Mossy Creek Fly Fishing Forecast 7/17/2023

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Andy brings us the forecast this week. It is looking sunny and warm ahead with highs in the mid 80's and lows in the 60's. The trend looks to be cooling off a bit by the weekend with lows around 60 at night with highs around 84. There is a threat of afternoon storms most days but only 30-40%. Rainfall last week and over the weekend bumped things up a bit regionally. The James is running very high and muddy right now. The South Fork got a nice shot to improve flows a bit. The guide report this morning was that fish were feeding like crazy this morning with 1 guide reporting the best bite of the summer so far! Some of the mountain streams received a refresh over the weekend and it looks like many of the Shenandoah National Park streams got a bump of rain on Sunday. You should find some fishable creeks this week. Keep an eye on the USGS gauges for realtime updates. The spring creeks continue to see tricos most every morning and our beetle season is in full swing with hoppers continuing to emerge. Try the overcast days for increased action on the spring creeks or fish early or late during the low light periods. Some afternoons will be a bit more manageable later in the week when temps cool off a bit. Prospecting beetles and hoppers with our without a dropper fly is your best bet for locating fish. Streamer fishing will turn on when it is raining or the creeks get stained. As long as we continue to get rainfall the summer trout fishing should hold up for us. The smallmouth fishing has been great this year and continues to get better. Recent rainfall is keeping our local river levels in great shape. Visibility today is running around 3' and should clean up over the next few days. Stained water days focus on your crayfish, hellgrammite, and baitfish patterns. Clear water days try a wiggle minnow, deer hair bug, swim frog, poppers or sliders for some amazing topwater action. We have reloaded some of the best patterns for summer trout and bass fishing! So stop in or shop online if you need to replenish your boxes. If you are around Salem or the Roanoke area this coming Saturday be sure to stop by Parkway Brewing to visit the mobile fly shop! Our crew will be there with tons of gear to test and we are always happy to share our fishing knowledge and have a beer with you!

BEST SMALLMOUTH FLIES THIS WEEK:

Umpqua Swimming Frog

Foam Slice Frog

Deer Hair Poppers

Brammer Seasoned Geezer

Clousers

Belly Scratcher Minnow

Jiggy Fat Minnow