Check out the beautiful August brown by John Bye. I'm digging this cooler weather, it was 53 degrees air temp here at 8am, high of 75 today, predicted low 52 tonight. Partially because of the cooler weather and lower flows, trout are rising quite a bit during the day. Had some very good reports over the weekend, both on dries & nymphs. The morning fishing is still very small dries #22-26 (Tricos, Summer/Winter Caddis) on long leaders & 7x tippets. Morning nymphing in the faster water is also good and less technical (big Stonefly nymphs, small mayfly nymphs, and caddis pupa). Evenings bring the somewhat "easier" dry fly fishing with bigger bugs in the #12-20 range that can be fished on 5x-6x tippets. Midday is terrestrials (ants, beetles, hoppers), dry/dropper, and nymphing (mostly smaller #18-20 nymphs & #16 Caddis Pupa).
George Daniel is once again doing two Nymphing Workshops for us on October 5th & 6th, 2019, 9am-2pm. Cost is $175, 6P max per class. Call 860-379-1952 to sign up, they fill up very fast. Click on
Classes page for details.
Mark Swenson's next
"Fly Fishing 101" beginner class will be on August 15th, 2019, click on
Classes link for more information, and call store at 860-379-1952 to sign up.
Flows: the MDC has been shooting for a total flow of 120-130cfs, this morning the total flow is 127cfs
(109cfs from the dam, 18cfs from the Still River). From the permanent TMA/Catch & Release to
the dam water temps have been running in the 60s the past few days, 8am temp at
Riverton Rt 20 bridge was 60 degrees this morning.
We
have a
pile of
Solarez colored UV Resin
in stock now- 9 colors. The first batch
went in a blink so I ordered a bunch this time, and expanded the color
range out. Now they are doing black, so I loaded up on that color, it's
the classic color to do a wingcase on a Perdigon nymph. Also traditional
is
to use black nail polish, but then you have to wait for it to dry before
you can coat it with clear UV Resin. This UV Resin speeds up the
process and is more durable than nail polish. Got a bunch of other colors too, including
various shades of fluorescent colors such as orange, pink, chartreuse,
red (fire orange really), etc, and other non-fluorescent colors like brown, grape, and shimmer copper. All
these colors make a good wingcase, or in the case of the fluorescent
ones, a good hotspot. We also have the ultra
thin Bone Dry formulation in black now. Solarez is hands-down the
best UV Resin on the market: cures the fastest, cures rock hard/durable,
and it's not tacky. It's also way less expensive than the other brands,
despite it's superior performance.
The upside to the lower flows of late Summer is more dry fly fishing, easier wading/access,
and it pushes many fish into the faster water. The fast water both gives
them cover from predators, as well as more oxygen. Warmer water doesn't
bother the trout, but rather it's the lower oxygen content as
water temps rise. So faster water is win-win for the trout. It's also
easier to approach the trout is broken/faster water. Think about
lengthening your leader (12' instead of 9') in low water to help prevent
spooking the trout, especially when fishing flatter pool water.
Lengthening the tippet section to 4' will also help get a drag-free
presentation with your dries (as long as it's not windy and you're not
throwing a big/wind-resistant dry). In general lower water = smaller
flies, exceptions for nymphing would be bigger Stoneflies in the
early/mid morns, and Isonychia type nymphs later in the day.
Good reports are coming from the Catch & Release area and upstream: Trico Spinners
(#22-26) are falling in the mid morning, the early morning has been bringing
Winter/Summer Caddis (#18-24). From late morning through the afternoon,
Blue Wing Olive (#20-24), Ants (#14-18), Beetles (#14-16), Chernobyl
Ants (#12-14) have been good. Evenings are bringing Isonychia
(#10-14) and Cream Cahills (#14), as well as Summer Stenos (#18-20). You may also see some assorted Caddis ((#14-20).
Early to mid mornings
& eves remain the peak fishing times, with dry fly fishing arguably
better/easier in the evenings (more & bigger bugs), however water
temps are coolest in the mornings and it's a great time to nymph the
fast water then. Although Isonychia hatches are light now, you can blind
fish them in the riffles in late afternoon/evening and bring trout up
to them, even if you don't see them on the water. They are a big bug
that hatch all summer long here, and the trout get used to them and
anticipate the hatch. And BIG trout love them.
Tricos will be with us for a while more. They are tiny and will average a #24, give or take
a hook size.
They are normally an early to mid morning hatch/spinner fall. FYI
with Tricos, the spinner fall is normally the main event. According to
the books, the spinners fall to the water at an air temp of
approximately 68 degrees.
Dry/Dropper
can be a fun way to fish now:
use a bigger buoyant dry (like a Mini Chernobyl, Chubby Chernybol 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 or 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 and not spook them. If you wanna
target big trout on the surface after dark, try a short/heavy 6-7.5' leader (0x)
with a deer hair mouse pattern- make sure to bring a BIG landing net
with you...:)
While
the focus for many of our customers seems is
dry flies, the subsurface
angling with nymphs, wet flies &
soft-hackles remains consistent and is often better than the dry fly fishing,
especially when the trout aren't rising and/or when they are refusing
your dries/emergers/spinners/terrestrials. The key when nymphing is to
focus on the faster/broken water (pool heads, riffles, runs, pocket
water, etc.), get your flies down, get a dead-drift, and cover lots of
water. Experiment with your flies, as the better producing flies may
change as the bug activity changes throughout the day.
Now is
still a
great time to experiment with fishing a pair (or even better yet a
trio) of soft-hackles/wetflies, it is both fun & very effective. It's an
efficient and pleasant way to cover a lot of water, and you can hit
those thin water lies near the banks that are hard to nymph- big browns
often hold in water like that, especially during hatches & low
light. It's also deadly during a hatch, as a lot of the bugs get eaten by trout just
under the surface, and that is where you are presenting these flies.
The people fishing soft-hackles &
wet flies are giving me some excellent reports, try soft hackles with
Hare's Ear bodies, Partridge & Orange/Yellow/Green/olive, etc.- these
flies will cover your various Caddis, Sulfurs, and Cahills/Summer Stenos. I recommend
fishing 2-3 at a time, on tag
end droppers, spaced about 20-30" apart. If tangles are a big problem,
go to 1 fly only, but be aware 2-3 at a time are more effective and
allow you to animate the flies in ways that you cannot do with a single
fly (eg. "dancing the top dropper").
We have a great assortment of custom tied soft-hackles in our bins by Dick Sablitz, they are both fun & deadly to fish. We have flies to imitate all the current hatches, the most effective way to fish them is 2-3 at a time on tag-end droppers.
Zach
St. Amand, one of the top local guides and frequent flyer in our big fish pictures,
is leading a trip with Andes Drifters to Patagonia for big wild
trout, February 8-15th 2019. He still has some availability, call him at 646-641-5618 to find out more or to get onboard.
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. Its 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.
Hours:
From April through October we are open 7 days a week, 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
Hatches/Dries:
Flows: the MDC has been shooting for a total flow of 120-130cfs, this morning the total flow is 127cfs
(109cfs from the dam, 18cfs from the Still River). From the permanent TMA/Catch & Release to
the dam water temps have been running in the 60s the past few days, 8am temp at
Riverton Rt 20 bridge was 60 degrees this morning. 
