August Fishing Outlook
It doesn’t take long to deduce that August will be a great month to be fishing. A pleasant mix of technical fly fishing opportunity and easy “get your fly in the water” types of fishing will be readily available.
Expect fisheries like the Big Wood and the Big Lost to become much trickier to fish as low flows will force anglers into thinking harder about leader length and tippet diameters. Leaders will need to be extended and tippet sizes dropped. It will also be important for anglers to try and be in the right place at the right time. Giving more and more thought to fishing early in the morning and late in the evening. Flies like Elk Hair Caddis and Rusty Spinners should be thick in your fly box. Tricos on these rivers is also outstanding, although the sizes are minute. Make sure you have the smallest Tricos you can tie or buy and also see! Size 24 is not too small for Tricos on the Lost River!
For anglers with an urge to be out at midday the less technical Hopper / Dropper set up is all one will need for August to move up and down local rivers with success. The average size of aquatic insects certainly gets smaller as the season progresses, but anglers can always count on the Hoppers getting bigger and lasting until our first few hard frosts. On the Big Wood no Hopper beats a traditional Dave’s Hopper.
On Silver Creek the big Trico Spinner Falls should continue well into the month. Baetis and PMD will also have their low light moments, but the Callibaetis should begin to take center stage. Damsel flies and Hopper action will pick up. Look to fish into the evening for some of the season’s best fishing on the Creek. The Kilpatrick Pond area should continue to be a cold water sanctuary for fish, although flows should be coming up soon and the water cooling as the aquifer gets a subtle recharge form the earlier spring runoff.
August is also a time to begin looking at high mountain streams and alpine lakes. Take advantage of the cooler altitudes and get up in the mountains. Easy hikes like Baker and Norton lakes can be done in a half day or longer. Other lakes like Kane or Hansen Lakes take longer and are great places to spend a night or two. If you fish these lakes take small streamers in olive, lots of bushy dry flies with yellow bodies and all your favorite hopper patterns.
Whatever you decide to do, don’t be discouraged by the August Doldrums. The fishing will be slower in the afternoons for the next month. Time your fishing to low light if you can and be prepared for more technical fishing, but if you can’t get out at low light, don’t hesitate to get out and fish anyway, just be prepared for the conditions. We are entering a month of two very different styles of fishing.
Happy Fishing Everyone!