The season’s ending is just weeks away. Most of the streams I visited fished well into mid August. Cooler than normal temperatures slowed things down. Hopper activity on certain streams could be had but was limited to a smaller window of time. Yet we carry on. The clock is ticking. 

Currently, under sunny skies and warm conditions I’m still fishing terrestrials. Small hoppers and ants. If things are slow to begin I often will fish a wet ant under the hopper and that can pick up fish who aren’t ready to commit to the surface. On days that are cloudy and cool the terrestrials get put away and I hope to see our final hatch. The hatch that will last until the end of the season and beyond. 

Fall Olives, some love this hatch, others hate it. Once this hatch gets established the fish tend to get very selective. On many days two different sized Olives can be hatching simultaneously. Add to that the different life stages, nymph,dun, spinner and it becomes easy to understand how fishing this hatch can be frustrating to say the least. 

I carry three patterns when fishing this hatch. A floating nymph, a Sparkle dun and a Spinner pattern. Most afternoons, as the hatch progresses, I may fish all three. My patterns are usually tied on #20 and #22 hooks ( I usually tie short on the #22 in order to mimic the #24s). On many days you can have fish favoring one size over the other but that selection process can be different per each individual feeding fish. 

I suggest finding a piece of water with fish feeding. Take your time, observe, move slowly. Play the game, learn. Enjoy the process. It may be many months before you see fish feeding like this again. In the long run it will make you a better fly fisherman.