Fishing locally has been great despite our recent heat wave. We’ve made it through this heat wave without any wildfires here in the valley and without our local trout water getting too terribly hot. Water temperature is still a factor to be aware of as summer progresses. Prolonged elevated temperatures, especially warmer nights can have negative impacts on trout health. As conscious anglers, we should be aware of this and do everything in our power to mitigate harm to the fish.
Trout behavior can change drastically with temperature swings, but it is very predictable. During these hot days, fish will be pushed up higher in the rivers and creeks. In each run, fish will be pushed towards the head of the pool where there is a higher concentration of dissolved oxygen. There also is more surface turbulence towards the head of a pool which provides cover from predators because they cant see in the water. Once water temperatures reach 65 you should start being extra careful when trout fishing. Use heavier tippet and bring fish in quickly, keep them in the water, and release them as quick as possible. As a rule I like to move upstream and find colder water when the water is 65 and up. This is also a great time of year to hit the high lakes, or smaller streams with lots of shade, as they stay cooler. This time of year you should be carrying a thermometer to gauge water temps. I especially like the
Fishpond Riverkeeper Digital Thermometer; I clip it to my net and check the temperature by pushing my net deep underwater. The Hareline Stream Thermometer also makes a good option. Warmwater fishing for bass and panfish also makes a great option as they are more heat tolerant. The coast is also an option; Surfperch fishing is great this time of year off the beach, or rockfish and lingcod off the jetty.
Lately we have been seeing hatches of Golden Stoneflies, Yellow Sallies, and assorted Caddis in the afternoons. There is a relatively reliable hatch of Pale Morning and evening Duns every morning and evening. As things warm up even more lately terrestrials play a big role in trout’s diets. Crickets, beetles, grasshoppers, ants, and other land based insects become increasingly important to our local trout. This is even more important on smaller streams with brushy banks.
The most effective, versatile, and straightforward way to fish right now is with a dry-dropper setup. For those of you that do not know, this is a setup which uses a buoyant dry fly too suspend a nymph subsurface. It makes for a great way to search water because you cover the surface and subsurface simultaneously. Often the dry fly has to be bigger and tied with buoyant materials to be able to suspend a nymph below. The larger insects present that you would be mimicking with your large dry would be a Golden Stonefly or a larger grasshopper. Other “attractor” style dries that just look “buggy” are great options too. Try these for your dry fly portion of your rig in sizes 6-12: Fools Gold Golden Stoneflies, Willy’s Ant, or a Double Stack Chubby Chernobyl Fly. The nymphs that we like to run below our dries are slim bodied jig nymphs in sizes #12-16 this time of year. Choose the fly size/weight that best matches the depth of the water you are fishing, and proportionately matches how buoyant your fly is. Here are some shop favorites for your dropper nymph: Jigged Duracell, Jigged Frenchie, or a Tungsten Jig PMD.
For fishing a single dry fly, the most reliable hatch that you will come across is the PMD/PED hatch. This is the summer hatch where you can consistently cast at rising fish. If the hatch is happening in the morning or evening try some of these: Tactical Light Cahill Parachute, Quigley’s Film Critic PMD, or a Rusty Spinner. If you are seeing lots of larger fluttering golden colored insects, they are likely gold stones and we would recommend fishing one of the following: Burkus Bearback Rider Golden Stone, Morrish Fluttering Stone, or a yellow/gold colored Chubby Chernobyl. During the mid day lull searching with a small yellow sally can be effective; here are some shop favorites: Silvey’s Yellow Sally or Front End Loader. Searching in the afternoon with a small caddis can be effective, especially into dusk. Feel free to tag one of these behind a larger golden stonefly or fish it solo: X2 Caddis, Peacock Caddis, or an Olsen’s Foam Front End Loader. Lastly, general attractors sized #10-16 will bring fish to surface in the morning and late afternoon, here are some great attractors that are must haves in your box: Carlson’s Purple Haze, Elk Hair Caddis Tan, or an Adams Heavy Hackle Parachute.
Terrestrial insects are what you want to be throwing if you’re on smaller rivers and creeks or fishing near a brushy bank. These would be grasshoppers, ants, crickets, beetles, etc. We recently wrote an article on terrestrials and listed our top 5 here. Feel free to run a small nymph below any of the more buoyant ones as well.
Midday when its sunny and hot dry fly fishing can turn off. The heat can be exhausting for fish to exert energy to surface and the bright sun makes them vulnerable to predators. You certainly can fish your dry dropper rig throughout the day, but indicator and euro nymphing can be especially effective when fish wont surface to eat. Pairing a larger stonefly nymph with something smaller is generally effective. Here are some great options for your larger fly: Sili Leg Stone Fly, Mega Prince, or a Tunghead 20 Incher. Here are some choices for smaller flies: Jig Fullback Napoleon, Jigged Perdigon, or Improved Jigged 20 Incher.
As things get real warm here turning towards warmwater fishing may help ease stress on our local trout fisheries. Fern Ridge, the Coast Fork Willamette, South Umpqua, John Day, and other ponds are great local options. Fish poppers and mice on the surface in the morning and evening for explosive surface action, here are some great sellers that we have in the shop: Surface Seducer Patriot Popper, Surface Seducer Double Barrel Foam Popper, or a Morrish’s Mouse For streamers, we like the following: Clouser Deep Minnow, Sculpzilla, or a Meat Sweats.
The word is out that it is a great steelhead year locally. People are consistently picking up fish on the Mckenzie, the Willamette, and the Santiam drainage. MF Willamette remains high with more consistent success coming out of the Willamette in town, McKenzie and Santiam drainage. A few positive reports have come out of the North Umpqua, but preliminary counts are not encouraging across Winchester as of this update. Now is when the lower Deschutes should have a few around. Swinging is effective for summers throughout the day. All techniques are effective mornings and evenings. Flashier, larger flies with heavier tips is the program as the sun hits the water. Here are some must haves for swinging: Coo Coo for Cocoa Puff’s, Hoh Bo Spey, or a Moal Leech. People are also picking them up on larger flashier nymphs like: Steelhead Lightning Bug, Rogue Steel Stone, or a Double Bead Epoxyback Peacock.
If you need anything swing by the shop and chat with us, we are happy to help. We can also help you over the phone give us a call. Have fun out there, now is a great time to work higher up and explore new water that is colder!
-Simon
