fall flies

[strap44]

Well I don't know about the rest of you but I am ready for summer to come to an end. This will be my first fall of fly fishing, most if not all of which will take place on Penns Creek. I have been looking at hatch charts online and trying to gain any insight into fall flies that I can. It appears that most of the flies used are along the lines of beetles, ants, and a few caddis flies. Most flies being in the 14 - 22 range. Does this sound right? Also is there a different approach as far as time ofday to fish. In the spring and early summer I was going out early but about 2 or 3 hours before dark is when things really fired up.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Hatch smatch....

Fish large streamers with hints of hot crayfish orange in them.

 

[Longbow]

The browns were going crazy just before dark tonight on my local wild trout stream. Landed four all on a tan caddis. I never could figure out what they were feeding on though. Didn't see much flying but they were erupting all around me. There was one that was about 12 feet in front of me next to a tree root that would not stop. I threw everything at him to no avail then went back to a tan caddis and wham. He was my nicest fish of the night. Water was nice and cool too. What a blast. The only downer was that my 11 year old did not catch a fish. They are very spooky though and he is still learning how to approach them.

 

[dryflyguy]

For dries - terrestrials will be effective, usually through october. I also fish slate drakes - #14 , caddis, and bwo's - #20.

And as the weather cools down - dropping the water temps along with it - the rising activity will start to change from a morning/ evening thing, to a middle of the day affair - just like fishing in march and april.

 

[Night_Stalker]

Large Meat

 

[troutbert]

A lot of generic dries and nymphs work in the fall just as they do at other times of the year.

Elk hair caddis, Walt's Worm, pheasant tail, generic fur mayfly nymphs, rusty spinners, Stimulators...

 

[LeTortAngler2]

The October caddis is a good autumn hatch to match on Penns, I'd carry a few of those big guys as well.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I pretty much use "october caddis" (which is really just a large orange EHC), orange stimulators, and golden stonefly nymphs.

 

[krayfish2]

Bill's pretty spot on. Your major hatches are olives and isos. Generic nymphs work well and don't be afraid to super size them. Big orange caddis pupa swung toward bank for October caddis and streamers in low light are always good bets.

 

[fisherboy3]

Golden stonefly nymphs, small pt's, october caddis, and of course my favorite, the micro egg in peach and pink colors. Around a size 18 or 20. Also sucker spawn in white, peach and pink works too. People may call them junk flies, but i dont give a S$%*. When the fish turn onto the eggs, go with the actual size of a trout egg. An 18 or 20 will do just fine. Some of my nicest and biggest fish come from eggs.- Kev

 

[Chaz]

Various caddis hatch through the early fall and a string of baetis, what many call blue winged olives also hatching through the fall. Tan caddis will be plentiful and are already diminishing, Oct. caddis will kick in toward the end of Sept. You'll see the end of our largest mayfly, Hex. actrocaudata, and more isonychia through early Oct.
After that a series of stone flies hatch, but not in large numbers. as well as the tricos, though those will be diminishing as fall progresses, with the last tricos hatching near the beginning of Dec. They progressively fall on the water later in the day, by November they are an afternoon affair.
On colder days you'll want to fish nymphs and streamers, with streamers being the big draw as spawning season approaches.
Hope this helps.

 

[JeffK]

All good suggestions. My favorites because they are larger are the slate drakes (as an old guy I like the older names - forget isos). The have duns, spinners, and a nymph. The nymphs are large and stripped since the nymphs swim. I like a Prince nymph, but some prefer special iso nymphs. Old timers swung Coachman wets - they still work.

Fall often means low and clear conditions and the tinies are often the ticket. BWOs, midges, tricos. Sometimes they get real spooky after a few months of being fished for.

I use "junk flies" more than I should. Egg flies and worm flies do really well. I whole heartedly agree on the small egg thing, but prefer small eggs flies tied with the material on top of the hook like a sucker spawn, blood dot, or Utahs egg so the material doesn't block the gap of the hook. I'll start with a 14 or so just because I like larger flies better, but at times a small egg can make all the difference.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

BWO,Slate Drakes,Caddis and Tricos for fishing the surface. Small(16-18)Egg patterns and San Juan Worms for subsurface. If I had to choose one pattern for fall fishing it would be the small Egg patterns They are just plain effective.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

WildTigerTrout wrote:
BWO,Slate Drakes,Caddis and Tricos for fishing the surface. Small(16-18)Egg patterns and San Juan Worms for subsurface. If I had to choose one pattern for fall fishing it would be the small Egg patterns They are just plain effective.

I'll bet the green weenies aren't removed from your chest box for this time of year. ;-)

 

[krayfish2]

White gloved howdy

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Heritage-Angler wrote:

WildTigerTrout wrote:
BWO,Slate Drakes,Caddis and Tricos for fishing the surface. Small(16-18)Egg patterns and San Juan Worms for subsurface. If I had to choose one pattern for fall fishing it would be the small Egg patterns They are just plain effective.

I'll bet the green weenies aren't removed from your chest box for this time of year. ;-)

LOL, you got me Ed.