June 2011

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Yes, I am still fishing. Little stops me from seeing flowing water before too long but a series of events after my return from Oregon prevented me from documenting what fishing has been done. 1st, I spent a solid week prepping ground, installing deer fence and planting a rather substantial garden for my first undertaking. Things went slowly at first but now everything is humming along well and the hours spent digging in the dirt rather than fishing were rewarding. 2nd, I had a bit of a computer crash/issue resulting in a down period (thus the reason I didn’t finish the OR trip posts). After a week of no email, no blog, no screen I had been cleansed and have struggled to spend much time infront of this thing since, honestly I’m alright with less computer time when the sun is shining and the lawn needs mowing or dirt needs [singlepic id=2675 w=320 h=240 float=left]digging. 3rd, prior to leaving for OR I joined the volunteer fire and rescue department in my area. As a result I have been spending some fishing time training and attending to my neighbors in need.

With all that out of the way June was a hot but good month around here. Felt the urge to fish the Mississippi a bit and have taken a handful of nice Smallmouth Bass over the last couple weeks fishing poppers and clousers here and there. I’ve also spent a decent amount of time searching for carp I can present a fly to but have yet to find the spot I’m looking for. As July rolls on and the river drops a bit more I might get the opportunity to take a Mississippi carp on the fly. I’ve fished for trout a handful of times and kind of laughed a bit at myself. The past three years I’ve spent the majority of June and July trudging upstream casting in weeded up gin clear water under low flow conditions. This is [singlepic id=2676 w=380 h=300 float=right]not the ideal way to catch trout but it can still be a good time if you can stay cool andkeep the bugs off. Bugs…hint…the buff. Awesome for the bugs. Keeping gnats, black flies and other nuisances out of your face and off your neck.

Summer flies that have been particularly effective for me have been a #14 Stimulator in traditional colors of Orange and Green but also the Black and Pink version I tied up last year has been holding its own bringing many smaller browns to surface. I’ve been fishing a dry/dropper rig when I can and the #14 Black Wet Fly sunk 12-18 inches down has been deadly, trout just crush the BWF in the summer months. As usual the meaty #8 Black SMB has taken it’s share of June trout including a handful of larger rainbows that made their way to my dinner table. It’s been a good summer so far and we have Trico’s to look forward to… oh and be careful out there, the wild parsnip is approaching 7-8ft tall in some areas and is thicker than I’ve seen it in the past. Avoid if possible.

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