October has begun with chilly mornings warming up to beautiful afternoons filled with vibrant foliage, coloring up gradually each day. Our rivers and streams have been dropping and after several weeks of “above average” flows are now just barely at the historic median average, with water temperatures down in the 50s to low 60s. And as a result, with this lower, cooler water, the trout are mostly found in the deeper pockets and pools and are a bit spooky. Pools are glassy and still, which cause the fishing to be much more demanding, especially when fishing in bright sun. These conditions call for finer tippets and tiny flies, as the fish have plenty of time to see your fly, and a sloppy or inaccurate cast that disturbs the water will surely put a rising fish down.
Fly hatches are getting sparser, with a few residual Trichos in midge sizes in the mornings, along with some Isonychias and tiny Blue-Winged Olives later in the afternoons and evenings just before dark. We are still waiting for more of the October peach-colored caddis flies to emerge; a couple of anglers were successful last week using an Elk Hair Caddis.