By David Hulsey
August fly fishing trips usually begin with good intentions of leaving before dawn, hanging in there all day, and motoring home that night giddy with all the trout caught and released that day! Normally though, it goes kinda like this… We left before dawn, beat everyone to the river “yeah” good so far, blazing hell hot sun gets above trees at about ten am, no fish even seen, can’t take the blistering heat and humidity anymore, make a break for the truck and turn the air conditioner on nuclear winter and say the heck with this and get back home about 1 pm and watch TV for the rest of the day. In the South, the dog days of summer can really beat you down pretty darn quick! You could fish at night, nah… too much trouble, or you could just forget it until maybe like October or November and take advantage of all of the great delayed harvest streams. Come on man, you have two months of nasty hot weather to deal with, that’s just too long to wimp out and play inside. You could take up fly tying and that’d be cool but that just seems like a wintertime deal even though I tie usually every night even in summer because, believe me, there is no end to the amount of flies someone can launch into the trees on a guide trip. We just want to catch fish don’t we?
It totally comes down to dropping a lot of coin and traveling out West or North or toughing it out and hanging tough down here. Higher elevation streams can be pleasant early and late in the day, just make sure the water temperature is low enough to keep the little trout safe. Avoid the heat of the day like the plague and you should have some success and not kill any fish. Consider fishing for bass and bluegill, they normally will be munching out early in the morning and late in the evening. Small popping bugs or a slow stripped wooly bugger will normally get the green light. When that gets boring, turn to the shallow water areas around your local lake or pond and keep an eye peeled for carp. Yep, old pucker lips can change your life! The common carp can be the most challenging game fish in fresh water. As Lefty Kreh once said, “Carp are like fishing for bonefish, but harder!” Carp can take pretty much any amount of heat or siltation old Mother Nature can throw at them. Flies that imitate little crayfish, nymphs, or even small baitfish can be effective on the golden ghost! When you see a ten pound carp rooting around in vegetation and then watch it spot your fly and turn into a predator and pounce on it like a hungry house cat, it will blow your mind the first time you see it. The first run will usually put you into your backing, you might get another run of the same magnitude. I guarantee you will have the utmost respect for what many call a trash fish. So, get out there when that old summer sun is still below the treeline or behind the mountain, and tough it out a little bit longer. After all, winter is coming! I’ll see y’all on the water!
Give David a call to book a class or trophy trout guide trip at Noontootla Creek Farms. We can make learning to fly fish easy and fun! You can make the switch.