Turning the Corner On Summer.......

Well it has been an interesting summer to say the least.  We experienced the first true runoff we have seen in a few years followed by monsoon rains and then finished up with one of the latest heat waves I can remember. On Labor Day, Cat and I took a bike ride from Runyon up to the dam and had our hearts partially ripped out by seeing a few dead fish. I have seen pictures of major fish kills before and I am glad to say that I think our fish kill was very minute, but saddening none the less. We were glad to see so many people staying away from the water during this last heat wave as tough as that might have been.

 Cat and I hadn’t fished the river in a while but the itch was too bad and since the water had come up we got out early Sunday morning. We got to the water at just after 6:00 a.m. and found the fishing was quite good from about 7:00 to 9:00 and then the heat seemed to shut the bite off. The flies of choice on Sunday morning were Black Ninjas and Zebra midges (black was the key), and there was also a few takes on the z-wing caddis.

 As our readers know, rain may be Cat’s favorite type of weather so after seeing the forecast today we were definitely going to make a trip to the river. We got to the river about 3:30 and were licking our chops thinking about what a great day this was going to be. I made the mistake of talking a little smack on the way to the river and teased Cat that I wouldn’t be losing as many fish on the river today because I had brought my old favorite Green Stick instead of fishing the one she suggested on Sunday, which of course was to blame for the fish I lost…hehe.  Second cast and I hooked up and the talk began to flow heavier, however it was short lived when I saw it was only a sucker. I moved into the next hole and couldn’t help but turning to watch Cat, it seemed like every time I looked she was netting another fish.  After talking so much trash and having only landed a sucker fish I started feeling the pressure, but had break offs on my next two hookups. We walked up to the hatchery outlet and I took what I thought was the best spot and suggested Cat take the spot next to it.  It only took a few casts and boom Cat landed the fish of the day, just over 19. The rain began to downpour and we had lightning crack overhead so we decided to fish our way back down river.

Today I was the sucker king, it seemed that every spot I casted into would produce copious amounts of suckers. On our way back down the river I finally landed a few bows in the 16 inch range and was thrilled. In the spirit of the events of the day I told Cat that this was a great trip to not to keep track of numbers or sizes of fish and just to enjoy the time on the water. Moments after making that comment Cat’s last cast of the day landed her a second 19, but who’s counting.

  It was a glorious day on the river today and I had a lot of fun watching Cat on fire. The hot flies this afternoon were the A&W, the SOL, Z-wing caddis, and a grey RS2. The forecast shows cooler weather over the next several days so hopefully we have turned the corner on the extreme water temps and can start fishing the river again all day safely.

  A quick tip for fall fishing, on warmer days make sure you fight the fish quickly, snap a quick pic and then hold the fish in the water until it is ready to swim away. As always, Cat, Connell, Winston and The Drift Fly shop would like to thank you for reading…..