Fishing Report Upper River

[Sam Potter]

Fishing Report October 30

The River is still running very clear and it is very low for this time of the year. Fishing has been fair to good depending on your fishing location and your choice of flies. This time of year the browns have other things on their minds and feed a lot less than normal. They usually don't go out of their way very much to get food, waiting for the river current to bring the food to them. We are getting a good tiny olive hatch in the morning and various caddis hatching throughout the day. They are not heavy hatches, so you will have to catch one to see what they look like, if you want to go through the trouble to match the size and the color.

With all the changes in the weather recently, it affects the type of hatches. During those cold, windy and rainy days the larger olive, size 20, will come off and the fishing will turn on. This bug seems to bring on a more aggressive feeding, so I love to be on the water when these little guys hatch. The "Baetis type days" are my favorite days to fish. Most fishermen avoid these days, miss out on some very good fishing, and leave a lot of water for me to fish. Days like this are not comfortable for the average fisherman and just the "crazy guys", as my wife calls them, end up on the water.

The colors along the stream are amazing, but will be gone very soon, so if you want to catch them you need to get out in the next week or so. In a couple of weeks the rifle season opens for deer. If you plan to fish during the hunting season make sure you wear some colors to make you distinct from a deer. Do not wear white of any kind, and stay away from the tans and browns. I know that most waders are in this color range, so if you have to be in the stream, outside of the parks wear some kind of florescent orange on your body. I personally do not fish outside of the trout parks, or Taney during the deer hunting season.

"A bad day fishing is still a Great Day"