Yellow Breeches & Letort Run

[FLY_Mike]

Anybody know what the fishing is like this time of year at Yellow Breeches and the Letort. My schedule opened up for this weekend and with the warmer weather I decided to give it a shot. This has always been a place I wanted to go but something always got in the way until now. Any advice for a newbee for these streams would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Fishidiot]

They're always worth a visit and you should make the trip. They are fishing somewhat well but don't expect a fifty fish day.

My standard advice for Letort newbies is to lower you expectations for fish caught or dry fly fishing. Letort is loaded with fish but they lay low under weed cover and while you may see some surface activity, don't bank on it. Letort fish, like the other CV limestoners, are bottom feeders. Cloudy days are your friend on Letort. Avoid wading in Letort but you will need waders for the marshy shorelines. Watch your step.
Breeches is easy to wade.

These streams have been discussed extensively on this forum - use the Advanced Search function to check out these threads. There's a lot of info on YB and Letort.

 

[FLY_Mike]

Thanks Fishidiot,

I arrived at Yellow Breeches at around 7:00 it was overcast and a little bit of drizzle in other words perfect conditions. I caught several bows and one brown on a pheasant tail and zebra midge. Didn’t see any risers but the fight a brown put up was worth it on a 3wt rod.

Around 11:30 I took the trip to Letort in the fly fishing only section, I saw some monsters and they saw me and bam they vanished. I followed your advice and snuck up near the bank and caught one little guy on a zebra midge, that was the one and only fish I caught on the Letort. That was some of the toughest fishing and I see why they write books about it. I will definitely be going back to the Letort, I couldn’t believe some of the fish I saw but they are very spooky.

 

[Fishidiot]

Great to hear you had some luck and the CV treated you well.

It is often said that, with respect to Letort, that the stream is tougher than the fish - a little truism that I happen to agree with.

 

[MrV]

Fly_Mike, Glad to hear you had good luck on the YB. I have a cabin there and will be heading out to spend a few days there over New Years. What size Pheasant Tail and Midge did you use?

I just started fly fishing and while the YB is a great stream to fish, not always newbie friendly. : )

 

[FLY_Mike]

The pheasant tail size I was using were non bead head 18-20. The non bead head is a personal choice I make I don't think the fish really care. Zebra midge size in 20-22.

I parked at the resort and fished from the dam down stream in the FFO section. I am by no means an expert on these waterways this was the first time I tried them so you may want to do what Fishidiot suggested and look at old posts on these areas.

good luck.

 

[MrV]

Thanks.

 

[BrookTroutLover]

A question for you Letort regulars. There are stretches that have such dense brush along the banks that it seems like there is absolutely no way to get a fly in there without slipping into the water. But almost every piece of writing about the Letort says to stay out of the water if you want to catch fish. Thoughts? It is a bewitching stream, but geezus!

Scott

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Well for one thing, depends on the time of year and stretch.
Harmony hall downstream to shady is very overgrown in the summer.
Post road downstream is almost impossible to fish anytime of the year and also holds the highest density of larger fish, for obvious reasons.
Heritage area is also easier to fish in non summer months. Keep in mind that you also have less brush to hide yourself in but at least the swamp is frozen.

One thing you can do is fish from an upstream position, cast as far as you can and feed line out as the current takes your line.

There is a reason, the Letort is known for being difficult and it has nothing to do with the fish. Keep at it! It took me quite awhile but I'm pretty good at consistently catching fish there. It just takes time.

 

[BrookTroutLover]

Much appreciated. What a puzzle!

 

[Fishidiot]

BrookTroutLover wrote:
There are stretches that have such dense brush along the banks that it seems like there is absolutely no way to get a fly in there without slipping into the water. But almost every piece of writing about the Letort says to stay out of the water if you want to catch fish. Thoughts?

There are more of these sections now than a couple decades ago, as much of what used to be meadow has reverted to successional forest or brambles. Generally speaking, it pays to hit the creek from different banks from time to time as much of the stream is not crossable and you can access different pools from different banks.

To be honest however, my advice is to maintain an abundance of caution. It simply isn't worth taking a fall into Letort as the banks are very soft and the bottom is mucky in many places. I like to carry a wading staff and probe some of the soft spots both in the meadows and along the banks. Due to vegetation, some sections simply aren't fishable. Move on to another spot.

 

[SteveG]

I try to stop by when I think it'll coincide with dry fly action, because I find it easier to get a decent drift. It still isn't a guarantee because there's plenty of subsurface food for the fish lol. The Letort became less frustrating when I resigned myself to the fact that some stretches are nearly impossible to fish.