This week’s picture is brought to you by Martin.
Bearing markings of a hardcore fly fisherman and RiverBum, Martin went as far as changing his license plates. Sorry everyone in Michigan, this one’s taken! Oh and nice bow as well Martin, taken on a blue damsel emerger below the surface.

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Some of the more overlooked terrestrial imitations are ant patterns. In the mid to late Summer and early Fall many anglers immediately go directly to hopper fishing, which of course is fun and effective, but isn’t the only terrestrial action to be had. Here are a few tips to fishing ants effectively:

Fish ants any time, but especially in the middle of the day. Terrestrial insects are much less active when it’s cool so they are more likely to make a mistake and find their way into the water when tons of them are scurrying around in the heat of the day.

Use ants as searching patterns. Fish them blindly to likely looking spots. Don’t worry if fish aren’t rising, there usually aren’t enough ants to cause fish to rise regularly. If the fish have been eating ants they will know what they are when they see yours.

Fish ants in forested areas as well as meadow sections of streams and rivers. Unlike hoppers that only live in grassy areas, ants live everywhere and so even in forested sections of streams there will be ants.

Fish ant patterns near the banks. Even more so than hoppers, it is pretty unlikely that ants will drift far from the banks. Some opportunistic fish mid stream will eat them but the likely spots near stream-side vegetation and undercut banks will produce more fish on ant patterns. Small streams with a lot of overhanging vegetation are the exception; in these streams ants could be almost anywhere throughout the stream.

It is often effective to fish two ant patterns at once. Many times it’s best to tie on a visible pattern like a parachute ant, Chernobyl Ant, CDC ant, or something similar and then trail it with a smaller less visible ant pattern like a fur ant, a small foam ant, or even a hard body ant. Don’t worry even if the smaller ant pattern sinks. Simply watch the more visible pattern for strikes.

I’ve heard it said that fish that start to key on ants actually develop something like an addiction to them. I don’t know if that’s entirely true but a few years ago I had an eye opening experience on a guide trip where a somewhat slow day turned into a 50-fish day for my client once we found that ants were the preferred choice on the menu. It was awesome!

Get out there, ant patterns tied on, and hopefully I’ll see you on the water.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Ryan.
He pulled this nice brown out of the Truckee. Very nice catch Ryan!

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Streams can get tough to fish in the late summer. Low water and prolonged hot daytime temperatures can heat up the water and cause trout to become much less active. Don’t give up hope though, here are some things to try.

Fish shaded areas. In low water or warm water trout will seek out shade. Concentrate on undercuts in the bank or places where trees or other foliage shade the water.

Fish faster water. Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water so many times fish move to riffles and even the edges of rapids and other broken water for the higher oxygen levels. Another benefit of broken water is that light penetration is much less so it acts a bit like shade for the fish. Fish won’t often hold in flat water when it’s hot and sunny.

Fish deep. Don’t be afraid to lengthen out your leader and fish heavy stuff down into the depths of the deepest holes on the river.

Fish early and late. Water temps will be at their coolest early in the AM and will start to cool again in the evening. Take a nap or actually get some work done in the middle of the day and concentrate on these times.

Fishing can slow a little this time of year but doing these things will certainly increase your chances and don’t fear, Fall is not far off and cooler water will really get the fish feeding again.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Ben.
This past April a bunch of us guys took a week long trip to Gerad, PA in search for large Steelhead. This picture was taken at 20 Mile Creek and although the creek was a bit crowded the rewards were well worth it. This was the first time I had gone on this trip and this particular Steelhead was my first ever. The way they fight is unbelievable words can’t even describe the amount of strength that these fish have. Fighting them really isn’t even the hardest part, trying to net them is, and at times it can be quite a bit of entertainment for other fishermen in the area. I am very much looking foward to next year for the 2010 PA Steelhead trip!

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Late summer is hopper time. Here are a few things to remember for great grasshopper fishing.

Look for streams running through meadows. There are usually very few grasshoppers in forested areas but in the late summer bugs abound in grassy meadows.

Toss your hoppers as close to banks as possible, especially those that are undercut by the current. I’ve watched several times as people cast at banks and thought they were drifting their flies close enough but when they got the fly right against the bank the fish could see it and gulped it. Don’t worry if you hit the grassy edge of the stream as you try to get the fly snug to the bank, simply twitch the fly into water. What presentation could be more natural?

Also, see if you can find the natural grasshoppers along the stream and match them in size and color. You don’t need to be exact with your hopper imitations but it doesn’t hurt to be close.

Fish breezy afternoons. The casting may be more difficult but this is when the fish are used to seeing bugs that mistakenly fall into the water.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Bill.
The elusive bull trout. This one was caught on a double streamer, a leech tied behind a Clouser. The South Fork is one of the few places that bulls can be targeted legally. My son and the two guides and I took turns and caught four bulls on four consecutive casts. Highly recommended.

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Most fly anglers think of matching the hatch as the process of selecting the appropriate size, shape, and color of fly to immitate a trout’s natural food. But it’s also important to match the behavior of hatching insects to best encourage strikes from discerning fish. Here are a few tricks to mimic the movements of the naturals.

Most mayflies hatch mid-current and generally drift for a while as emergers as they slowly rise to the surface. Sometimes a very subtle lift of the fly in the strike zone will entice a strike. You can do this by slowly lifting the rod if the drift is close to you or by a long slow strip if the flies and fish are farther away from your casting position.

Caddis flies rise quickly to the surface by creating a bubble of gas and riding it up or by actively propelling themselves upward. In caddis hatches a bit quicker or more erratic lift of the nymph or emerger pattern will often entice strikes.

Stonefly nymphs usually crawl to the edges of the stream and actually crawl out of the water onto rocks or streamside vegetation to hatch. It’s best to fish stonefly nymphs right along the bottom even crawling them along the rocks with a slow retrieve where possible.

In many lakes chironomids and other midges rise at a slow to moderate rate up through the water column as they hatch. Chironomid emergers often work well when lifted straight up towards the angler in a boat or tube.

Keep in mind that trout are great at discerning whether the appearance of your fly matches what they are eating but are just as good or better at discerning whether the movement of your fly is natural. Study what the bugs in your waters do and try to copy them.