“From a little spark may burst a flame”. – Dante Alighieri

Late August and September are a beautiful time to be on local Cutthroat rivers. There are fewer people around and less angling pressure, especially on weekdays.

With the season transitioning to Autumn dry fly angling becomes more of an afternoon event. Nights are cooler and with the sun arching lower, shadows blanket the river often until late morning, sometimes noon. Each river is different depending on the direction they flow in relation to the travelling sun and the terrain they run through. Morning shadows cover a river longer in steep mountainous and heavily forested territory.

Once the sun does reach the water it slowly warms it and energizes all life. If it’s a river inclined to having hatches then often an insect emergence occurs mid afternoon. It takes time for things to heat-up on a mountain stream. You wait wondering if it will happen. Then you see a few tall-winged Mayflies riding the current. Then a bulge in the water signifying a feeding trout. Then more Mayflies. If you are lucky the emergence becomes a flurry of activity with trout gorging themselves on the surface. “From a little spark may burst a flame.” Trout will take full advantage of the food nature is gifting and survival requires “getting while the getting is good”. That’s when you want to be present in order to witness it all and hopefully locate a few good ones in the afternoon light. And for me quality dry fly angling is all about the light. Spotting a rising fish in a pool or along a bank when it and the insects that it is preying upon are fully illuminated in the afternoon light is angling perfection. It is the most visually engaging trout fly fishing that I know. When “it’s on, it’s on” and it’s thrilling. However, in a cold mountain stream the hatch can be brief. An hour or two, maybe a little more. Once the shadows return around suppertime then it all begins to shut-down. The hatch dies-out and the trout retreat below. As quickly as it begins, it ends. The flame goes out.

Some images from the past two weeks chasing the flame…