No, I'm not talking about gambling in www.partycasino.com, I'm talking about taking your chances with Mid-Summer Trout, and trying to find the cool pools which hold them during the heat of summer.
As the youth representative of Potomac Valley Fly Fishers, I submit an article to their newsletter monthly (this month is the first), here is the article of mine which will be published in the June newsletter...
As the youth representative of Potomac Valley Fly Fishers, I submit an article to their newsletter monthly (this month is the first), here is the article of mine which will be published in the June newsletter...
It is almost June, this means 80-90 degree temperatures and too hot for Trout, right? Wrong, summer Trout fishing is highly underutilized in our area. Most people think that all of the fish stocked will be caught or die when the water warms up. The fact is that in suitable streams (a suitable Trout stream is one where the water temperatures do not exceed 65-67 degrees) only about 50-70% of Trout stocked actually get taken home for dinner. Summer decreases water levels substantially and it is a lot easier to find Trout then in other months when they could be virtually anywhere. Some key features to look for when trying to find summer Trout holding locations are springs, shade, oxygen (in the form of riffles), and cover or deep water. Springs can be quite difficult to find, but I have found that the best time to locate underwater springs is in the winter when there are water plants growing around them. In a stream you could walk for a ¼ mile and not find any decent holding spots, or there could be a spot every 50 feet, but usually they will not be close to each other. Some great locations for mid-summer Trout are Owens Creek, Antietam Creek, Friends Creek, Beaver Creek, and some that might or might not hold fish during a hot summer depending on temperatures include Middle Creek, Catoctin Creek, Fishing Creek, and Israel Creek.
Ponds, as well, are highly under-fished in the months of May, June, July, and August. Most ponds however the Trout will die unless there is some kind of cold water source coming in. Just this past week, I was fishing Big Hunting Creek and only landed two, and on the way back, we stopped at Frank Bentz Memorial Lake. If you had looked at the lake you would have thought there was a breeze, but that was just all of the ripples from rising fish. The fish were rising to a massive mayfly hatch in which hundreds of Trout were “participating.” If you were to drain any pond or lake, I bet anyone would be surprised at just how many fish are left. This mid-summer Trout thing is really getting popular, I urge you to go out, because you will probably catch more than you did opening day. Remember: go early or late, because later in the day the fish will go deep to retreat from the sun.
