Heres a nice little addition to your fly patterns. This fly is “money” on the Farmington and a solid tie for the box of any fly angler. This fly is designed to be very heavy and drift along the bottom, “rolling” in between rocks and boulders where trout lie waiting for food to pass by. That being said you should fish this fly in swift rocky runs and the current seams directly behind them where this insect flourishes. You can fish this with a Czech, Polish, Euro, or any other style of fly fishing nymphs, the key being the weight that keeps this bugger down in the strike zone.
A solid glowing, twilight pattern for those out there searching for those large trout that many times will only come to the surface to sip insects in the cover of darkness. Enjoy!
Water flow: Water levels have dropped this week down to a combined 1000cfs for the upper TMA.
Visibility: Clearing
Water temp: 34*F – am warming to 36*F on warmer days
Water conditions: River is running a little high but still mostly negotiable.
Hatches: W/S Caddis pupae 22-24, Gray Spring Stoneflies 12-16,
Would the "Infamous" Kahle Worm please stand up!
Comments: The water level has been extremely high for the past week. I fished the Upper TMA both with streamers and nymphs with a good bit of success. The sun provided some warmth which got the fish moving a little and feeding. Some Go-To’s are Yellow Stonefly Nymphs 10-14, Crane fly larva 4-6, Kahle worms 4-6, small eggs or sucker spawn, W/S Caddis larvae 16-18, Pheasant Tail Nymph 16-18. Streamers like Zonkers, Clousers, and Wooly Buggers will give a nice profile for fish to slash at. I have received some action on some tandem streamers that I tied up for the high water flows of Spring. Nymphing was especially good to me this week landing several nice Browns. I will be looking for some dry fly action on W/S Caddis pupae this weekend, the waters’ warming trend should bring on some solid hatches of these critters right at daybreak or soon thereafter. Look for this to happen especially on slower moving parts of the river. The snow has finally removed itself from most of our local parking spots and Anglers once again will be able to find their way into most parking areas. Good luck out there and hope to see you all on the river!
Action! At Last Light. Stack the deck in your Favor!
Have you ever truly realized the potential of flyfishing in low light conditions? Large trout have a tendency to feed more actively in dim conditions. The cover of darkness is a great way for trout to avoid predators and take advantage of food sources that becomes available under these conditions. These food sources can be comprised of various mayfly spinners in a whole array of sizes. Some spinners can come in very small sizes and can be hard to spot lying flat on the water so keep your eyes peeled and look at the water closely if you are not sure of their presence. Some mayflies hatch right into darkness and patterns that imitate them are excellent pattern choices. Take Isonychia for example, the duns can continue to emerge right into total darkness and throughout the night. I love to fish these bad boys in size 10-12 after dusk while listening to the fish come up and sip well into nightfall. Sipping trout actually make a slurping sound when feeding. Listening is a very effective way of detecting strikes in this night game.
Low light conditions also eliminate many obstacles between fishermen and the feeding trout. First it allows you to use much larger tippet sizes because of the low visibility. The increased breaking strength of a heavier tippet is always handy when trying to land larger trout. Next, fish aren’t as easily spooked by your flyline and leader landing near them. As they feed on naturals and the light decreases, they are comforted by a darkened sky and the natural presence of fewer fishermen. Many have already left the water when the action starts ramping up. Fish typically develop a rhythm of picking off insects as they float in the drift. At times the feeding frenzy can be furious leaving them vulnerable to a well placed fly.
This low light condition is not specific to nighttime, it also applies to early morning when the sun hasn’t fully risen. Fish can feed heavily on spinners in the early morning hours, creating a wonderful opportunity to get on some heavy fish. Many trout cruise pocket water and back eddies during early morning hours slurping up spinners and any insects left from the night before. There’s nothing like leftovers! Some types of Caddis become active in the morning causing trout to opportunistically feed on Caddis larvae and pupae during the wee hours of the morning. These make excellent fly choices.
Often large trout cannot be seen sipping insects from long distances as the light recedes or reappears, causing many fly fisherman to overlook a subtle take from a large trout or simply not see them feeding at all. Don’t let this happen to you. When darkness moves in or the sun is far from rising over the mountains, move quietly and slowly to feeding trout. The goal being to perfectly present your fly at shorter distances with laser like precision; Meanwhile staying ever keen using your other senses to detect the presence of nearby gently sipping trout. The next time your on the water and the sun is on its way up or down put this logic to good use and take away the trouts instinctive advantages over you. With a little luck you will put a few more trout in your net. Good luck!
Hatches (in order of importance): Sulphurs 16-20, March Brown/Grey Fox 12-14, Isonychia 10-12, Winter/Summer Caddis 18-20 am, Blue Winged Olives 16-20 evenings and foul weather, Tan and Green Caddis 16-20
Comments: The water this week has fallen below 300 Cfs, the need for much finer tippets will be upon us soon. The Sulphur hatches in the afternoon have been lackluster for me and I have purposely been fishing the sulphurs that are coming off in the late evening, taking nice trout on both the dun and the emerger. When nymphing I use tags on my leader to attach emerger patterns, but when I am fishing dries I drop an emerger off the bend of the hook. Some people say its a pain and I couldn’t disagree with them more, it catches fish period. Not to mention how many times it saved my neck when fish were feeding exclusively on emergers. Sulphur spinners have been working well at last light, some fish have been feeding solely on them and its taken me a while to catch on. When I responded I went straight to a Sulphur spinner and Bingo! The presence of the Isonychia has me overflowing with joy! I love these bugs, they are big and meaty and easily seen and the fish just love them. I had an outing this weekend where I made it a point to catch fish on all stages of Isonychia and the fish responded eagerly. The morning Winter/Summer Caddis hatches are still producing good numbers of trout, when the sun pokes over the trees its scary what you might turn on a 18-22 foam Caddis Pupae. French Nymphing any of these hatches has been dynamite producing good healthy fish. I would recommend fishing with this method at the front end of a hatch before fish are feeding on duns. I have been fishing with less weight and adding wetflies or emerger patterns as my dropper. I lost a fish the other day in a foot of water. I thought I was snagged and I pulled on the rod twice to try and free it, then it pulled back and with a head shake and my 5x fluorocarbon gave under the strain. Enjoy the warmer weather and good luck to you all and we at JWFlyfishing hope to see you soon on the Farmington River.
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