Brookville Report 6/17

         I took advantage of my day off today to do a little bit of fishing to prepare for a guide trip on Saturday.  I headed over to Brookville this morning about 6am to fish with a good friend.  The gauges have been reading the neighborhood of 2.66 gauge height the last few days.  A bit lower than I like, but great conditions for spotting and watching fish.  We spent a bit of time just watching trout midging on the flats.

        We began the day by checking out some of the deepest spots in the tailwater that we know of. (more on this in a bit) We threw a lot of double nymph rigs and eventually began using a dry-dropper combo to deal with the low, clear water.  We both were catching most of our fish on Zebra midges and Rainbow Warriors.  We both caught fish,  but otherwise nothing exceptional happened.

         I was using some new gear, so that was fun.  I recently got a Grey's Streamflex 11' #4 as a new nymphing rod.  I put a Sage reel and Rio Gold line on it and was really happy with the result.  The rod definitely makes mending and managing line easier, but I still need some practice with these skills.

 I also picked up a Fishpond/Nomad mid length net that is lighter and more fish friendly than my old net.  Louis added a custom touch to it for me with some fly line wraps on the handle.  We can order these now.   They are light and rugged nets available in a variety of sizes.

        During the day a few thoughts struck me as at least noteworthy, if not important.

1. At least 65% of success at Brookville is knowing the water.  Low water times like these are great because you can see and access so much of the structure. You should be looking for ditches, prominent rocks, holes, ledges, undercut banks, anything that might give trout cover. Keep in mind the rainbows and browns look for slightly different cover. This knowledge will serve you well as long as you fish.
2. Never underestimate comfort and safety on the river.  As you can tell from the above picture, almost every surface at Brookville is covered by some kind of algae.  This means slippery footing.  I think my wading boots and polarized glasses are two of the most important pieces of gear I take to the river.  The glasses give me a more clear picture of where I am walking and help me fish.  Wading boots give me piece of mind.  I don't worry about twisted ankles or busted feet.  Having traction in this situation is so important.  Rubber w/studs or felt will work fine as long as you are wearing quality boots.
3. When I instruct new fly fishermen one of the skills I stress is line management.  This is a foundation skill of fly fishing whether you are fishing bass on farm ponds, bonefish on flats skiffs, or trout at Brookville.  I am sure I missed a large number of "takes" today because I had too much slack to effectively set a hook on a soft mouthed trout.It just takes practice and patience.

Call us if you are interested in guide trips, instruction, advice or just want to talk fish.

-Luke
513-871-FISH