Waiting For CoolerTempertures

 When is the best time to land fish using the fly rod? August stands out as the least productive month, particularly for warm-water species. Bass and Bluegill tend to retreat to deeper waters during the hottest times of the year, typically July and August when surface temperatures can reach a scorching 87/88 degrees. However, as the water begins to cool in late September and October, the fish become more active, marking a significant shift in behavior. 

The tailrace gets most of my attention during these summer months. I would rather stand in 58-degree water than sit in the boat and wipe sweat from my forehead. 

This past Tuesday's trip on the tailrace was my first outing to fish the tailrace in a while. Why? It is hard to leave landing the spotted bass and super-sized gills on the lake during April, May, and June, the prime times to fish the lake. 

I arrived at the parking lot at 6 a.m. and discovered I was the only one there. Great, I will fish a couple of holes near access six. Before I suited up, I walked down the metal walkway to check the water lever and saw the generators had been on early that morning. I knew then I would have to wait at least an hour or more for the water to recede before I could wade anywhere near the areas I would fish. So I sat in the truck and reorganized my five fly boxes while listening to my sevenies songbook on my flash drive. 

Finally, the water receded, and I reached access six to fish my first pocket hole. The water was lower than I expected. Neither pocket hole produces any trout. I used my Euro nymphing 10' 4"  fly rod paired with my Orvis fly reel. I'm still learning to detect a take, especially in a slow current. I soon discovered I was battling two enemies: the bright sun lighting up the areas I was fishing and a tremendous amount of fishing pressure the week before. So I looked for shade, which was above access six. I sit up in a hole and run. I had fished many times before. I am now into my fourth fly change. I selected a size 12 pheasant tail as my point fly and added a size 18 green midge as my upper fly. My tippet ring was tied about 16" above the point fly. I use the tippet ring so I don't have to keep tying knots when changing flies above the point fly.

Cast after cast, in the first run, didn't produce a trout, but I didn't lose hope. Moving to deeper water, I finally landed my first trout. The take was light, but I was proud of detecting the hit. I am still learning to land a trout using the long Euro rod, but I am getting better with every trip. This form of fly fishing will be my mode of fishing in this place because of the amount of fishing pressure it endures. The rest of today's trip enabled me to practice my casting technique mainly because the trout developed lockjaw. As I was leaving and walking up the incline back to the truck, I remembered this hit song by "Three Dog Night" in the seventies, "One is the loneliness number," which might have been the feeling of the lone trout I landed today. But for me, it was a great way to spend the morning. 

Euro Nymphing---Trail and Error

I did a post in March involving Euro Nymphing and had some success with the new technique that day, but I left the tailrace knowing I needed to spend more time on Euro Nymphing's casting and hook-setting phase. I am still learning to use the cast effectively and how to detect a hit from the trout. For those who haven't tried Euro Nymphing, it can take some time to master. One can land trout using the method when traditional fly casting isn't producing. 

As stated many times by me, the Sipsey Tailrace is battered to death with every fly and live bait on the market to catch a trout. So I switched to the Euro Nymphing method to improve my odds of landing more trout on the pressured tailrace. So far, it has worked to the point that I can connect with a trout but not bring the fish to the net; in other words, I am losing too many trout, especially on yesterday's trip. Detecting the hit is the problem, and not getting a good hook set. The online class I watched on Utube showed setting the hook using an upward movement of the fly rod. The hook point drives through the top of the trout's mouth when using that hook-set method. I hope this hook-set method improves my catch ratio. Breaking an old habit of setting the hook in a side motion frustrates me. I need to slap my face every time I miss a trout by using the side motion hook-set. I am too much of a perfectionist when fly fishing is involved!

 This trout was my lone trout for the morning after many missed hits. At least I didn't get skunked! I landed this trout in one of the numerous pocket holes I fish. There was enough current to move the nymph without me forcing it to move. I have learned Euro Nymphing is much easier to master when fishing in current.

The length of the quarter-mile stretch was heavy fog and thick humidity as I entered the bottom of the gorge. Lots of moss-covered rocks in the shallow runs, making it a challenge to wade. I didn't take a chance of falling even with my wading staff in this broad run.

I wanted to share a picture of Hallie Mae, who is ten months old. She has stayed with Cathey and me this past week while her parents, brothers, and sisters are on the bench in Florida. She is getting frustrated trying to learn to crawl. Hopefully, she will be crawling all over the place before the fourth of July. We didn't let her cry at all, and before the week was out, she had Meme and Pops trained well!

Hope all you Dad's have a HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Pairing Fly Rods With Fly Reels

 When some individuals buy a fly rod they like to pair it with a fly reel that gives them balance with the reel size, its weight, and the weight of the fly rod. When it comes to balancing a fly reel and fly rod it all depends on where you move your forefinger on the cork handle to get the reel and rod to sit in a straight horizontal position. I know a lot of you guys use this method to balance a combo you are purchasing and a lot of fly fishing shops adhere to this method.

 I tend to follow my own method which is if you like the feel of the combo then go with it. An example of what I'm talking about is my 5 wt 9 ft. Redington Trout Classic fly rod. This fly rod is the heaviest I use when fishing for the Spotted Bass on Smith Lake. As you can see in the image I have it paired with a Gloomis 3--4 wt. fly reel. The balance, lightness, and appearance I get with this 5 wt. combo suits my needs. The norm recommended by a fly shop would be a 5 wt. or even a 6 wt large arbor fly reel paired with this 5 wt. fly rod. True the balance is there and you have more fly line using a big arbor reel, but does one really need or even use that amount of fly line when landing a larger fish? I feel that large arbor reels have their place in flyfishing but pair this size reel with a 3 or 4 wt. flyrod is a little overboard. I have seen individuals fishing the Sipsey using large arbor reels with an 8 and 8 1/2 ft. 3 wt. They probably view my 9 ft. 3 wt. fly rod paired with my 3 wt. fly reel as lightweight. Pairing fly rods and fly reels in an unconventional fashion is the preference of the fly fishermen.

 In this image my 4 wt. 9 ft. Trout Classic is paired with another Gloomis 3--4 wt. fly reel. This flyrod gives me the backbone to land a larger fish if the occasion arises. My 4 wt. is my favorite of all the fly rods I use. It's not heavy and not too light, in other words, it may be the best all-around fly rod for fly fishing. I have no data to back this up but I feel fly fishermen would choose this fly rod as their best all-around fly rod. Both Gloomis fly reels are paired with my 5 and 4 wt. flyrods which are small reels compared to a large arbor reel. Both measure 2 3/4" in dia--1" width and line spool width of 3/4 inch. A 100 ft. of fly line fills both reels without the use of backing. The backing on fly reels is used mainly to fill the spool of the fly reel and not for landing a fish. In fact, if one ever reaches the backing on a fly reel when landing a fish, then they are probably going to lose the fish.

This image shows my 9 ft. 3 wt. Streamflex pair with Battenkill II reel. I like the feel and appearance of this combo. I am interested in how the color of the flyrod matches the reel. I wouldn't fish with a fly rod that has a color other than brown, maroon grey, or green. I guess one can call me old school when it comes to flyrod colors. The reel paired with the Streamflex measures 2 3/4" dia---width of reel is 7/8" and the spool width is 1/2".  There is no need for the backing because a 100 ft. of fly line fills the reel spool. The perfect match for this particular flyrod!

This is an older Battenkill I reel that Orvis no longer makes anymore. This is the first small reel I ever bought when I started to fly fish years ago. I have this reel paired with my 7 1/2 ft. Redington Trout Classic 3 wt. It's the perfect combo to fish Walker County Lake and small ponds. I would use it to fish small streams for trout if I had that luxury like some of you guys have in the Northeast. The reel measurements are 2 3/8" width---7/8" reel width and spool width is 1/2". You can see it's been used quite a bit from the dirty cork handle. 

What caused me to purchase this combo some years ago was the smaller bluegills and trout I was landing on Walker Lake and the Sipsey. Some years ago the average size trout stocked on the Sipsey was 10". So I thought the 2 and 3 wt. combos would match the catch. It's loads of fun landing smaller fish with a 2 and 3 wt. flyrod. This combo is a 7 ft. trout classic paired with the newer Battenkill I fly reel. Its measurements are 2 5/8" dia.---3/4" reel width and spool width is 3/8". I use 90 ft. of fly line to spool this reel which eliminates backing. The 2 wt and the 3wt. are great combos to start a child fly fishing. 

 I purchased this flyrod last year on eBay for 90.00 used. It is a 10 ft. 3 wt. Euro Nymphing fly rod that is extremely sensitive using one or two nymphs high-sticking. I've only used this combo a couple of times on the Sipsey last year when generators were not running. After landing a couple of trout on one outing last year, it convinced me Euro nymphing is the way to fish pressure waters like the Sipsey. I wanted to pair this flyrod with a reel that was light to compensate for the hours of drifting nymphs in pocket water and seams I would be fishing. The reel measurements are 2 3/4" dia---reel width is 1" and spool width is 5/8" wide. I spooled the Rio nymphing line on the reel and didn't use a traditional fly line. No casting involved with Euro nymphing just flipping the flies into position and drifting nymphs slow and deep!  

My Other Social Media Outlet

As most of you know winter is not a season I look forward to. Why, because trout fishing is practically none existence on the Sipsey because generators run constantly. You guys that fish the native trout streams are so lucky. No generators to contend with, only a heavy rain that might cause the stream to rise some, but is back to normal flow in a day or two. How I wish I had that type of stream to fish here. So to satisfy my lack of trout fishing I watch Utube fly fishing videos. I have established quite a few contacts interacting with guys who post some great fly fishing videos. Not only are their videos entertaining but educational as well. The following videos are some of my favorites:

Drew Looknfishy---- Drew has a blog by the same name but never publishes posts anymore on his blog because he has quite a following on Utube now. His videos feature small stream fishing out west during the late spring and summer months. 

Hardman Fishing Adventures ------This is a young guy that makes all of us seniors wish we were young again and could balance walking logs across streams and hiking miles on some of the most beautiful trout streams in the northeast.

Jensenflyfishing -----Dave and Amelia are husband and wife who fish for huge trout in Canada and Ontario -----amazing how well they get along and work together to land some colorful brook, browns, and rainbow trout!

George Daniel ---- this guy knows more about Euro Nymphing than anyone I've watched on Utube. I hope I can get to use some of his Euro techniques on the Sipsey if I ever get to fish it again.  George does most of his fly fishing in Pennysaliva's native streams.

Old Dominion Trout Bum------Cory, lives in Virginia and fishes small streams and tailraces in six different states north of him all the way to Maine. He only fishes the Euro technique and is very good at it!

And last----Scotty's Gone Walkabout----This guy takes overnight camping to another level all over Australia. He is in the process of learning how to fly fish as he hikes through the mountain terrain of Australia. 

Most of these guys post a video at least once every two weeks.