Fly fishing in April on the native brook trout streams is excellent. This month is prime time as far as hatches, water levels, and water temperatures. There are 3 major mayfly hatches occurring this month. To match these hatches I use:
Use these to fish one on one to rising trout or to just cover the water if the hatch is sparse. In the morning before the hatches are heavy a very effective technique is to fish a Mr. Rapidan Soft Hackle (Olive) size 16 on a 5X dropper under the Mr. Rapidan Dry. If your schedule permits, try to stay on the stream until almost dark to take advantage of the emerging duns and the spinner fall. Listen to my April podcast.
Fly fishing for Smallmouth Bass
During periods of high water the rivers carve indentations back into the river banks. These may reach from from 1-20 feet back into the banks. I call these Bank Bays. They can range from 3-6 feet deep. These are ideal feeding stations at this time of year because they block the strong river currents off of the bass. Also these areas hold large populations of minnows for the bass to feed upon.
The best flies to use:
- Magnum HogSucker size 4
- Murray’s Magnum Darter size 4
- Magnum Bluegill size 4
- Shenk’s White Streamer size 4
Listen to my April podcast for more information.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: RSS