For CCA members hoping to place an entry in the STAR tournament Fly Rod Division, June is the best month to register a larger-than-14-inch trout. As summer wears on and water temperatures rise, specks become more selective in their feeding habits — and less likely to eat flies.
Aim for big specks by tossing poppers from first light to early morning along the edges of tidal lines and drop-offs. Later on, look for schools of mullet and other baitfish, and toss large clousers and seaducers using an intermediate line.
For school trout, try a clouser or charlie suspended 30 inches or so below a VOSI — the fly-rodders popping cork — over oyster reefs in lakes and bays.
The colder-than-normal spring means bream action is still peaking on larger reservoirs and oxbows. These fish will be bedding in deeper water. So use a light leader 8 to 9 feet in length, along with a weighted fly like a tussel bug, jitterbee or cap spider, and do the countdown method.
Late afternoon will remain best for popping bugs or foam spiders in ponds, smaller lakes and backwaters. For bream, use sizes 8 to 12. For bass, sizes 4 to 8 will avoid the “pesky bream” from taking the bug and give something meaty for the predators.
June marks the return of prime Rio action in Orleans and Jefferson parish ponds. Catching a 1-pound Rio on a 3-weight rod is like hooking a wet cat. These South Texas natives love olive or black woolybuggers retrieved in tiny strips.
