Stones and Caddis!

June 29

While the “blanket” caddis hatches of early June have subsided we have begun to transition quite nicely to our summer stonefly hatches. Stonefly nymphs and stonefly adults are prolific this time of year, however what is even more exciting is that “anything goes” season is here. That means the biggest, weirdest, ugliest looking creation in your fly box can peak the interest of an unsuspecting fish. A common way of fishing this time of year is to fish two dry flies, perhaps a big stimulator or tarantula as your first fly and run a smaller caddis type fly about 18inches behind. This way you can fish a smaller than usual fly in the back because you have a bigger “indicator” fly up front!
We currently have been dealing with some rather wet conditions, to say the least so the river is running at 3300cfs as of noon today. Most likely the river will stay on the high side for at least a few days. There is always a bright side at the end of this tunnel though…new fish in the river! Usually this time of season the water is low and beginning to really warm up. This typically triggers the respectable fish in the river to look for an exit strategy. Fish will leave the river via the fish ladder into Moosehead Lake or travel downstream and exit into Indian Pond. For example this past Monday the crew at the Department of Inland Fisheries counted 161 fish in the ladder! Generally the first fish to leave are the biggest fish, but with a high flow of water coming into the river we should see additional fish entering the river from Moosehead and Indian. Flows at the West Branch remain fairly steady from about 2000-3000 cfs. The West Branch can always make for a great plan b when the Kennebec is running to high. Fishing has stayed pretty consistent at the Penobscot recently. Big stoneflies are hatching daily along with the intermittent caddis hatches.
The biggest fishing news story will be the annual Green Drake or Hex hatch. This should be coming to a pond near you any day now. Green Drake hatches have been reported all around the area ponds even with some sighting on Moosehead. Keep in mind this is an evening hatch so don’t go looking for dry fly action until you have seen the last light of day. Fishing nymphs like maple syrups and woolly buggers with sink tip lines can do the trick while your waiting for the hatch to begin!
Our latest video “Smallmouth Week in the Moosehead Region” is now posted Here is the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7vlY29ld_Y