Late summer is a great time to be on the water as warm days and cooler nights begin to produce temperature swings that trigger trout to feed a bit more aggressively in preparation for the colder months ahead.Though the fish are still looking up for their meals, this quarter’s bug selection is purposely picked to target them throughout the water column.
1. Conehead Krystal Bugger – Olive & Black #6
2. Yakoda Weighted Little Leech — Purple #16
3. Yakoda CDC Stone — Black #14
4. Yakoda H2 Flashback — #14
5. Lightning Perdigon— Pearl / Orange #16
6. Stimulator — Yellow #12
7. Parachute Callibaetis — #16
8. Zelon Cripple — BWO #18
9. Sparkle Caddis Pupa —#16
10. Beadhead Curved Pheasant Tail Flashback — #18
Due to the continuing heat throughout most of the country, dry fly fishing opportunities should remain strong through mid fall and a dry dropper will be your best bet for catching the most fish. The Stimulator is a classic dry that always produces. It’s a durable fly that floats great, making it capable of suspending heavier nymphs. The Yakoda H2 Flashback or the Lightning Perdigon are perfect nymphs to try under the Stimulator. We’ve been fishing these flies under big dries for a while and both absolutely hammer fish. Try dropping them 24-36” under the dry fly—a little further down than you were probably taught.
Nymphing is always highly productive in the fall, as wary fish that won’t eat off the surface will still eat properly drifted sub-surface flies. The Yakoda CDC Stonefly is the perfect anchor fly. It gets down deep fast which is what you need when nymphing. Honestly you can’t make a bad selection with any of the other nymphs in this box but we’d lean heavily towards our H2 Flashback. The orange hotspot always draws fish in and since eggs are on the menu in the fall, it won’t hurt to show them a little color. The other fly we like on the nymph rig is the smaller Beadhead Curved Pheasant Tail Flashback— it’s a little more subtle while doing a great job of mimicking the smaller mayfly nymphs that are present in almost every river and stream across the country.
For the dry fly purist, pair up the Stimulator with the Parachute Callibaetis as your trailer for a double dry setup. When you’re fishing two dry flies, it’s important to always lead with your larger fly. If the fish don’t like the bigger bug, they’ll likely eat the small one. If you decide to fish the Parachute Callibaetis as your point fly, just trail it with the smaller Zelon Cripple BWO or even the unweighted Sparkle Caddis Pupa to imitate a caddis emerging through the film just below the surface of the water.
When the temperatures really start to cool down, triggering trout to eat hard, streamer fishing should be on your radar. Dead drifting or stripping either of the Conehead Krystal Bugger in late fall is a good way to trigger bigger browns, while the Yakoda Weighted Little Leech is something you can toss just about anytime and anywhere. We highly recommend trailing the Weighted Little Leech behind the Conehead Bugger when stripping or dead drifting.
Though we’ve offered you a few ways to fish the bugs in this quarters box, fishing is all about experimentation, so be sure to mix it up and toss the flies that feel right based on what you’re seeing. With a nice blend of natural and attractor patterns, this batch of flies should set you up for success wherever you decide to fish.
Thanks as always for being a Quarterly Fly Club member. Have fun out there and we look forward to hearing about it!
