September Closer.

There is a reason for the lack of posts lately. That reason is called the fall season. Simply stated it's shit hot right now in some areas and just o.k in others. One technique that produces a great day is called change. Change your view point, your fly selection, your swing, mend and retrieve. Change the water you fish along with depth. Those that stick with one fly, line and rig are stuck in a slump. Fall is the time for experimentation. We get "the look" from clients everyday that screams "Are you serious"? We are and it usually pans out.

Here is a prime example. We watched a fly fisherman recently work a productive pool for two hours without so much as a follow. Two sink tip changes, working out a strip or swing that got a response produced five salmon. Keep it fresh and stay out of the rut.

We still have openings for October. Operators standing by.

Color Schemes.

Short and sweet rundown report. The very last week for the majority of small waters. Say goodbye until next season. The small stream scene shall be missed. Brookies in prime shape. Autumn colors nearing peak. Dry fly attractors still producing. Fall micro brews out. Need anything else?

Trips to bigger waters were more inconsistent than we would have liked. Not surprising though as we consider September the most fickle month. Streamers coming on strong. Various styles, strips and tips. Nymphing getting on the scene. Dries are the game in the late afternoon or midday after things have warmed up. We witnessed the shortest Olive hatch in history yesterday. Ten minutes! At least all will be longer from now on.

Soft shells, beanies, size 20 P.T.s, articulated experiments, thermoses of coffee, bird field guides, Slate drakes, geese formations, frost and whiskey. Remember October rocks. Rock on.

Half Time.

Its' the 16th of September. Half way through. Almost over. The end is near for many small streams. Make the time and play stop the clock.

Dry flies still doing the majority of the work. Streamers are on again/off again. The dirty nymph will come into play soon enough.

Temps for both water and air are very comfortable. Softshells in the morning and for the evening rise which is quite strong on occasion.

September is one of the more fickle months of the season. Get out there and break the code.

October dates are filling in. If your thinking about it, do it. Save the tire kicking for the used car lot.

Bring it on.

The Turn.

The change is now. It has turned for the better. As you can see from the shitty photo above the brookies are getting dressed up for the October dance. This male brookie was caught on a small stream that many consider seriously infertile. One of the many reasons we concentrate much of our September days on small streams, creeks and brooks. We will be bringing the net from now on small water. Most small stream fish are released with a Waterworks Ketchun Release tool due to ease of use and we like being unencumbered. This guy signaled the new plan.

Large waters are fishing well with the dry seeing the work load. Patterns this week include CDC Caddis 16-18 tan, Adams Parachute 12, Cranefly 10, Yellow Chubby, Rusty Spinner 16, Cinnamon Flying Ant 14 and a foam hopper which has no name but is green in a size 12. CDC BWO size 18, money.

Dropping a nymph of a dry has taken a few good fish. Heavy, small and bright. Copper Johns, Miracle Midges, Purple Princes and the workhorse P.T.

Small streams rocking with the attractor dry. Orange, black, bright green and red all produced. Rubber legs + foam + antron = a bent 3 weight. We brought out the old classic Royal Wulff this week to see if it still held the mojo. Old school pattern that proves itself every fall.

Small to medium streamers (8-12) for the deeper pools working well. Early a.m. seeing the best success. Floating line and not too heavy patterns getting the grab. Just a taste of the future.

We still have a few openings left for this month and more for next. First come first served. Don't wait  until it's too late. When it's last call in the fall the bar doesn't open again till spring. Pull up a stool and start a tab.

Summer Gear Highlights.

It's raining! Hard! This will usher in the fall season a bit quicker and summer thoughts will be a distant memory. Like every season we obtained some new gear for the summer season. Some items didn't make the cut. Others were standouts. Below are the MVPs.

Like cold riverside beverages? Non soggy lunches? Ice for the post fishing session? Grab a Yeti cooler. We buy an average of two to three bags of ice per trip everyday. That adds up after a hot summer like the one we just experienced. After using a Yeti you'll realize that they are the best coolers available. Yeah they do cost more than that Wallyworld POS we all made due with for years. I'd rather buy quality than quantity anytime.

Keeping cool on a hot day keeps you out longer and fresh for the evening headhunting event. We stop wearing waders by late June unless crappy weather is forecast. We wore the Simms Glenbrook shirt almost exclusively through the summer with great results. Lightweight, comfortable and quick drying. The suncuff design really helps keeping you covered up and cool. The Guidepant is one  durable pair of wet wading pants. Bushwhacking, gravel glissading, rock hopping and everyday general abuse didn't dent these pants. Think Carhartts for wet wading. I lived in these two items for the summer and will be tripling up for next summer.

We added a new reel for streamer work. For years we have used Lamson and continued with the limited edition black Guru 2. Paired with a Rio Outbound intermediate and a Rio D.C. 3  this proved a great combination. Solid reel and line combination for streamer rigs.

Spend multiple days rowing or wading in the bright sun and you start to feel like overcooked truck stop bacon. Grab a Ultimate Shade hat from Broner. Kept us cool and shaded through the dog days. Bonus points for blocking the errant "shouldn't have thrown it" cast.

The dry fly treatment of the summer was Flyagra. Great floatant and easy to use. With a disclaimer that says: "If your fly stays up longer than four hours please see your local fly shop", how can you go wrong. Great on larger sized dries.

Great gear allows you to concentrate at the task at hand. Some new stuff in the line up for fall, hopefully it will be as good as this summers selection.

September!

It's happened. The change has been slight. Meadow grasses have dried, trees have started the color shift, geese are a bit more fluffy. The one tell tale sign of the oncoming season is the change in coloration of the small stream brookies. This is the time to have a September small stream bucket list. Many small waters will close at the end of this month and will not be available to fish until next spring. Grab some time now for these small waters and their jewels of fall.

Attractor dries still ruling the small stream scene. Terrestrial patterns holding the top row pick for now. We tied on a foam cricket, fished it steady for two days on two separate streams with good results. One thing to consider is dropping down in tippet size on the small water slicks. The level right now makes for some pretty spooky fish. Think 5-6X and keep casts to a minimum. If you think small stream fishing isn't challenging then you're doing it wrong. Tight casts, careful presentations, sneaky approaches and site fishing are skills used on every small water outing. Just like the most demanding spring creek, except fly selection is not as critical (thankfully). Big fun on small water.

As far as the medium to large rivers we are getting closer. Slower to cool than the small creeks but cooling down. Hatches are still going though they are short lived. Dawn patrols still in effect. Evenings the second best option. Dry flies ruling, smallish,16-20. Bigger sizes as the month progresses. CDC caddis and Yellow Sallies ruled the week. Midges strong in the a.m. along with one of the weakest Trico spinner falls available. Terrestrials midday (smallish).

The streamer meat locker is filled and ready for service. Nymphs lined up. Autumn wets stacked. Bird covers scouted. All that's left is to pick one good whiskey to go along with it all.