by Bill Graves
Three weeks ago anglers could troll a floating fly line and tandem streamers across most Aroostook lakes and hook a few salmon and trout. Conversely, casting a dry fly upon the Aroostook River, Prestile, or Meduxnekeag Streams enticed very little interest. Now, all this has changed, and fishermen need to present their flies, lures and plugs at very specific depths to ensure maximum results.
Contributed photo
The author prepares to release a hefty brookie taken while trolling a small streamer fly on a full sinking fly line.
On local streams, options are few and very defined: high, cold water requires a sinking line and weighted, bottom hugging nymphs; moderate height and temperatures in brooks prove perfect for wet flies and small streamers; and warm, low water conditions usually require a hatch to motivate fish to move and strike dry flies on the surface. A couple weeks back, much to many sportsmen’s surprise, hatches began in earnest on most local streams and despite being unusually early in the season floating flies are really stirring up the trout.
As is always the case, insect hatches are a very unpredictable occurrence and for the most part it’s just being in the right place at the right time. Due to recent intermittent rain, insect hatches tend to be even more random and high, muddy conditions render dry fly casting near useless. Brooks and rivers will clear quickly however and surface action will perk up just as swiftly. Through late-June, I’ve found that patterns such as a Henryville Special, gray slim Jim, light Cahill, mosquito, and the Hendrickson work well for trout regardless of ongoing hatches.
When certain insect species are actually emerging from the stream bed to hatch on the surface and wing away, floating dry flies may produce only marginal results. Fishing a dry fly pattern wet, so the imitation bug seems to struggle just under the water surface or swims leaving a small wake, often draws more strikes. It’s amazing how effective sinking a fly only two to three inches can be at this time of year.
For deep holes, slow runs of riffles and large pools at the site where a smaller creek joins a large waterway, anglers need to get flies closer to fish holding along bottom. A sinking tip line with a shorter leader, roughly six feet, gets a small wet fly down to about two or three feet when there’s little current. For faster runs and deeper pools, a medium rate full-sinking fly line will easily submerge flies six to eight feet depending upon retrieval speed. I carry an extra reel spool in my fishing vest and can switch from floating to sinking line in a couple of minutes when required.
For lake and pond anglers options are even more varied. On any particular day, cloud conditions, wind and temperature can alter holding and feeding levels by 10 to 15 feet. Presenting a fly or lure five feet or more too high or too low curtails action notably. A fish finder is crucial to selecting a line type to reach the correct depth each outing.
On a recent trip to Cross Lake, our fishfinder showed us that trout and salmon had moved from a couple of feet under the surface to about 8 or 10 feet. Trolling floating fly lines or monofilament with shallow running Rapalas or lures would have been useless since few fish will travel that far out of their set feeding zones to strike. We ran a sinking fly line, one braided Dacron trolling line with a small dodger trailing a streamer on a leader six feet behind, and a third rod with two colors of lightweight lead core and a DB Smelt lure. In four hours two of us boated 13 fish, releasing all but a four pound salmon and a brookie just over two pounds.
I’m not a big fan of downrigger fishing with heavy weights, or dragging heavy lead core on rods like broom stick handles, to me it’s all about fighting the fish on lightweight gear. Six-weight fly rods and 9-foot noodle style spinning rods yield great fun during the battle and still easily reach fish down to 25 feet with the right fly lines, lead core, or weights on monofilament. Experiment with sinking fly lines, buy a spool of light 12 or 15 pound lead core rather than the 30 pound stuff, or try thin dodgers, torpedo sinkers, or planner boards trailing flies, plugs or small lures on mono filled spinning outfits.
Rain and dreary weather are curtailing the insect hatches on streams but keeping the fish from going too deep on the lakes and ponds. Select the correct lightly weighted line to present baits close the holding trout and salmon and results will be steady action regardless of where you are fishing. Fish have to eat, anglers just have to put food in front of them!
