Yellow Breeches White Fly August 19, 2012

August 19, 2012 Yellow Breeches White Fly Hatch

I’m sure many of you want to know what’s going on.  Well my usual fishing partner in crime John, his father and Par and I made a trip to the Breeches yesterday.  Of course it was pouring with rain back home all day and neither of us even bothered to check the weather.  The rain was relentless back home but I just figured it was a quick summer storm.  Well, it kept falling but we had it planned and rolled out in blinding rain from Gaithersburg around 1:30pm.  Made it to Yellow Breeches outfitters to buy licenses, they couldn’t sell out of state licenses so we had to go to the Getty up the road.  But I needed some flies even though I tie some of my own and John always ties hundreds and knows the stream better than anyone I know being that he went to college practically on the stream some 15 years ago or whatever it was. This was kind of a last second trip and in the end, John didn’t have a decent selection with him and neither did yellow breeches.  They were out of anything smaller than #12 for both the spinners and the duns and no emergers of the white fly.  Oh well, bigger is what I bought, 12 will have to do.  The shop said the peak had passed and it was slowing down, even got a report that it was “not good”.  But then opportunism turned that report into well, in the rain last week it was good.  Supposedly last Sunday through Wednesday was the time and afterwards saw noticeable slow down?  But the hex’s were out well and I really wanted to play with them more than anything.  The weather ended up being beautiful while we were there with the sun coming about around 3:30, cool, probably high 70’s air temp with some over cast.  Just ideal I thought.

We started in the run and played with some fish, each catching a couple.  We had two rookies with us too and rigged them up with egg flies or nymphs and they did very well on browns and rainbows.  But that’s not why I came.  So I worked down on foot away from our little crowd.  The stream below the run only had a few guys all the way to Allenberry, but from the damn down was where all the people were, just below the dam and the next two hundred yards or more.  Probably 15 guys in that stretch, all fishing the deeper water on River right, the warmer water.  There was a distinct temperature difference that I noticed while wet wading starting about mid river.  The river right (Facing downstream) was far warmer than the left.  So the fish should be on the left right?  According to john that’s the case.  I saw plenty of rises to midges around 4-6pm in the slow stuff above allenberry, but like usual they are difficult.  I had prime water near the mouth of the run but left it to join the crowds?  Why?  My crew later drove the car to Allenberry and were working mediocre water below the crowds.  Very shallow riffles.  But when this hatch happens you can do well in a 5 inch riffle.  Or flat water.

We finally set up all the way at the bottom on the last bend.  There were a few guys working the deep flat stuff below us but we had the bottom of the bend pool with quite a few fish working the surface below a caterpillar nest.  Believe it or not but John noticed there was a squirrel in this one tree where the caterpillar nest was and it shook the tree from time to time and knocked caterpillars into the water.  Sure enough the fish responded.  If we threw something brown, it got attention.  We ended up cutting the legs and wings off of a brown hopper pattern and first three casts got a take with two landings of decent browns.  One of those rising browns on the far bank was well proportioned too, it was a very nice fish, no takes from him though. 

So now it’s 7pm or so and the hex’s first showed up.  We didn’t have the riffle section just above the pool because another gentlemen was there, I think he lived in the house behind us.  He was in the prime spot and sure enough was getting bit well when things started getting interesting with hex’s flying everywhere.  These guys were HUGE too.  I forgot how exciting it was just to see these flies dance over head with the anticipation that when one of these humming birds lands in the water, a swimming log in the form of hold over brown measured in pounds is going to explode on the thing.  Wishful thinking but I’m a fishermen and that’s what we do.  I started using a white wulf fly around 7pm and ended up cutting off some of the deer hair to thin it out some.  It got bit even when there were not many white flies around.  The guy above us was throwing a hex and was getting plenty of attention but kept missing the fish.  Sometime just before dark the white flies were everywhere, along with the hex’s and the guy above us said “it looks like they switched over to the white fly now.”  I had caught a few fish, all small 9 inch browns on white flies long before he said that.  But he got countless takes on the hex in the riffle prior to that.  I think only landing a couple but they were exploding on his fly all evening long.  A little frustrating.  But by now it was hot and heavy.  Mating pairs flying everywhere, fish rising everywhere too, slow water, fast water but mostly in the riffles/runs and we were in the pool more or less.  IF you could dance your fly and literally skip it on the surface, it got more attention.  My rookie friend fishing with me did well in the run previously but was having a hard time during the hatch.  No takes for him for some reason and we were all using basically the same fly, except maybe he didn’t trim is size 12 or 14 dry like I did.  It pays to keep it small like #16 if you can.  But I got more takes on a white wulff pattern with no anal antennae, just deer hair than I did with a realistic spinner pattern with two long anal antennae for whatever reason. 

We fished well, well past dark too.  Mostly because I’ve always had the understanding that hex’s don’t actually fall into the water until well past dark.  My Pere Marquette education from last year taught me that and years of studying the insect in my spare time.  Because they also hatch on the Monocacy this time of year.  They show up about a half hour before sunset but don’t come near the water till almost dark.  Most of the time barley bouncing on the surface.  But the true spinner fall?  When does that happen?  My thoughts were well after dark so I was hoping for bubba.  He never showed.  I even threw a mouse pattern around 9:00pm hoping for the unicorn fish of a lifetime.  OH well.  We did okay, saw plenty of rises but didn’t set the world on fire and I didn’t catch more fish than I could count with one hand.  The shop and my fishing buddy john said it was nowhere near its best.  The shop reporting past its peak.  But John says he usually does well from August 15^th to as late as September 1.  Looks like we missed the peak but I personally thought it was  spectacular hatch with plenty of bugs.  You just have to be in the right place with the right fly and right time.  I never did see anything of any size caught except a 15 incher from the guy above us and another 15inch from my rookie friend on a nymph in the run.  But it was still enjoyable, just wish I could take my education from yesterday and apply it on the water today.  But work and life got in the way and now I’m wasting my whole lunch hour reporting it to you.  It’s been a while since I’ve written a decent fishing report so here it is.  Get up there now is my advice.  Bring small white flies, even a mating pair pattern if you can.  Don’t’ forget the hexes.  Check out a picture I took of a two hexes that were caught in a spider web I found around 6pm.  Not sure if they were yesterday’s bugs or today’s but one was still alive just barley handing on to the thread a few feet over the water, above a perfect looking riffle that I never should have left. 

The other promising and noteworthy event of the trip was that we were still able to sit down at the bar in Allenberry after fishing, well after dark.  We didn’t get there till probably 9:30pm and were still able to order delicious burgers and soup, plus a few adult beverages amongst friends to relive the experience.  The bar staff were so polite and happy to see us that they said anytime we were fishing late, just call them in advance and they would stay open as late as we wanted them to from what I understood.  That could get interesting some nights.  But who knows when I’ll be back.  I think John didn’t catch enough fish yesterday and saw a promising enough hatch that he’s heading back up today.  I would if I could, that’s for sure. 

The below brown was caught around 4:30pm in the run on a #16 PT nymph by my friend Par.