Right now we are seeing more of the same up on East Lake, with educated fish moving towards deeper water and becoming more difficult to target on the surface. There continues to be good numbers of Callibaetis and Midges with some Caddis hatching throughout the day, but look to the nymph stages of each insect’s life cycle to produce the most consistent numbers of fish. With water temperatures and other factors pushing fish to deeper water, rigging becomes slightly more complicated and important in getting flies to correct depths. When fishing in 15-20 feet of water, it is best to get flies within a few feet of the bottom, which requires the use of some sort of slip/quick release indicator. We prefer Hareline Dubbin’s tapered slip indicator, which allows anglers to get fish within landing distance even when flies are fished upwards of 10 feet below the indicator.

With educated, picky, fish it is vital to use light fluorocarbon tippet and 5-6X has become standard at this point. Fishing smaller flies than we do early in the season can also be beneficial, and using slight variations or changing fine details on the standard patterns can produce some of the best days. Buggy Callibaetis patterns and Midge/Chironomids in the #16-18 range are the go to for now. Those dedicated to bringing fish to the surface should focus efforts early and late in the day in hopes of finding fish who have let their guard down and moved into the shallows to feed more aggressively than in the heat of the day.

Suggested Nymphs: Black or Grey Zebra Midge #16-18, Olive Juju Chironomid #18, Black or Red Chirono Cone #18, Poxyback Callibaetis #14-16, Bird’s Nest Hare’s Ear #16-18, Bird’s Nest Depth Charge #16-18, Dark Assassin #16-18, Parallel Assassin #16, Black Ice Cream Cone #14, Olive or Black Balanced Leech #10-14, Olive Wooly Bugger #10-12, Thin Mint #10-12

Suggested Dries: Black Flying Ant #16, CDC Flying Ant #16, Hi Vis Beetle #16, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #16, Tilt Wing Callibaetis #14-16, Almost Dun Callibaetis #14-16, Organza Spinner #14-16, Parachute Callibaetis #14-16, Thorax Callibaetis #14-16