Late July Report

We are fishing primarily the Kings and Merced drainages with some forays into the Kaweah drainage. Are the fish there? Yes! They are willing depending where you go, when you go and how you fish. This comes as no surprise but let's revisit a few topics. First, allow us to offer some anecdotes with some emphasis on stealth. Although we may not service streams that resemble the Letort of yore, we still find that being sneaky is huge. We have a fun story of making the "hide behind the boulder" strategy key and another funnier story of "Take that bright blue cap off please!" each translating into fish. Lower water is naturally making the fish skittish. Remember, this is a soft form of hunting. Below is a shot of Randy positioning himself behind a rock to fish a good looking piece of water..

Here is Randy's reward for staying stealthy...

Elena used this big boulder to cover her approach ...

Another thought is temperature. Some cooler mornings have had good bites because the water starts the day cool. Then, ironically, because the air temps go up the grasshoppers become active and the smarter trout brave the warming waters to grab a big meal. Interesting math eh? Finally, the good ol' evening hatch does play a role all over and we do see varying degrees of surface activity kick into a higher gear on various parts of the river as the insects get active. A dead drift remains very helpful in enticing a trout. John and Frank fished a shady area in the peak of the day to find willing fish on the Kings....

Finally, after missing a few takes, John tied into a beauty...

For you more experienced and resourceful anglers, let it be known that in general terms, the upper Kings has been running a drop cooler than the Merced with both rivers showing robust PMD activity as well as small caddis. A mysterious flurry of giant golden stone hatches have occurred but we can't find the adults no matter how hard we beat the bushes. This, however, may explain why sometimes a huge stimulator draws a take. The fresh shucks covering boulders; still rich in color and soft to the touch. Eeeeew! See the photo below:

Crazy eh? Small PMDs, caddis and attractor patterns are just fine. If you can handle gnarly terrain, your catch rate will go up but we stress safety. Please be reminded as well that our Oakhurst fly shop is open 7 days a week this year! Details: http://yosemiterivers.com

July Conditions

A long overdue update from SFF HQ, the Yosemite Rivers Fly Shop. As many of you may know, after two great water years, we are in the midst of a low water year. The fish, of course, are determined to survive and do a variety of things. They'll hunker down and hide or even move from one region to another if possible. We, the anglers, have to do the same. What we have been both practicing and recommending is fishing cooler areas as well as cooler times of the day. This serves to reduce stressing the fish (and the angler for that matter) during the heat of the day. Pulling a trout through warm water as it offers you a fight can actually harm the fish. Obviously, higher elevation waters are less a worry as they can run nice and cool even during a low water year. Watch the weather and feel free to call the shop for suggestions. Now, a few quick notes pertaining to technique: We are seeing the fish responding to hoppers! This is always fun. We also have noticed a decreased amount of PMD activity from previous years however will comment if this changes. Below is a shot of a hopper-caught trout from the Merced. Click on the image for a cool close up/expanded view. You can see the grasshopper.

Photo: Bernard Yin
Link: http://yosemiterivers.com