Brookville Fishing Report 5/26/14

          Between high waters and working a lot at the shop, I haven't gotten to fish in about two weeks. I headed over to Brookville this morning through the afternoon with the family for a picnic. Obviously I really didn't eat much and spent the time fishing. The weather was very good, almost too good. The sun was bright and the sky clear. The flows were perfect with a gauge height of 3.71 ft. The water was very clear too due to nice constant flows for some time. I picked up a lot of nice rainbows and browns.

          Since the weather was so nice, I threw a double nymph rig most of the day. The flows were very clear which means two things: light tippet and smaller flies. My rig consisted of 6X fluorocarbon tippet with two small flies. Through out the day I switched up the nymphs until I found what worked. After switching through small princes, rainbow warriors, and scuds I tied on a size 22 zebra midge and never looked back.

          The best advice that I can give for a clear sunny day is look for either the deep runs or shady banks. Looking for overhanding trees is one of the easiest ways to spots these kinds of lies. The fish, especially the bigger and smarter ones, will take cover in these places on bright days because they feel safe. They would much rather hold along a shallow bank with an overhanding tree than in the heart of a run on a sunny day.

This beaut took a 22 zebra midge in the shade under an overhanging tree along the opposite bank.

          These banks are usually on the shallow side so use light rigs and small indicators to avoid spooking fish (my favorite are 1/2" white Thingamabobbers). The ideal banks will have a little current, some broken water, an overhanding tree, and some depth (1-4ft).

It's tight fishing but it is well worth it.

Shady banks are also ambush points that allow for streamer fishing on even the brightest days.

Stop by the shop or call us at 513-871-3474 if you have any questions.

Tight Lines,
Alexander Helmicki