Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Forecast 5/22/2023

RSS

Brian brings us the forecast this week. The good news is the weather will be beautiful this week with highs in the 70's and lows in the 40's. There isn't much rain in the forecast until the weekend and then it looks like we might only get a spring shower without much significant rainfall. So if you enjoy brook trout fishing or small mountain streams we would suggest you get out this week as water levels are getting thin again! Temperatures are cool and bugs are hatching like crazy so fishing on the small streams will still be good. You may just need to be a bit more stealthy with your approach. The spring creeks are fishing well early in the morning and late in the evening. Tricos are hatching in the mornings and sulphurs and a few drakes are popping an hour before dark. We should see the drake hatch continue to get better over the next week and peak around the end of May. The best fishing will occur on the rainy or overcast days until we get some much needed rain to fill the aquifers. Terrestrial fishing will begin shortly after the drake hatch comes to an end. Ants, beetles, and hoppers will begin to play a big part of our spring creek fishing in June! For those looking to fish the VA state stocked waters DWR was out stocking last week and hit the Pedlar DH, Back Creek, The Jackson at Poor Farm Road, and the Tye. Fish were also stocked in a lot of the impoundments- Sugar Hollow Reservoir, Hearthstone, Braley, Briery Branch, and Hone Quarry. Keep an eye on the DWR site as they have about a week of stocking left on the spring schedule. The bass fishing was great last week. Most of the smallmouth are finishing up their spawn. We found quite a few smaller fish still guarding nests. Many of these fish were in the 13-14 inch range. Most of the largemouth were finishing up. The big fish have left the spawning sites. The redbreast sunfish had nests everywhere. If we can stay clear of a big flood event for the next few weeks we believe we will have an above average spawn this year. The bass have been crushing murdich minnows, murdich wigglers, clawdads, and any baitfish pattern. Umpqua swim frogs and deer hair bugs cleaned up fish as well. On Friday we had 2 boats fishing nothing but frogs and had over 100 fish in each boat on topwater sometimes getting 3-4 strikes on each cast. The low clear water conditions are perfect for topwater fishing right now! Carp can be found cruising the shallows browsing for nymphs, worms, and crayfish. A long leader and stealthy presentation can help you target these big river bruisers. The musky are active again and will eat quickly stripped large streamers or topwater flies! Cold water anglers really need to take advantage of the water flow we have left right now and the awesome insect activity! The dry fly fishing has been excellent just about everywhere! Enjoy the beautiful week ahead.

BEST BROOK TROUT FLIES THIS WEEK: