The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

The South Fork is in its late season pattern. These fish have seen thousands of flies go over their heads. So needless to say the big bug fishing has slowed. Its not to say that the fish wont eat them but they will eat a small pmd much better. So the last week we have been fishing pink Lawsons Cripples, Hackle Stackers, and purple wolfs down the banks. It is not quite as easy to see them floating in the foam but those fish love them. Lots of the big fish have retreated to their deeper homes and are sticking to nymphs and streamers. So most of the larger browns that we have caught in the last couple of weeks have been on the infamous lightning bug.

Currently most days we are landing between 30-40 trout. Mostly cuttys this last week. But we definitely saw some great browns and rainbows. Check out some of the good ones from the last couple weeks. We caught a great 23.5 inch brown on a dry fly! Now it doesn't get much better than that.

The fishing on the South Fork should improve over the next couple of weeks. The hoppers are just starting to fly around so it should take a week or so before they hit the river. The pmd fishing will continue for another month. So if the banks don't fish then just wait for the small bugs to come off in the afternoon. The fishing from noon until 4PM is awesome in the riffles and foam holes.

The good news is that I will be returning to Northern California in two weeks. Looking forward to the egg bite this fall.

Tight Lines!