Now is a great time of year to fish Hosmer. The shoulder seasons really do offer the best fishing due to the amount of paddle traffic the lake sees through the late spring and summer. As we start to see the warm weather return remember that cold, windy, and rainy days can keep the crowds away and provide excellent fishing for the Rainbows, Brookies, and Cutthroat that Hosmer offers! Right now there is potential to find fish with buggers, nymphs, and dries depending on conditions. Chironomids, Balanced Leeches, and Bird’s Nest patterns should provide consistent fishing below an indicator despite the weather and time of day. Stripping leeches and Wooly Buggers should also find good numbers of fish. I like to start with slow retrieve patterns and vary them to find the particular movement the fish seem to be keyed in on. The dry fly game is a little less consistent, but small Mayfly/Midge patterns and terrestrials like Ants and Beetles should find opportunistic fish throughout the day.
Suggested Dries: Purple Haze #18-22, Parachute Adams #18-22, Griffith’s Gnat #18-22, CDC Flying Ant #16, Black Foam Ant #16, High Vis Beetle #16, Peacock Chubby Chernobyl #14-16
Suggested Nymphs: Black or Red Chironocone #14-16, Black or Red Zebra Midge #16-18, Dark Assassin #14-18, Bird’s Nest Hare’s Ear #14-18, Black or Bird’s Nest Depth Charge #14-16, Bruised or Olive Balanced Leech #10-14, Hothead Balanced Leech #12-14
Suggested Leeches and Buggers: Thin Mint #10-12, Olive or Black Wooly Bugger #10-12, Ruby Leech #10-12, Olive or Black BH Mini Leech #12