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Dry Falls & Lenice "Report"

2K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Schlab 
#1 ·
More of a question, really - why was the fishing so poor?

We fished Dry Falls and Lenice in the middle of the week last week. Yes, it was a heatwave (temps in mid 90s by end of week, 80s earlier in the week), but the fishing was surprisingly slow - even when the heat not on (morning and night).

The best we could do at each lake was pick up a few very random fish in the early part of the day and then it would be more or less COMPLETELY DEAD from the afternoon into the night. We even fished some after dark - trying all the old standbys (every type of leech and streamer that we had) - not a bump at Dry Falls, picked up only a couple (as in exactly 2) at Lenice near/after dark.

At Dry Falls - we wasted some time the first day fishing in the flats, picking up a number of 11-12" fish on mini-leeches, damsel nymphs and chironomids (on top and below) and then decided to focus on the big lake for bigger fish. We tried everywhere and everything - buggers, chironomid, damsel nymphs down deep (just off bottom), on the drop-offs, etc. Except for one "ok" brown (about 17") on a bugger down deep and one lethargic rainbow (about 18") on a drop off, we couldn't scare up a fish.

At Lenice - some fish surfacing during the morning - completely uninterested in chironomid, damsel nymphs (many were out there wriggling) and anything else "obvious". Picked up a couple on a mayfly spinner (followed by numerous refusals) and a couple on a mayfly dry (none were hatching tho, followed by numerous refusals), and a couple randomly on mini-leech - then it went dead for the day. Others we talked to had even less luck than us.

I used to fish these lakes more in the 90s - I don't remember them going dead like this until a little later. Any ideas?

but i'm not complaining ...
 
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#2 ·
I really wanted to night fish it last week durring the full moon, (Lenice) didn't go cause the old man couldn't make it.
I wish I had tried it alone now, I bet it was awesome. (Could explain the slow fishing durring the day too.) Sometimes the night bite doesn't get going till after dark when the moon pops. What was the latest you fished?

I might take a day trip out there Wednesday, see how it its in cooler weather.

Scott
 
#6 ·
I really wanted to night fish it last week durring the full moon, (Lenice) didn't go cause the old man couldn't make it.
I wish I had tried it alone now, I bet it was awesome. (Could explain the slow fishing durring the day too.) Sometimes the night bite doesn't get going till after dark when the moon pops. What was the latest you fished?

Scott
A few years ago around this time of year I fished one night with Icanfly when it was pretty much a full moon. The fishing during the day was slow, but as soon as it got dark, the fish went crazy. I brought in 10-12 nice bows and a few browns that night. It was a blast. My car happened to get broken into that night though, so I haven't been back...
 
#3 ·
Did you check water temps?
When the tempeture starts reaching above 70 degrees they will seek deeper water and be less active in the shallows they could also be hanging around a spring deep below. Hatches will also become more sporadic and occur very early and very late in the day. 90 degree plus days will push those temps even higher. With the cooling trend that is happening now you may find fishing to pick up some until the tempeture rises again.
This means you have to adjust your fising style, search with a full sink line going deep 20' or more with buggers, leaches, dragons etc. eventually you will find them.
 
#4 ·
Freddie,
I had the same results on this side middle of last week. Don't know if it was the full moon or what but strikes were hard to come by. If I notice I'm getting follows&refusals, I'll change my leader and tippet. If that doesn't solve the problem I'll drop fly size down to real small. Quite often that will do the trick, however there are always those times when the fish aren't feeding and catching is poor.
Scott
 
#5 ·
thanks for the reponses. some follow up:

we did fish until the moon popped - sort of. it never rose above the hills high enough to illuminate the entire lake. just the very far shore -- a few hours after it first started "glowing" behind the hills (new lesson learned - while the moon may be full, it may not go high enough to "show up").

water temps were 66 deg at lenice, felt cooler at DF.

we did try a lot of deep dredging at both lenice and DF - with a variety of patterns that usually produce results. we got that couple random fish and that's about it.

but i should add, of course, it still was a nice trip, nice to get away, nice to cast a fly or two to risers, nice to get a few grabs on the surface (just wish there were more).
 
#9 ·
A blue moon - when there are 2 full moons in the calendar month. This could be it -- I have noticed that these fish keep very close track of the calendar. I think they have calendars with a picture of a different fly fishing dude (all garbed up) each month. Kind of like people who have calendars of grizzly bears - "check out that one on February - I wouldn't want to run into him - scary" ...
 
#10 ·
Full moons are generally bad for fishing. Saltwater (because of stronger tides) and lakes are the most affected. And a blue moon just means that it was the second full moon in the calendar month. Not that the fish care much about that, but that moon for whatever reason just shut the fishing off like a spigot.
 
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