The past couple weeks have seen an abundance of insect hatches with Caddis, PMDs, various other Mayflies, Yellow Sallies and a few Nocturnal Stoneflies in the mix as the primary food source for our trout.
There have been some epic days of dry fly fishing using PMDs, Parachute Adams, Purple Haze, Caddis, Ants and small attractor patterns such as the Delektable Chubbyness. There have also been some slower dry fly days, and many of us have turned to adding small nymphs about 3 feet under the dry fly or using two small nymphs with a small split shot. Most notably productive nymph patterns have been the Psycho Prince, Delektable Sure Strikes, Copper Johns, Red, Purple, Gold and Silver Lightning Bugs and the Delektable Hammerhead. Small Girdle Bugs in different colors have also come back into style after a brief hiatus following the salmon fly hatch. Split shot above the flies has allowed anglers to get down quickly behind rocks and into the buckets where fish seem to be lying in the middle of the day.
The weapon of choice for a lot of us though has been the streamer/nymph combo. An effective approach has been to cast dark sculpin patterns and various nymphs close to the bank, giving it a couple quick strips into deeper water where you can mend and dead drift through the buckets, eventually allowing it to swing across. This has produced good numbers and some quality fish. Ants and Hoppers should be just around the corner.
I hope you are enjoying all the fish porn…because its just going to keep going…Keep scrolling.
It’s a good time to Go fishing! So….GO:) -Parker