My September Fly Box

Can you believe it’s the first of September? Summer has really flown by for me! I look forward to fly fishing in September and October because the weather usually begins to cool and insect activity picks up. It’s time to check the flies in my September fly boxes to make sure I am ready for some great fall fishing!

September has traditionally been a transition month for me. We’ve been to the river looking for rising fish and see a few here and there, but not like June and late September and all of October. At least that’s what our experience has shown.

I’m especially looking forward to the fall Green Drake and Flav hatch like the one shown below.

Mayflies

We’ve already seen BWO and PMDs and an occasional fish rises to one of our imitations.

Here are the mayflies I need to be ready for.

• Green Drakes (size 10 – 12), Caudatella (size 14 – 16), Flavilinea (size 12 – 14)
• PMD (size 16 – 18)
• PED (size 14)
• BWO (size 18 – 22)
• Mahogany Dun (Size 16)

Caddis

There are lots of Caddis this time of year. I like the X Caddis and Iris Caddis to imitate them. And October Caddis will be more prevalent in soon as we’ve seen them in the bushes already..

• Tan (size 16)
• Yellow-tan (size 16)
• Olive (size 16 – 18)
• Gray (size 12 – 16)
• October Caddis (size 10)

Stoneflies

While the Golden Stone hatch should be coming to an end (although I did find a couple mating below Camp Sherman today), don’t miss the opportunity to imitate the Little Olive Stone. They are prolific on the Metolius this time of year.. Many fly fishers think it’s a Caddis when they see them flitting about over the water, but upon closer examination, indeed they are Stoneflies. Just sit along the shore and the bugs will crawl all over you! You’ll find they are sizes 16 – 18 and I use the Improved F Fly to imitate them.

The Cascades Stone (size 6) is a hatch I’ve seen only on the Metolius. Fish don’t key on them and they are quite elusive. Try an imitation along the brushy shore late in the early morning or late evening.

I found this female with her egg sac along the vegitation.

Here are a couple imitations I carry for these Stoneflies.

I hope you plan to be on your favorite water in the near future. It’s a great time of year to enjoy the scenery and hopefully find a trout or two!

Enjoy…go fish!