Smoky mayfly July

Much of the United States has been experiencing some record temperatures this month. In Idaho we can more consecutive days over 100° than I thought was possible, it’s even been in the 80s as the sun is rising. On top of the heat this is one of the worst fire season’s in memory, and the entire Northwest seems to be covered in smoke.

Water temperatures in most places are getting too high to trout so anglers have had to switch things up. I spent a weekend chasing smallmouth and tiger musky from a SUP and a lot of time building rods. Last week I went trout fishing just below a dam to find cold fishable water. The river was 60 degrees so I cruised around covering water with a hopper dropper until I found fish. I had been expecting a PMD hatch late in the afternoon and it didn’t disappoint. I’ve heard that mayflies hatch better in low light, like when there’s cloud cover, but I had never imagined smoke could be a factor. It was the thickest PMD hatch I’ve ever seen on this part of the river. The trout went bananas but they got super selective with that many naturals on the water. I ended up hooking several and got a considerable rainbow to hand; 22 inches of wild, dry fly eating trout on a bamboo 5 weight.
No one would complain about that.

a couple days later I brought my girlfriend to the same spot and the hatch went off just as it had before. Thousands of mayflies bobbed up and down in the grass and landed on us as we walked down the river bank. Tiny sailboats emerged from the waters surface and disappeared in concentric rings. Most of the eats were just a sip but the occasional explosion or a fish completely leaving the water had me thinking there were ants mixed in the buffet.

who knows if that was true, but there was a stud of a fish willing to eat one. I put a bionic and in front of a pod of fish and a thick rainbow annihilated it. A couple seconds later it’s on the other side of the river, my reel is still screaming, and I am stumbling down river with this fish pulling hard. Luckily I was with someone who could help net it so the trout didn’t get too tired. It was an absolutely gorgeous rainbow with stunning spots that measured out to 23”. It put my 3 piece bamboo 5-weight to the test but don’t underestimate the cane.

I want to know if anyone else has seen mayflies or other bugs behave differently when the smoke is thick. If you have some thoughts I’d love to hear from you. Email me at trevor@elevateflyfishing.com.