There is plenty for the cutthroats to feed on in Flat Creek. When it opens in August, gray drakes will be on the water. The drakes can be imitated with a #14 Parachute Adams, but if you are getting refusals, a biot body Gray Drake will increase your odds. Gray drakes will last for a couple of weeks. As is the case with most of this stream's insects, the hatches are most prevalent from midmorning through the afternoon.

Cold, frosty mornings are common in August and it may take a while for the cold-blooded fauna to become active. If you are on the water by 11 A.M., you will be about right. Sleep in, have breakfast and an extra cup of coffee. By far, midday hours have produced my best fishing, and I like to take my time getting to the river. Evening angling can be variable. Sometimes it is good, and other nights are slow.

Pale Morning Duns (PMDs) hatch through the month of August, making them the most important summer hatch. the hatch can start as early as 11 A.M. but typically begins in early afternoon. PMDs are #16-20 pale yellow or light olive mayflies. For the duns, I like to use a Compara-dun, Sparkle Dun or PMD parachute.

Flat creek trout feed heavily on blue-winged olive mayflies (above) in October. A #18 Sparkle Dun is a convincing imitation.

Emergers or spinners can also be important. A #16 tan soft hackle or my Everything Emerger are excellent options for emergers, and I like to use a Parachute Rusty Spinner for the spinner fall. I tie my spinners with an upright pearl Krystal Flash post. This is easy to see in the shadows of an undercut bank, and it imitates the insect's clear wing. If I get refusals on the parachute, I trim down the post and use it as a spent spinner.

Sometimes you will spot fish feeding on emerging nymphs. A Pheasant Tail Nymph hanging below a dry fly is one of the best options for this situation, as indicators may send fish running for cover. On rainy days, there can be heavy PMD hatches during most of the day. Afternoon thunderstorms also bring out bugs, but this requires some discretion to prevent your demise.

Some overlooked but exciting fishing is the cranefly activity. Mornings or evenings will find craneflies scurrying over the surface. Sometimes you will spot a trout following them, leaving a wake of water, and the rises are not subtle. This is high-quality R-rated violence.

A #10 Convertible (Fly Fisherman June 2001), orange legged Madam X, or Orange Stimulator are great flies. They can be dead drifted, or for the best and most exciting action, they can be skittered. Separate the wings as you grease your fly to better imitate the out-spread wings of the fluttering insect. If you skitter the fly, use at least a 3X tippet to prevent being busted off at the strike.

Evening caddis hatches are common in August and September. Dark-colored patterns such as Peacock Caddis or a Foam Wing Caddis (Fly Fisherman May 2001) in #14-16 are good. In the fall there will be a few October Caddis. These are smaller than the coastal variety, and a #10 or #12 orange Stimulator works as well as anything. This isn't a big hatch but the size of the bug will attract attention.

Terrestrials are extremely important on this meadow stream and accounts for much of the excellent mid-day angling. Warm, windy August afternoons and the almost tree-less terrain make perfect conditions for terrestrial fishing. The tall grass overhanging the banks is home to numerous landborn insects. Large quantities of hoppers are there, as well as ants, beetles, and who knows what else. The hoppers are fairly small, and artificials in #10-14 are appropriate.

The deceptive currents of Flat Creek (above) can make a perfect presentation a difficult task, but the fish demand it. Keep a low profile, approach your target warily, and lay your line down gently.

My Foam Wing Hopper, Parachute hoppers, or Henry's Fork hoppers are good patterns. After the first couple weeks of fishing, these cutthroats can be cautious of hoppers, but they can be used to pinpoint fish, and you can come back later with a smaller fly.

Like many spring creek fish, these cutthroat seem to have a fondness for ants and beetles. These are great patterns to fish as a searching fly or after refusals on other patterns. Foam and rubber ants or beetles in #10-14 are my choices. Minute flying ants can require smaller imitations. Attractors such as Royal Wulffs, Royal Humpies, and small Madam X's have terrestrial-like profiles, and they are good to use if you need to find fish by blind casting.

As you move into September, mahogany duns become an important hatch. A #16 or #18 Mahogany Dun Thorax or Compara-dun will perform double duty for the dun and spinner.

From mid-September to the October closing date, blue-winged olives will emerge. Sparkle Duns and Compara-duns (#18 through #22) are effective for duns, and you'll need some olive spinners in the same size. Olive soft hackles or Quigley Cripples are my preference for emergers. Inclement days are the best, and most of these hatches will be during the warmer afternoon hours. At this time, the fish may start to pod up in deeper wintering pools, and you start to find them feeding in pools instead of the undercut banks of summer.