Stream Reports

Even for July, last week was a very warm week of weather for our area with heat indexes that reached nearly 100 degrees most of the week. We endured the heat wave and were very thankful to see cooler temperatures arrive over the weekend along with several batches of significant heavy rain Saturday evening through Monday.

For this week and the upcoming 10 days, daily high temperatures are forecast to drop back into the upper 70's and low 80's with cooler overnight temperatures falling back into the mid 60's. Having the current forecast consist of cooler temperatures will be much more comfortable for anglers as well as provide some relief to our fisheries by allowing water temperatures to drop into a more favorable range for our fish. This week looks to consist mostly of cloud cover with the chance of additional rain most days lasting through the start of next week on Monday.

Water conditions on our streams and rivers received a large reset that has water levels much higher than in recent weeks and the water off color. The rain over last weekend and through this week will keep some extra water in our streams and rivers as we continue moving forward through the month of July. After a dry spring it is nice to see our streams and rivers with some extra water.

With the warmer weather, as we expect in the summer months, the morning hours have provided the best opportunities to trout fish, making shorter days that focus on the AM hours the best choice for fishing. Fish have been getting caught on a variety of summer tactics such as Dries, Dry-Dropper Rigs, and Nymph Rigs. Paraleps, Ants, Tricos, and other typical summer flies such as Stimulators, PMX's, and Inchworms have been the main items on the menu. Smaller bugs imitating Paralep Nymphs, and Sunken Ants fished on 5x tippet have been the most consistent, but the fish have also been looking up to eat Dries when sipping Paraleps as well as opportunistic eats with Terrestrials on the surface. 

With water levels on the Juniata previously at lower than average levels, it bodes well for the rest of July to see a total reset of water conditions on the river. By the end of this week and moving forward we should have great water conditions to float the entire Juniata River system. With summer in full force, smallmouth bass float trips are one of our favorite and best fishing options in July as well as August. As water conditions settle out this week the topwater fishing with poppers on fly rods should really get going as we have already seen an increase in damsel flies which often are a signal of the presence of very good topwater fishing on the river. Subsurface action with offerings that imitate crayfish and minnows will also be very good as expected this time of year. If you are already on the schedule, we look forward to fishing with you, and if you have not yet booked your summer smallmouth trips now is the time!