Mid Summer Fishing Report

Mid-Summer Fishing

Fishing this summer has been really good, and it has been since the season opened back in April. It has not backed off even in the warmer months. At this point the Hex is about over and it was one of the better Hex hatches we have seen in a while. Out of a dozen plus trips I did on the hex only a couple were not worth my time. It stayed mostly in the mainstem of the river. It has not traveled up into the lower Fall River yet and it may not make it that far this season. I have seen a few in the lower Fall but not enough to warrant hanging out there to find out if the fish were on them since the fishing was better farther down. That’s where we targeted the trips.

The late summer time bugs should be getting started here soon. Hopefully by the end of July or the beginning of August. I have been putting folks onto fish with the water boatmen and that’s always a hardy grab. There is still a lot of juvenile fish being taken but they are getting bigger. It has been a good year for big fish, good enough to surpass last season, which was one of the better big fish seasons we have had in a long time. The Fish are starting to spread out in the system and I am seeing fish in places where I didn’t see them earlier in the season.

This is the time of season when you want to start using a longer leader, with the flat calm clear water; it pays off. Start changing your flies a little more than normal. With this heat unless there is a good active hatch it may take a little convincing to get the fish to open their mouth.

One of the things I like to try to accomplish when guiding or in my blog is to try to get folks to think outside the box a little.

What works for one person does not always work for another. (i.e., in the above text there is a lot of information if you understand how to use it, and there is a huge amount of information that I hope leads you to think on your own; or to think about what is not said.)

If I started to name “the late summer time bugs” the first thing that happens is;
I get a comment from someone stating that they looked at a report from a fly shop, or some other report. That report said to have something totally different. Or they were out in May with some other guide and they used something totally different. Well that was in May, here it is the end of July and things have changed dramatically. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. So, if it doesn’t work be ready to change, don’t keep throwing something at them they are not eating just because it worked three months ago. My point being is that maybe you should try both. Or look up just exactly what are the late summer time bugs for the water you are going to fish. Then instead of buying or tying an overabundance of one type of bug, you have a variety of bugs that work. Also, you will have a better understanding of how the system you are fishing really works.

I am still seeing a lot of really big fish mixed in with the juvenile fish but they are starting to break off and move around a little. Most of the juvenile fish are hanging in shallow to medium depth water.

So where are the bigger fish hanging out?? Hmmm think about it. Good fishing everyone hope to see you out there.