Fly fishing after rain

[PATroutMan]

I am looking to get an opinion/advice on fly fishing after a mid to heavy rain. How does this affect the bite and tactics/flies to use? I usually go to yellow breeches but have never really tired fishing after a good rain.

 

[DavidFin]

Use a McGinty!!!

 

[pcray1231]

Haha, well, standard advice:

1. Use meaty streamers with some action. If flow is also high, fish the banks and other slower spots.
2. In dirty water, counterintuitively, solid, dark colors usually show up best. Black. Dark red. Etc. Stay away from whites, creams, light brown....
3. Midday and sun is less of a problem than it is when things are lower and clearer. So the need to focus on mornings/evenings is significantly lessened.

That said, I have seen plenty of times, especially if hatches are heavy and the fish are accustomed to them, to see surface activity actually pick up when you get a little brown to the water. Fish are usually easier to fool in such situations.

 

[csoult]

green weenie and tan san juan worm

 

[Dave_W]

Trout fishing after a rain can be very productive, especially if the rain occurred during the night (during summer). In particular, smaller, mountain freestone streams with wild trout can really wake up aftyer a rain. Definitely go fishing!

 

[PATroutMan]

Thanks for the pointers everyone. Ill be sure to go out next time

 

[dryflyguy]

I wouldn't rule out dry fly fishing after a heavy rain either.
I've caught many fish in high, stained water - that were rising to a hatch. Usually larger, easier to see flies - like march browns and green drakes.
Sulphers usually seem to still bring up risers in murky water too

 

[Six-Gun]

In areas with muddy (vs rocky/sandy) banks, a San Juan worm in pink, red or purple can crush 'em. One place I fiah in Indiana really lights up on worm patterns after a rain storm since a lot of the naturals were inevtiably washed into the flow.

 

[csoult]

dryflyguy wrote:
I wouldn't rule out dry fly fishing after a heavy rain either.
I've caught many fish in high, stained water - that were rising to a hatch. Usually larger, easier to see flies - like march browns and green drakes.
Sulphers usually seem to still bring up risers in murky water too

Had this happen on BFC on Green Drakes this year, it was a good day. The murkiness allowed me to more easily target the fish in the flat pools. If I saw a fish rise even once he was taken.

 

[pcray1231]

While fishing in murky water can be productive, that's typically with still decent flows, just colored.

If things are truly blown out, a few pointers.

1. Wooded streams stay clearer. If you go to a stream that runs 100% through forest, they never really color up. Farmland streams are the first to muddy and last to clear.

From the initial runoff event:
2. When looking at USGS graphs, after any rain, streams typically have a spike. That spike is runoff, and if in country where it colors up, it will be colored. As it comes down, there's a decently defined spot where it begins to level out, like an L, though never quite 90 degrees. That's the point where runoff is ending and groundwater flow is beginning to provide the majority of the flow. If it was muddy, that's when it'll clear. If planning ahead, groundwater flows will continue to diminish in an almost linear fashion from there for a while. Groundwater flows in freestoners will fall faster than those in limestoners.

3. Large watersheds are the last to come up. That means, when it's raining, the upstream gauges spike before the downstream ones. Small watersheds will come up quickly. Farther downstream, where it's larger, there will be a delay before the effects get severe. To maximize fishing time, during the event itself, pick large water, far from it's source.

4. Small watersheds are the first to come down. That means, in the days that follow a "blow out" event, the first thing to become fishable is your small freestoners, and limestoners near their sources. So following the true deluges look to upstream areas first.

It's all common sense. But it drives home the idea to be flexible. Too many have a favorite spot and just don't fish or wait for that spot to be perfect. Streams don't all act the same, some color up, some don't, some blow out quickly, some blow out slowly, some clear up quickly, others clear up slowly. And in thunderstorm season it's very common for one area to get 2" of rain while another gets only 0.25". Look at precipitation maps!

Be willing to alter your plans and go where it's good!

 

[Hook_Jaw]

I have fine luck white or bright streamers in dirty water pcray black works good all the time no water the water height or color.