Man it’s been hot around here. Heat index around 105. You can tolerate it if you can find some shade, but it’s still pretty rough being outside. Been hitting Roaring River in Missouri for a few hours in the mornings and in the evenings. Fishing in the morning with zebra midges. Doing pretty well with dark midges starting with black then brown olive, then brown and finish with purple. As the sun gets higher I went with blue dun or P&P. I found you still need to add a little weight to get the small midge down. The water seems slow enough, but it’s just fast enough that the midge isn’t sinking down fast enough.
In the evenings I’ve primarily tried the dry fly. I’m still pretty new to that and have lots of frustrating encounters. The fish hit the fly in such a different manner and it’s hard to get the timing down of when to set the hook. Sometimes you’re too early and others you’re too late. Sometimes the fish hit it hard and fast and other times it’s slow like a slurp or like a blue whale easing out of the water to jump. Then when you get it right you set a little too hard and you snap the 7x tippet or you don’t get a good set because you were too light. Feel like I’m feeding the fish most of the time. As my lead dry fly I usually have a Stimulator fly I bought in yellow or red or a hand tied stimulator that is a mix between a elk hair caddis and stimulator both around size 16. The fish really go after that pretty well. I usually follow with a Parachute Adams or Blue Wing Olive (BWO) about 18 inches behind. I put Loon on both flies to keep them high in the water. I also make sure to use monofilament instead of the fluorocarbon I use with the midges. I usually buy the dry flies as I haven’t figured out how to tie those well yet. It’s an exillarating experience to finally catch one on a dry fly. So rewarding!!!!!
The water on the Beaver Tailwaters is still too high to wade fish and there is still limited bank to fish. You really need to use a boat.
Happy Fishing and Stay Trout Tough!
Erik-
NWATROUT Fly Fishing Guide 