What a difference a year makes. The water is LOW, everywhere!! But even with these conditions one can find decent fly fishing. The EB - Tuesday evening found low flows BUT rising trout. All the action started after 6pm, first in the shaded pools with rising fish. Size 16 sulphurs brought the 'bows up although I didn't see one brown joining in. Last night I hit the Kempfield Pool on the Millers where I saw the same odd surface action that I saw during the low water June of '07 - browns flying out of the water on the south bank of the long, slow pool at the end of this stretch. Their action was "odd". These fish were smashing the surface or jumping two feet into the air for SOMETHING!! The surface was littered with sulphur spinners but that's not what they wanted. I caught one on a spinner out of the dozen that playing around. After a while I quit that scene and managed two browns among the rocks upstream. The ROCKS - I've always said that dry fly action starts when you can see the rocks. Well, the rocks are now one to two feet above the surface. We need rain!!!
Hit these rivers in the early morning or in the evening. The water temperature is ok and with a morning air temperature today of 46 degrees and with 43 degrees predicted for Friday morning things will not heat up too badly.
Pray for rain, the exact opposite of the last two years.
Ken
5 comments:
Saw exactly the same on the Millers tonite....fish flying 2 feet or more out of the water...splashing down....sulphur spinners everywhere...fooled a couple using the old standby...the royal coachman.
before even hitting the water saw a fox with dinner in it's mouth..a bald eagle circling right above me for what seemed like forever...the typical beaver at the kempfield..and the heron who comes to sit on the big rock where the brook feeds into the pool...was a good nite on the millers
I've only seen this (clearing the water) happen once before and it was under low water conditions. If they jump close enough you can hear a quivering sound. Very strange.
The eagle - he's been a regular at the Kempfield for five years. There was a dead tree at the tail of the pool which was his hangout. It blew down last year but I guess he's still around.
Ken
Saw this happen last year. Noticed trout jumping for and catching large damsel flies hovering above the water. White bodied damsels. Broke off of two fish with Dette Coffin Fly fished like a skater. I want another chance at this...
Early morning, June 26th, same activity. The fish were leaping high out of the water opposite the house (don't know the pool names). An #18 elkhair caddis took 3 browns. But the water was very warm, 72F, and the fish were clearly stressed. Each needed reviving before release and they were not long on the hook. I'll wait for cooler temps.
Hit the Miller River yesterday (7/13) early, early in the morning through 11:30am. Saw the same phenomena, where the trout where leaping 2+ feet out of the water for something. Eagle, beavers, heron all in place as well. I found the fish hitting extremely well on a Letort Cricket pattern. Everything else just wasn't interesting to them. With the low water & high temps, the fish become EXTREMELY stressed even after a fast take. You really have to work with them to resuscitate them. Make sure you help them! I'll wait till fall to go back.
Post a Comment