It has been a very long time since my last post. I have been very busy working for the last few months and have avoided a long time around an internet connection.
Fishing has had it's plusses and minuses since last post. After our Cicada insanity through June we enjoyed another three weeks of absolutely gonzo fishing with our "Magnifica" Cicada's. These are close cousins to the little 7 year cicada's we experienced on the upper river. They are much larger, fished with size 2-6 imitations. Have a 13-15 year life cycle. And when these bad boys are out, the fishing is no holds barred. Big fish who are educated and reserved tend to throw caution to the wind. I have never seen so many 20+ inch fish caught within a 3 week period before. These large phenomenal bugs were on the B and C sections of the river and were the source of a lot of fun.
Towards the end of the cicada's run the upper 5 miles of the a section of the river fished increasingly technical. I managed to do well fishing a size 12-14 black chernobyl ant in the first 5 miles of A, and either fat alberts, or brown Chernobyls in the lower two miles.
Flows this year have been going fairly strange, with mixed benefits. We had an extended period of high flows, and at the end of high flows, the powers that be started running the river at around 1600-2000 cfs a day. This was great, as a result of these heightened water levels we have experienced more abundance of food for the trout, more oxygen in the water, and more room. All of these directly influenced a greatly increased average health for the fish in the river. And for those of us on the river. It meant that we had less rocks that we could be hitting in the bonier stretches of the river. But these flows have been a bit deceiving and we have seen a few wrecked boats in the river. It still never ceases to amaze me at what can happen to people when they do not respect the river.
As the summer draws to a close, we are still seeing abundant hoppers around the river in the lower mile or two. This has kept the dry fishing very well for the last little bit of the day. The dry is fishing increasingly more difficult in the top of the A section. But is still very doable, providing the patience to work for fewer eats, and many more refusals.
As the fall approaches and the days get colder. We look at more days fishing nymph rigs, and less full dry fly days. We should be seeing an emergence of our small fall Blue Wings (pseudo's) which are fished well on the surface with very small mayfly patterns. And nymphing becomes even smaller and more delicate. Mostly fishing with sz. 20-22 zebra midges ( I find using black tungsten beads at this time to be more beneficial) and sz. 22-24 gray emergers, like the GT emerger, or my favorite, the gray RS2.
As always, I look forward to seeing you all out here, hopefully fishing with me.
-John
