By the end of July we find
ourselves immersed in the season of small flies. Every day is different. The
river changes, rising & falling. Though evening sedge hatches are a
constant, they are in flux. Hubcap bright days of 100 degree temperatures push
the emergence, & the fishing, right up against dark. Mild, cloudy days are
golden. Low light brings everything on, & in low light the trouting can be
good all day. The major hatches of drakes & PMD have passed, though there
are still some around & the bigger trout have good memory of them. There
are some olive stoneflies. Smatterings of small mayflies. Several species of
small sedges in all stages & in numbers beyond imagination.
Pinky - an all-purpose soft-hackle - when wet it looks like everything. |
Trout are grazing the top of
the water column & finding all they want.
This is, simply, the best
time of year to swing small soft-hackle flies. Now is when the flies & the
method really come together with the natural condition of things. This is a
good time to fish those new designs we’ve been wanting to try out. And old
stand-by, all-purpose simulators like the Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail, Turkey
& Starling, Leisenring Black Gnat, Partridge & Orange, or any of the
old Partridge & Whatever combinations in #16 will turn the trick.
Or maybe two to a cast will turn the trick even better.
You can put away the bobber & jig. Time to flyfish, in the classic sense. High summer & it's time to
swing.
Flyfish NE Washington with Steven Bird: http://ucflyfishing.blogspot.com