By David Hulsey
August, in the South, may be a little hard on the trout fishing and the trout, due to the blazing hot days and muggy nights. Looking for fun a little further down the river or in the lakes might be a better idea at this time of year. Warm water species, such as bass and bluegill can be loads of fun. Bluegill are usually pretty cooperative around brush piles, docks, and standing timber. Small chartreuse or yellow poppers will normally keep you busy early and late in the day. During high sun periods, fishing a little deeper may yield larger specimens. Black Rubber Legged Dragons and small Beadhead Wooly Buggers are a favorite for fishing down to about 8 feet or so. Slow stripping these flies will get crushing strikes, and when you find one down deep, he will have lots of friends so work the spot very well.
Bass will be most active early and late in the day around cover with good ambush points with plentiful bait. River bass will like the deeper holes or steep banks, while largemouth or spots in lakes may be in as much as 20 to 30 feet of water. Fishing deep water with a fly rod requires sinking lines and weighted flies, such as Clousers. Electronics on your boat are a very helpful to locate schools of shad or blueback herring down deep. Find the bait, and you’ll find the fish. In summer, don’t overlook areas with enough boat traffic to make waves that splash up against the shoreline. There’s a lot of oxygen up close to these areas and big bass sometimes will be in inches of water on the prowl for an unsuspecting bream or crawfish. We cover fishing for these warmwater fighters in our Full Day Fly Fishing Class. Check out our website for more information.
Give David Hulsey a call at (770) 639-4001 to book a class or a guided trout trip. See his website at www.hulseyflyfishing.com.