Fly fishing in September can be excellent with chub and dace minnows. As the rivers get lower it opens the doors for smallmouth feeding on chub and dace minnows. This usually happens in the shallow water in the tails of the pools. At dusk you often see the wakes of bass as they chase these minnows in the water 1-2 feet deep. My favorite tactic is to enter the upper part of the riffle below the tails of these pools. I then slowly wade up into the tail of the pool. I watch the water closely for these chases and cast my Murray’s Floating Minnow out in front of the feeding bass.
If there are few bass chasing these minnows in the shallow pool tails, I wade slowly up into the pool as the depth of the water limits me. As I work my way slowly upstream I fan my casts ahead of me to cover all of the water I can reach. Then retrieve it back downstream using a strip-pause-strip motion that swims it slightly faster than the current is pushing them. Often by wading up the shallow side of the river I can fish all the way up to the next riffle.
Incidentally, some of my customers are seeing the Hexagenia hatch occurring on the Shenandoah River. If you see this hatch then put on a Mr. Rapidan Skater Dry. Listen to the rest of the Podcast>>
Fly Fishing for Trout
Shenandoah National Park is closed for fishing effective 8/31/23. The water levels are too low and the water temperature is too high which is stressful for the trout.
Update on store hours. Murray’s Fly Shop will be closed for vacation Sept 9-18, 2023. Online orders will resume shipping on September 19. Thank you for your patience!
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