Yes, it's only the beginning of May but we can not forget about JUNE. This is the beginning of the EVENING RISE season, the witching hour of fly fishing. I'm not talking about 9 to 5 fishing on a tailwater but the time when things come alive on our freestones. Fish them at Noon and you may leave disappointed. Fish them after supper and you may not want to leave. You'll certainly want to come back!!
By mid June the major insect hatches have left the mid day theater and have swung into the evening and we anxiously await our March Browns and Cahills to arrive on the scene. Our fly fishing literature is full of scenes where wise fly fishermen stake out a run or pool and wait for the SIGN - the RISE. Soon the water is full of rising trout as the sun begins to sink below the western ridges. It has ALWAYS been my favorite time!!
Things to look for -
1. A cloudy, overcast day will mean that you will have rising action earlier than if you were fishing a crystal clear day especially if you are chasing browns.
2. A box full of comparduns and DHE emergers in sizes 14 through 16 will be all that you will need in the vast majority of evenings.
3. Absolutely NO NEED for a rod lighter than a 4 wt, period. A 4wt works fine and a 5wt may be better.
You owe it to yourself to get on a river like the Millers, Ware or the EB by 5pm. Swing soft hackles until the shadows grow and then work your dry fly magic. It's the BEST time to fly fish.
The Swift
Well, it looks like they decided to stock the Swift. I'll believe it when I see it.
Ken
10 comments:
Soft hackles in the film work good too!
I am going to the swift after work possibly ware river as well! Will post if the below Rt.9 is back and alive!
Damir
Damir,
That would be really appreciated. I haven't been on the section from Rt 9 to Cady Lane because my guiding has me elsewhere. It would be nice to see some fish down there. I guided a gent who said that Cady Lane had lots of rising rising fish last week but he couldn't catch any.
Ken
Ken,
Fished from the pipe parking lot to little past the pipe.. saw one lost rainbow.. sucker's are coming up for their spawn but unfortenutly no trout to speak of trailing them.. I didnt fish by the duck pool or by the bridge area. I went to the Ware hoping to have some luck by the airport but nothing there. The river was little high for my liking there. I spoke with a gentleman at the pipe who said the fish that was put there last couple stockings was fished out by a bait guy.. he said that excessive amount of fish have been taken. I am going by second hand information I didnt see it but thats what I was told. I don't think I'll visit below Rt.9 until brookies come or after July 1st.
Thanks,
Damir
Damir,
Although there is poaching down by the Pipe I don't think one guy could empty a stretch of river in that short of time. I think that they are stocking but stocking fewer fish than past years.
Ken
i did really good on the bridge street section again 7 rainbows couple of them were airborne jumpers. awesome fight! river is dropping pretty good. i do think it will be another couple days for surface action. i used a joes fly which is primarily a surface lure will sink a little but no hits. switched too thomas bouyants and they slammed them i could see the rainbows swirling for them it travels a little deeper than the joes fly
You can't call a guy out for keeping fish. But after July 1st, you can. Maybe trout stocking will be heavy after that. More so than normal I hope. At the pipe I'm talking.
A side question: which fish species stocked by the state are capable of reproducing in the wild? I believe, based on past discussion, that Rainbows are not. I think and hope that brook trout are. Not sure about brown trout. Asking mainly looking at the stocking patterns of small streams. One, in particular, that I am following got brookies last year and now brown trout this year. Wondering if the expectation from the state is that they are able to reproduce or just get fished out.
Ken,
I hit the swift above rte 9 on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day and EVERYONE was out. I saw alot of fish in spillway/Y pool , but I didn't see a lot of fish being caught. I worked the spillway and got blanked. I tried a number of different patterns from your swift killer bug, #20 black zebra midges, #18-22 pheasant tails, your DHE ( which sat perfectly in the film, but is probably too big for that part of the river)and a one or two other dry patterns, but nothing worked. I then hit the bubbler once the other anglers left and finally caught a few brookies on a small tan soft hackle that was dropped off a bead head pheasant tail nymph and bounced off the bottom. I saw a number of white suckers paired up and occasionally a rainbow would be trying to sandwich herself between or behind them. So, I thought I'd bounce a yellow egg sack pattern off the bottom and it generated zero interest. Slow day, but it was nice just being in the water. By 3pm, there was not a single person in the river from the bubbler all the way down to rte 9.
Paul
Johnson,
Brookies and browns can reproduce in the wild. There is no "pattern" for stocking and the dfw isn't in the business of establishing wild populations. They are in the business of stocking catchable fish.
BTW, had a good day on the Ware Friday.
Ken
Post a Comment