Tis the season for big browns but I’m getting a lot of messages from friends and clients who are trying to find them and are struggling this year. I have not found a single brown in a spot where they normally are. If you aren’t working hard to locate them, you’re probably not doing well.

For example, I hit Hawley on Sunday with Coach Mac on the Fly. We started at some of the usual spots where we typically find browns this time of year and they were not there. So, we started pounding the banks and, it paid off.

A few days before that, I was on Reservation Lake with some friends. There is a stream that comes in on one side of the lake and typically, the browns are stacked in that cove either going up the stream to spawn or coming back into the lake when they are done. The stream is so low that the fish cannot make it up and that cove is very silty. These fish are not going to be in that silt. So, we went and hammered all of the rocky shorelines that have sun all day and guess what? We found some beautiful browns.

The moral of the story, is to not get set in your ways. It’s a different year. We’ve had the hottest summer that I personally have ever experienced and we went from lakes being the highest I’ve ever seen them to possibly the lowest I’ve ever seen them within 6 months.

So, if the fish aren’t where you typically find them, move. Go work different areas. And, if you are seeing big browns sitting off the bank and you can’t get them to feed, chances are you spooked them and they aren’t going to eat your flies no matter what you do. That’s another reason to move. If you can see them, they can definitely see you.

The anglers who are fluid and work hard to figure out what’s going on, are the ones who are catching the majority of the fish. The fish are there, you just have to do something different in order to find them. And, if you really want to know how to work this water, hire a guide. I’ve spent over 150 days on the water this year and am pretty dialed in with what’s happening.