Fished the lower J today from 8:30am to about 2pm. . .
WEATHER: Very nice with partly sunny skies, medium breeze, high in the low 80s.
WATER: About 4' at the Newport gage and dropping; heavy stain with about 2' of visibility in the morning but clearing substantially as the day went on. 76 degrees F. confirmed by thermometer (I consider this on the cooler side for mid July). River grass was evident but sparse; lizard and willow grass beds fully formed; suspended algae in the water column at mid-river made streamer fishing difficult. Fishing pressure heavy; dozens of kayaks launched below where I was fishing.
HATCHES/FORAGE: No surface activity and no insect activity noted (damsel flies were here and there but no "damsel bite" today). No nymph shucks on the surface. Some schools of baitfish at shoreline and saw a couple blow-ups on minnows. Crayfish were very numerous at every spot and fish were eating them as one bass I brought in the boat projectile regurgitated a crayfish on me.
Fishing today was on the slow side. Afishinado mentioned the post-frontal conditions and we often expect poor bass fishing on blue bird days after a front. I started prospecting under shoreline trees in the shade but this produced no bass. In mid-river I did get several bass, all cookie cutter fish about a foot in length, likely from the 2017 year class. I got most of my bass today plunging a stonecat fly on mid-river boulders or channels. Afish hit some fish on poppers when the clouds were in front of the sun.
As the sun got higher and the water cleared, I went looking along the shorelines and saw very few bass in the shallows today. I saw one small muskie; no carp or catties. Sunfish, however, were numerous and I saw some good sized red-breasts, the bigger ones usually in twos or threes. The sunfish were concentrated along shoreline areas wherever there was woody debris and some current. I spent some time today targeting the panfish and caught many redbreasts and rock bass swinging small nymphs.
WEATHER: Very nice with partly sunny skies, medium breeze, high in the low 80s.
WATER: About 4' at the Newport gage and dropping; heavy stain with about 2' of visibility in the morning but clearing substantially as the day went on. 76 degrees F. confirmed by thermometer (I consider this on the cooler side for mid July). River grass was evident but sparse; lizard and willow grass beds fully formed; suspended algae in the water column at mid-river made streamer fishing difficult. Fishing pressure heavy; dozens of kayaks launched below where I was fishing.
HATCHES/FORAGE: No surface activity and no insect activity noted (damsel flies were here and there but no "damsel bite" today). No nymph shucks on the surface. Some schools of baitfish at shoreline and saw a couple blow-ups on minnows. Crayfish were very numerous at every spot and fish were eating them as one bass I brought in the boat projectile regurgitated a crayfish on me.
Fishing today was on the slow side. Afishinado mentioned the post-frontal conditions and we often expect poor bass fishing on blue bird days after a front. I started prospecting under shoreline trees in the shade but this produced no bass. In mid-river I did get several bass, all cookie cutter fish about a foot in length, likely from the 2017 year class. I got most of my bass today plunging a stonecat fly on mid-river boulders or channels. Afish hit some fish on poppers when the clouds were in front of the sun.
As the sun got higher and the water cleared, I went looking along the shorelines and saw very few bass in the shallows today. I saw one small muskie; no carp or catties. Sunfish, however, were numerous and I saw some good sized red-breasts, the bigger ones usually in twos or threes. The sunfish were concentrated along shoreline areas wherever there was woody debris and some current. I spent some time today targeting the panfish and caught many redbreasts and rock bass swinging small nymphs.
