I can feel it, like all animals do this time of year. It's on the way and I welcome it with not just open arms but with my spirit renewed by a new lease on life. Autumn is on the wind, drifting in slightly with a few clues to those who look. The wind has crispness to it, a slight chill. Pine needles have begun falling and the tips of the big leaf maple are turning a slight yellow. Warblers in the high country are on the move and the rest of our feathered friends have changed their normal summer behavior. But the one clue that fall is on its way was the Blue Wing Olive mayflies I saw in the past few days on the North Fork Yuba river, they are back after taking the summer months off for vacation.
Autumn is the most amazing spectacle of our revolving seasons that wash the earth. It can be viewed as a decaying time when all the greenery that spring and summer produced becomes a withered and pale pastel falling from the sky. The days become shorter, the sun is lower in the sky, and darkness overtakes the length of day. But you know what? If you're a fly angler this is special time, this is when mother earth pulls out the top hat, waves the magic wand and grants us the best fishing of the season!
This is by far my favorite time of year; large trout prowl the skinny water of our lakes and can be found right at your feet. Legendary running waters of Northern California like the McCloud, Pit, Fall, Truckee, and the Upper Sac rivers turn on fire for the final show of the season. Classic fall hatches like the October Caddis, BWO's, and the Isonychia mayfly dance like sugar plum fairies in the damp air that hovers over our sacred waters.
The only problem with this time of year is that it is over before you know it. I wish the great creator could just stretch it out a little more and allow us to savor those delightful and perfect presentations that become mere flashbacks in the cold winter months ahead. I don’t’ know about you but I am so ready for this, I think about fly fishing and autumn all year long. To watch summer fade into fall and dance in rhythm with the trout and their world is a passion that consumes my every thought. Somebody pinch me.
Jon Baiocchi has been fly fishing and tying flies since 1972 and is a California licensed fly fishing guide, published author, educator, innovative tier, and public speaker giving fly fishing presentations to clubs and expos around the state. Jon operates Baiocchi’s Troutfitters guide service in Northeastern California where he has a reputation as a hard working guide who has been trained by some of fly fishing’s best known master anglers. He can be reached at BaiocchisTroutfitters.com
