September = Halfpounders

[Rlynch]

Sounds good to me! I'll be in the shop later to pick up a few flies for the morning.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Until the Halfpounders are in the river for a while you can catch them on anything that is about the size of a honey bee.

After they have been in the river for a while in the Fall they will get keyed in on the caddis population so evenings they seem to like a #12/14 in a caddis pupa and then right at dark they like an active #12/14 caddis dry when the adult caddis come back to the water to lay their eggs.

For now any almost #8/10/12 wet fly will usually work. I use a 9' 3x leader and a floating line in the morning and evening in September.

Generally you find a place in the river where there is a drop in elevation causing a riffle. A good place to fish is the end of the big flat stretch which is called the "tail of the pool" or "tailout". You might see fish surface in this tail in the AM and PM in low light level. Position yourself above this tail and slow work down into it from the side if the river that has the best wading.

Make long casts out in the river and slightly down stream. Make a mend upstream (pick up the back of your floating line with your rod tip and throw it upstream), then point you rod almost directly at the fly and hang on.

Work your way down into the tailout till it gets shallow and too fast for fish to hold and then move down below into the riffle.

Fish short on the edge of the riffle till it pulls away from the bank and starts to fade out into slower crinkly water. Look for fish to roll below you. When you see one "show" just cast across above it and let the fly swing down across the place where it was.

It is not 'rocket science', just a simple system that is effective. All you need is fish in the river.

Until the Halfpounders are in the river for a while you can catch them on anything that is about the size of a honey bee.

After they have been in the river for a while in the Fall they will get keyed in on the caddis population so evenings they seem to like a #12/14 in a caddis pupa and then right at dark they like an active #12/14 caddis dry when the adult caddis come back to the water to lay their eggs.

For now any almost #8/10/12 wet fly will usually work. I use a 9' 3x leader and a floating line in the morning and evening in September.

Generally you find a place in the river where there is a drop in elevation causing a riffle. A good place to fish is the end of the big flat stretch which is called the "tail of the pool" or "tailout". You might see fish surface in this tail in the AM and PM in low light level. Position yourself above this tail and slow work down into it from the side if the river that has the best wading.

Make long casts out in the river and slightly down stream. Make a mend upstream (pick up the back of your floating line with your rod tip and throw it upstream), then point you rod almost directly at the fly and hang on.

Work your way down into the tailout till it gets shallow and too fast for fish to hold and then move down below into the riffle.

Fish short on the edge of the riffle till it pulls away from the bank and starts to fade out into slower crinkly water. Look for fish to roll below you. When you see one "show" just cast across above it and let the fly swing down across the place where it was.

It is not 'rocket science', just a simple system that is effective. All you need is fish in the river.

[Rlynch]

I'm excited about getting out! Thanks for all the great advice.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I started this post 10 years ago but it is still good today.