July 3, 2013
NEWS FLASH!!!
The East Outlet will be dropping to 2200 cfs at noon on the 4th.
It’s time to haul out the big mayflies. The Green Drake (Hex) hatches are officially underway.
Shallow, lower elevation ponds are the first to pop. Deeper, higher elevation ponds will be the last to bloom often not hatching until mid-month.
This is the time you want to begin baby sitting your favorite haunt. The first night of the hatch can be magical. The biggest trout in the pond are on top making pigs of themselves. Lay out anything that remotely resembles those monster mayflies and they’ll eat it! What great fun it is hunting cruising trout as they feed on the monster mayflies struggling to take flight. If you hit it right, you’ll never stop talking about it.
There are lots of imitations around that will do the job. The drakes are mainly a yellow/brown color but also can be all gray and even pale yellow or green. It’s smart to have all the different colors in size 8 just in case. You’ll find a great selection at our On-Line Catalog.
A good hex nymph is just as important as the dries. One called the Maple Syrup has fooled lots of brookies over the years. It has a tan chenille body with a yellow calf tail and a brown soft hackle collar. Tied on a size 8 streamer hook, it’s long enough to imitate the real nymph extremely well.
Take your flashlight along because you’ll be staying till the end. The Hex hatches begin right around sunset. Hatches will usually continue every evening for just about a week on any given pond, sometimes longer.
While your waiting around for the hatch to begin string up a sinking line with a hex nymph so you can pull a nymph along the bottom. You should find fish cruising around looking for an early meal long before the actual hatch begins.
This is the time of season hard core pond fisherman wait for all year. The big boys are prowling about, fattening up before they retreat to the spring holes during the heat of summer.
One quick tip before you start casting those huge flies. Put away the 4,5,& 6X leaders and use a 3X. Ever have the leader twist all up when you fish these big flies? That’s because you are still using the light leader you had on for small flies. A heavier, stiffer leader will control those bigger flies and stop them from corkscrewing during the cast. Brook trout don’t care that the leader is 3X. You’ll be glad you did, especially when one of those big trout grabs your bug and heads for bottom.
River levels are again beginning to drop. Just maybe they will drop for good this time.
