al simpson
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I fished the SRW today. Temp 60, no wind, water temp 50, cfs 250, and the water was slightly turbid. no hatch.
the fish have moved into their winter holes. fishing deep, i caught a number of rainbows on a cream colored soft hackle.
It’s Black Friday, a day when many go to the shopping malls, and in Virginia, a perfect day to go trout fishing!
I returned to the Back Creek gorge, looking for those big brown trout. None were present, and there were more anglers than bugs, but I did manage to find some open water, and caught a number of nice rainbows. The fly was a #16 old-fashioned wet fly, with a yellow floss body, green/blue glass bead thorax and a rusty soft hackle tied in ahead of the bead. Darker flies and larger flies were ignored.
This is really a great stream, with a lot of deep water, large underwater structure, riffles and runs. Too bad VDGIF won’t manage it as a catch-and-release or delayed-harvest water!
I fished the late afternoon/evening midge hatch today. there were a few fish dimpling the surface, taking emergers.
I fished with a pair of small nymphs in the film, using my new T&T 11 foot 4 wt rod, and caught several nice rainbows. not a spectacular evening, but fun none the less.
fished a different stretch today. air temp 55, with cool NW winds. water was also 50, but clear with CFS of 150.
the rainbows were in the fast water- couldn’t find any browns. good fishing subsurface
The South River is starting to get low, and is very clear. Fished in the morning, 8:30 – 10:00; it was sunny and mild. A rare tan caddis was noted, but no rising fish.
Fished subsurface- sinking tip line, small brown wooly bugger and a tan soft hackle. Caught 15-16 rainbows, all but one on the bugger, in soft riffles.
Stopped when a strong wind arrived, bringing a shower of leaves!
Fished the Jackson today. The day started out with clouds, but became sunny around 1 pm. There were scattered tan caddis flies, but no visible surface feeding. Temperatures were mild, in the mid 60’s; the water temperature was in the forties.
I caught half a dozen good fish, 12-16 inches, in 2-3 hours of fishing. Four were rainbows, and two were browns. All but one were caught on a tan wooly bugger, hook size #8.
I usually don’t like to fish Mossy on Mondays, now that I’m retired, as it gets pounded on the week-ends. But it is supposed to rain the rest of the week, so Monday it was!
Weather was cloudy and cool. I hoped for an olive hatch, but it didn’t happen; no midges either. So it was subsurface- steamers, soft hackles and nymphs.
I fished two sections, from 10 am to 1 pm. The restructured lower section was dead. The section above the church parking lot was loaded with recently stocked fish, mostly browns but a few rainbows (? a shift in stocking management). The water was low, and crystal clear, and even the new fish were spooky. They responded best to long-line nymphing. Caught a bunch of fish in the 8-10″ range, and two measuring 12-13″. Didn’t see any of the big boys!
Hopefully the expected rain will raise water levels, and some cool weather will settle the stream into a winter nymphing pattern.
I returned to the South River today. After more than a week of very high flows, it had returned to a comfortable 200 cfs. The water was a bit turbid, and the temperature in the high 50’s.
There was no hatch, so I fished subsurface, with a sinking-tip line, and a pair of flies, a small bugger, and a soft hackle. The trout, a mix of rainbows and browns took them eagerly! I probably caught over thirty fish in just two hours. Most were 8-11 inches; perhaps half a dozen were over 12 inches. No trophy fish to report, but it sure was fun!!
I returned to the Madison River this morning, the channels section, a wading fly fisher’s delight. The weather was fair, the water cool.
I hit the water at 8:30, a bit early, and the bite was slow. By 9:30 there were a few midges coming off, and the fish became active. Good fishing lasted about two hours.
I again fished subsurface, with a small wooly bugger and a trailing purple nymph. Many small fish, 8-13 inches, took the nymph, while several large rainbows, 16-18 inches, took the bugger, and ran me down the stream. It’s hard to beat a good sized Madison River fish, they are so strong!
I returned to the Madison River today, the Three Dollar section. The weather was ideal for a BWO hatch, which is a short way of saying that it was cold, a bit windy, with intermittent rain and hail! Despite that, the hatch never materialized.
I fished with a wooly bugger and a trailing nymph, and caught two nice rainbows. But after an hour, I headed for the car. Hoping for non-BWO weather tomorrow!
I returned to the Ruby River tailwater today with Matt and fiancee Kelly. This was Kelly’s second effort at fly fishing. The night had been cold, and the weather was partly sunny with little wind. The water warmed around 10:30, and the tricos began to rise shortly afterwards.
We began to spot sporadic rise in the quiet water along the stream edges. The bulging riseforms suggested that the fish were feeding on nymphs just below the film. We cast a pair of flies, a moderate sized hopper, trailed with a glass beadhead nymph pattern.
Kelly hooked two heavy brown trout, running 14-18 inches! Quite a day for a beginner!! You can see her picture with the hyperlink below.
https://simpsonflyfishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/kelly.jpg
I returned to the Ruby River tailwater yesterday. The water level was higher, and the water was milky; visibility was about twelve inches. The weather was great, sunny and warming into the low 70’s.
I spotted a number of large browns, moved into shallow gravel to spawn. Otherwise, a moderate trico hatch happened around 11am, with a spinner fall about an hour later. Occasional fish were rising guardedly along the banks, under overhanging trees and in rock structure. They responded to small, size 22, spinner patterns, and ignored everything else that I offered!
It was uncrowded, and remains a good stream for a late morning visit.
I fished the Madison Arm of Lake Hebgen last evening. At dusk, a few midges appeared, as did scattered rises from good-sized browns. They were “selective”, but did take size 20 midge emerger patterns.
also saw some spawning browns in shallow gravel areas- nice to see.
I floated the channels portion of the Madison with my sister Judy today. the fishing was slow, but we did manage to catch a few small fish in the morning. then, Judy caught a beautiful 16-17 inch brown trout on a hopper pattern.
i fished subsurface, and moments later caught a similar sized rainbow that ran downstream 60-70 feet.
it was a nice day, even if the fishing was slow. we spotted half a dozen bald eagles, deer, osprey, killdeer, sandhill cranes and uncountable ducks on the lake as we rowed to our takeout.
fishing remains slow on the Madison, with scant hatches.
Returned to the Madison today. Although it was sunny (?), it was difficult to tell due to the smoke that has blown into the Madison River valley. Consequently, there was no warming of air or water, and no hatches occurred.
Fished under the surface, with good response to both small wooly buggers and copper Johns.
