Late Summer Guiding Special

You might remember reading Jim’s Fishing Report from two weeks ago and if you do, you know that we have had an exceptional summer of good fishing with lots of rain and moderate air temperatures. The water temperatures have been perfect all year, something we don’t normally have. Just yesterday I received a text from one of our anglers and he says, “My friend Jim and I had a great day, we caught lots of fish with the first one being a 24” rainbow on a hopper dropper. Soon after a 22” rainbow on a cricket. It was a very good day with beautiful water. Thank you.”

That kind of fishing is unheard of around here in most Augusts! And it looks like it’s going to continue right through fall. For the next month, (August 26-September 26), we’re celebrating with $100 off our guiding fee for one or two anglers. It’s a great deal, includes guiding on private water, lunch, and any equipment that you might need. Details here and $100 off the price! Contact us with questions or to book. 570-925-2392 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 Hopper Dropper

If you're like most fishermen, you wait all year for hopper season and although it's a much bigger event in the west, let's not downplay the importance of hopper fishing here in the east.

After the Sulphurs, the Light Cahills, the Slate Drakes, now we get to the hoppers. And it's fun to slap a PD or Segment hopper down on the water and wait.....to see......what happens. If we're lucky, and we often are, the response will be immediate and if you're anticipating it, you will often catch the prize of the day!

I don't know of anyone that doesn't like the top water action of hopper fishing but let's face it, most of the feeding that a trout does is underneath. It's just the way it is. So, the easy solution is to use a hopper dropper combo. A  hopper dry fly with a dropper nymph. One fly floats and one sinks. Leave the 6X that you used a week ago on the #18 sulphur spinners in your pocket. Tie that hopper on a 4X leader so the cast turns over easily and depending on the depth of the water, add 14-24 inches of 4X tippet with a simple clinch knot to the bend of the hopper remembering that the longer the dropper tippet, the slower your cast should be to keep everything out of trouble.

Our favorite summertime nymphs for this kind of fishing are bead head pheasant tails, hare's ear, inch worms, and a small peridon nymph, all in sizes 16-20. Experiment to make sure the hopper can support the nymphs. If you find the hopper sinks go to a lighter nymph, but all of these nymphs will be fine. In deeper water you can add a second dropper to the rig but be warned that if you don't stop long enough on the back cast, the flies will tangle. Check out these nymphs in our store.

Summer is all about terrestrials, especially as we get into late summer and early fall. Hoppers, crickets, inch worms, ants, beetles, and so on. These flies are a nice change in the routine and fun to fish right up until the first heavy frost.

Rob Parkins with RIO, brings it all to live in this short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWv074YmFKE