Put simply: Your 10 foot 3 weight is probably not going to perform well at casting a fly line, especially if its a little windy. It is the mass that makes a fly rod work, not the speed, and it is this mass that we rely on to correct drifts by “mending” with out disturbing our fly. Mending happens both in the air and on the water. A mend in the air is technically a specialty cast and a topic for another time. A mend on the water can, and should, be performed by even a novice fly angler.
There are tons of details and intricacies that need to happen once the fly is on the water, and the fish is still unaware of your presence, but until that first task is completed well, the rest is moot.
Now is the in-between time. It’s no longer really summer but fall is not yet here. The fishing is as good as it’s been all year, but for me at least, it’s like a good bowl of tobacco in a favorite pipe. It started off well, full of potential and excitement. There were a few hiccups along the way, a little burble in the shank, probably due to the moisture that has stoved into the hills for what seems like weeks on end, and has had a soggy effect on the fishing too. The mid point was strong, tasty and full of moments of pleasure. A few times I was greedy and puffed harder, trying to demand more from the sweet smoky leaf, and as always, I got bit. Now near the end my tongue has grown weary, and the flavors, while still present, have fallen victim to my own fatigue. I’m going through the motions, only occasionally surprised by some level of texture rather than taste.
Now is the time of year to head up or head down. Mid-elevation streams have either gone the way of the spring and faded into their summer estivation or are over run with tubers, swimmers, and other fly fishermen. Ones best move is to find your inner child and go exploring. Put on the hiking boots, pull out the maps, and seek out backcountry waters. Or put on the flip flops and swimming trunks and pursue the smallmouth bass of the big low elevation rivers.
If you are headed to the river this time of year make it a 6 to 9 kind of day. Nymph fishing is very productive in the first hour or two with mayfly and caddis patterns both producing well. A Pheasant Tail Nymph in a size 16, with an 18 or 20 Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle as a dropper, are producing well.
Ants make up a very large portion of the diet of a trout during the summer months along with other terrestrials such as beetles and inchworms. A random caddis may find its way into the maul of a big brown as well but by and large the bulk of the biomass available to summer trout is in the form of an ant. Trout seem to have a strong affinity for these little formic acid filled sour treats. Ive been told they like the acidic taste, but Im more inclined to believe its the availability and helplessness of the food form that lends to such a sustained sight picture in the mind of summer trout.
May came in with more rain, a sudden drop in temperature and a rise in wind speed. Early May was akin to late March with 30 degree nights, snow at high elevations, high winds, and mid day hatches. Our Sulphurs came off strong at the end of April and with the high water produced some great under water and top water action. They have now begun to fade into Cahills which will soon leave the river and hand it over to the Little Yellow Stoneflies known as Sallies. Rumors of Drakes and Cicadas are showing up on social media and in riverside conversations and should be here strong by the end of the month.
Now that the Hendricksons have passed; their close cousins, the larger of the Sulphurs, have arrived. These are not the tiny dorthea Sulphurs that will arrive later in the spring but the larger invaria. These bugs are about a size 16-14 with watery dun colored wings and a dirty yellow body sporting hot peachy orange segments about the abdomen.
Its been a more typical spring here in Pisgah Forest. It looks like the drought may be past us as we have been getting very regular rains and thunder storms. The Davidson and other area streams are running high and clear after this week's rains, but should be dropping into normal flows by the weekend.
