Getting Ready For the Fall Season

Fall is right around the corner, which means just about every outdoors magazine on the newsstand is focused on hunting season.

Bucks, birds and boars dominate the covers of Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Fish and Game and Fishing and Hunting News.

But don’t sleep on fly fishing in the fall, which just might offer up the best fishing of the year. Because summer vacations are over and more and more outdoorsmen and women are turning to hunting, there are fewer anglers on the water and more fish to be had in these low-water conditions. Plus, the weather is cooler and the streamside terrestrials – dragonflies, ants and grasshoppers – are starting to emerge, attracting bigger fish in the process.

The fall is also a good time to scout your favorite fishery, while it’s at its clearest, lowest flows. You can find more fall fishing tips in our offseason fishing guide.

Next, I’ll be writing a “where-to-go” piece on the Snake River in Washington/Idaho, which I was lucky enough to fish at this time a year ago. But if you can’t wait for more on your favorite waters in the Northwest, The Daily Herald (Everett, Wash.) has a nice piece this week on the top 10 fishing prospects for the fall.