water from deep in the reservoir chills down the river for quite a ways downstream. Highest water temps will occur in late afternoon, with sunny days seeing the biggest temperature increases. Typically the best bug activity (and fishing) correlates to the most pleasant time of the day for us humans, which in the summer is normally early & late.
Hatches/Dries:
-Sulfurs #16-18: eves, sometimes late morn/noonish too