October Season of the 2wt. Fly rod | Rio Premier LightLine DT
Often, in late September and into October, the trout become downright finicky. You will see them rising in vodka, clear water, and eating something you simply cannot see. It's mind-numbing to say the least. To make matters worse, they are extremely skittish and bolt at the first signs of Muggle ineptitude. We are often too hard on ourselves, and when we make a wrong move on the chessboard, we berate ourselves for the entire drive home and into the next day, week, and even months. We relive it for weeks to come while inventing new flies for different worst-case scenarios. A friend of mine refers to this phenomenon as “fall futility”. Alas, there is hope for those unwilling to put their dry fly and wet fly boxes into stasis for the winter.
There is a time in the fall when you will see a transition from actual rises to boils. You can float adult midges on the surface, beetles, crickets, ants, hoppers, and you will get no interest. In fact, you will just spook them. But the boils continue. You're left standing there, wondering what's happening to the neighborhood. The trout have dialed in on typically midge emergers just under the surface. When this happens, you need emergers that you can either swing or sink just below the surface film. Typically, I use suspender midges #18s down to #24s. Again, this transition, depending on where you live, occurs around October and lasts through the rest of the fall and into the winter. Based on the type of water I fish, selective feeding typically starts mid-morning and continues intermittently throughout the day.
At some point in the fall, you have to step back from your go-to summer rigs and bring in the specialty rods, lines, and, most importantly, leaders and flies. For myself, I step down to very short lightweight furled leaders 50" shorty butts made for one and two weight rods. Gossamer 6x or 7x tippet sections at around 6 feet. A 2 weight line that is “quiet” and as supple as possible. One that loads up very close. Most people know me as a “silkhead” most of my lines are all silk.
Most of my 2 weight lines are Rio LightLine Double Tapers. This particular Rio line is the most stealthy line I've ever used. As stated above, it's freakishly quiet. It is perfectly designed for most of my clear, low-water, tiny fly presentation situations in the fall in the western Alleghenies, the Mad River, which is literally across the street from where I live in Urbana, West Virginia, and Tennessee. Rio hit the nail on the head with this line. Many of the big-name line manufacturers have mind-numbing product mixes and line logic, no pun intended. It can be frustrating finding a “quiet” and very supple line. So, give the Rio line's LightLine DT a try.
If I use my divining rod carefully every decade or so, I come across a plastic line that I absolutely fall in love with. As a warning, this is not a line for fast-action rods; it is specifically designed for moderate to slow-action rods. I do run it through bamboo and glass rods. It also works phenomenally on my old Sage LL rods of the 1990s. Once you have the line, leader, and tippet combinations lined up, you have solved part of the “fall futility” puzzle. Now it's up to your casting skills, fly knowledge, and most importantly, patience! Remember, your lines and leader selections can often make or break a day's worth of fishing in the late season.
“May the fall be with you!”
~cheers Clint Bova
