No doubt that we've gotten a bunch of rain so far this summer. It's a welcome change for most part (leaving burning gas on lawn mowing out of it!).
Native brookies benefited the most from it, with fast and furious action being the norm whether I flyrodded small to medium waters or poked jigs tipped with maggots into the brush and undercuts on tighter waters.
The tighter waters have not fished this well in recent memory, whether it be coastal or upland. 30 plus fish to hand in a light half day was the norm. A 9" trout is a grand daddy in these waters, but their heart far exceeds the stockies when they drag you back toward the rootballs. The natives' colors are all over the boards, with the fish in the tightest of cover being as black as the ace of spades. The trout have been putting on quite a feedbag also, with some sporting impressive guts
There were some days when blown out trout water made warm water species the obvious choice.
I even spent a few days fishing with my brother on the NY salt. The drinking was faster than the fishing, but we jigged up some scup and got into a few blues, and had a helluva time
The end of June marked an automotive "changing of the guard". My '09 had taken me far and wide, but it was time to move on. I hope my new one does as well with the fishing adventures! Out of the gate, I have to say that the amount of computer stuff on board is a bit scary
With new wheels, I got back to more extensive spot prospecting. It was a good time to check out new spots or older ones more extensively. With the all the water, I focused on searching for lake and river run trout that may have moved up into tribs with the flow bumps. Not surprisingly, timing was critical since many of these waters rise and fall rapidly. I was chasing rumors of wild browns in some of these spots. Maybe my timing was off or maybe the intel I had was dated or fake news. No wild or substantial browns. I did get some spring holdover browns that had moved around. More importantly, I got into some sizable brookies that had made their way
far upstream during high water periods. I don't see why browns won't do the same, so I'll keep trying
. The bigger brookies really blow up the upland pools when hooked on a 2-weight
If I didn't hit any big fish, I was able to add to my "life list" of waters where I've caught native brookies.
The heat of July has broken. Fall is on the way = good times ahead
