Temperatures in the 80’s shut down the blue wing olive hatch this last weekend. (The previous weekend had highs of 50 and the BWO hatch was good) I assume our more seasonal temperatures today brought them out, but I will need to wait until Friday to know for sure. This last weekend I resorted to some terrestrials and caddis to tempt a few trout to the surface. I stuck with the Copper Johns and Midges for all of my nymph fishing. I don’t think we fished anything else. Seemed to fool a number of the rainbows and a few of the browns. Remember the spawn has started for the Brown Trout. The spawning beds will look like cleaned spots in the bottom of the stream… very obvious if you are looking for them. Please don’t walk through them or attempt to catch the fish sitting on the beds. The last month we have been catching a number of three to five inch browns… very cool!!! That tells me that we had a successful spawn last year, we need to make it another good year based on the number of fisherman on the stream this past summer. Unfortunately I have seen a number of browns on stringers that won’t be laying eggs this fall. (Keep the rainbows… that is a ‘put and take’ program the DNR promotes… the DNR is not bringing trucks full of browns to the streams)
The next couple of nights will be spent splitting wood to warm the trout shack this weekend for our fishing clients… snow is in the forecast for Saturday night through Monday. Don’t let that scare you, dress warm and be ready for those Blue Wing Olives.
Flies to Fish in the coming weeks:
Nymphs: Copper John, Prince, Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear (#18 to #16) Caddis (#16 to #14) Midge (#20 to #16) (Red Copper John trailed by a black or tan midge has been really good for me lately).
Dries: Caddis (#16 to #14) – Griffith’s Gnat (#20 to #18) Blue Wing Olives are out there, they should come on strong with this cool weather. #20 to #18… probably can get by with a #16.
Terrestrials: Ants, beetles, crickets and hoppers – mid-morning through late afternoon – with emphasis on the warmest and sunniest part of the day (getting close to being done with these as there are a number of cold nights in the forecast). Windy days are good too.
Emergers: Any emerger/wet fly/soft hackle to match the dry flies above. Fish it with the dry. Fish a softie when they’re taking emergers!!! The fish are less particular about the soft hackle than they are about the dry fly.
Streamers/Buggers: If you are looking for big fish or if the water is a little off color….or if nothing else is working.
Fishing report by Kent Kleckner of Bear Creek Anglers in Decorah, Iowa.