The White Fly

Yes I know this is to be about trout but at this time of year if you want something to do close at home, try this - carp on top! I was in Athens the other day and found the entire surface covered with rising carp taking spent white flies (Ephoron Lukon, spell), heck they were not more than 5' off the bank and taking last nights spent flies like little pigs. Today I was in Berwick and Bloomsburg interviewing fishermen and they informed me that at the Berwick "Test Track ramp" and the Bloomsburg "Riverfront Park" has thousands of rising fish every night, some really big carp! I'll be out looking for fish above the dam in Sunbury and on Wed night in Bloomsburg checking the evening rise. Do not underestimate the power of these fish when you hook one, a 7 wt and a reel with a good drag will be necessary. Pictures to follow after the catch.
  We did this for years below the dam in Sunbury for bass but sadly that event just does not happen, the flies are there but not the fish. I wonder if this is still going strong on the Yellow Breeches?

Just fine

Stopped at a shop on Penns and heard doom and gloom from one of the guides, he looked like Opie with a tight fitting hat, he was wrong. Told me not to fish Spring Creek or Bald Eagle (it is Spring Creek below Milesburg) but he fished it that morning- go figure. Above Bellefonte please check the water temp but below town the temp was 59.1 @ 11:30 AM!
  The Trico spinner fall was short but very good, tried something new today, I used a poorly tied fly shop spinner #22 on 6x and by dam they took it but all down stream and across presentations, so much for my flies. The tan Caddis was among the Trico spinners and after the main fall I used a Iris X caddis and had a dropper on it but I soon took it off because no one took it but they did eat the Iris big time. Ended the morning with 25 trout from 5" rainbows that were fat up to a few browns that were at 12-14" (all bankers) BUT they ate the caddis maybe not the first float but by the 4th float the killed it. Three of the browns were tight to the bank and just rolled on the fly, nice to see. I'm not telling everyone to fish but if you must go and have a ball but land the fish fast, no GP death fight! This year has been a typical Trico year, not what it used to be, maybe some water problem because the numbers are not there.

Light Tan Caddis tandem

At this time of year and most of the rest of summer I use the following light tan caddis tandem. The best dry fly caddis emerger is the Iris X from our friends at Blue Ribbon in West Yellowstone, MT, if your not using it during caddis emergence you should be! The pattern is a short shuck of Zelon and a rough body of your favorite dubbing with a white Zelon lopped wing over the back 2/3 of the fly, Gink it up and hit the rise head on and hold on, trout just love them, easy to tie and the materials are not hard to come by. It is very important to get the wing correct, just a slight twist before you bring it forward. The other pattern that I use is a black metal or tan plastic bead with a short wing of 3 CDC feathers to match the body and the body of bleached pheasant tail. I also tie these in olive, black and standard pheasant tail red brown with wings to match as best you can, use as a dropper and the results are great.

Short Trico Fall, Light Tan Caddis & Beetles

Fished Spring Creek the other day and found that the Trico did come but it lasted a total of 45 min's, you really have to look and determine what fish that you want to cast to very quickly if you want to catch a nice fish. All during the Trico spinner fall I was seeing the #18 Light Tan Caddis on the water and the fish really keyed in on them, of course my caddis box was in the car! During this time of year I wear a small chest pack and just did not take the caddis as I should have, had Trico's & Terrestrials- next week I'll be armed. I'll use a caddis emerger with a bead head dropper.

Tricos are on! and the Beetles are on the table

Fished very early this morning and at 7:30 AM the trout were up and feeding well, only a few Trico's in the air and not many on the water but feeding they were. You could see the larger fish were in a rythm and all you had to do was line it up and hope it was time for them to eat. Took every fish on a #24 olive Trico spinner, some on top and others wanted it below the surface? It appeared as if they were eating nymphs at the surface but I was just to lazy to rig a two fly set up but the next time I will. As soon as I got in the water there were three large fish feeding not more than 20 yards away, 2 very nice rainbows and a very good brown. I was more interested in the fish that tend to feed near the banks in the shade- they were there! Took 7 more fish moving up the bank but could not take "3" really snooty guys. One fish made me float my fly 14 times over him before he ate it! Funny thing when the actual spinners made the water the fish stopped! The actual size of the spinners was a 26, go figure. Sometimes the fish tend to get into a feeding rythn before the actual spiiner fall but this will even out as the days go by. Made it to the top of the run and there were a few spin guys at the head of the pool, time to get out and find more fish. Checked Spring Creek at one spot that has always been great, a small amount of spinners in the air and not one rise, stood in the tale of the pool and waited for nothing to happen. This is typical when the Trico's are just getting started, you need to find them and make certin they are hatching or falling on the specific pool you intend to fish or have fish actualy feeding.
  At 11:00 AM began to prospect with a #10 black foam beetle, they like it a lot. If you intend to fish a beetle make sure you can plop it on the surface, it's like the dinner bell. Cast it in shallow water, on edges geez just about anywhere and hold on, sometimes you'll see the wake coming for your fly.
  This is the start of the most pleasant time of the year, early morings of Trico's and early afternoons of beetle fishing, doesn't get much better.
  Saw a picture of a rainbow a fellow caught & released on Bald Eagle, well over 23", nice fish!