Fall Outlook On The Eleven Point

[Brian Sloss]

Now that canoe traffic has slowed considerably, my busy guide season has gotten under way and the fishing has been very good. The number of fish in the river is solid right now and they are feeding well. The rainbows should continue feeding well up through Oct in preparation of the Nov spawn. The hot flies as of now and probably will continue through Oct are Stoneflies (Pat's rubber leg has been great), prince nymphs, squirrel nymphs, eggs, 1/16th oz marabou jigs, Don's crawdad and anything meaty. Also been throwing a few streamers, particularly big articulated ones, in low light situations. Been throwing them to cover, like weed beds in slow water and getting a few pickerel. Been casting a few, with a sink tip, upstream and letting them sink into deep holes as they drift downstream and stripping them out and catching a few. The most effective method is still fishing deep with a nymph rig using the above mentioned list of flies. As the month of Oct ends, and hopefully the water rises a little, start looking for fish to be hanging out just below shallow gravelly areas with current. Basically spawning like waters. Look off drop-offs from these shoals with some current. Pre-spawn fish may be staging in these areas and provide good action. Then comes the spawn sometime in Nov, depending on weather. If you spot spawning fish, please think twice about fishing to any on Redds, as they are stressed. A hooked female will loose a lot of eggs on your waders and everywhere but the redd. She will be very tired to begin with and could be played to death. That said, you can do well fishing a little downstream with eggs catching all the fish waiting for an easy meal coming from the redd. Fishing looks good this fall and then before you know it, winter trout and smallmouth fishing begins.