Hello,Big fan of your blog. I have a question for you regarding the Kinni. Since the big flood around June 21st, I have noticed a big slow down in the fishing and I have three ideas. I am wondering what you think and if you have had the same experience with the Kinni slowdown.
-Idea 1: Fish like bass and suckers have moved in from the big river which has slowed down the trout bite.
-Idea 2: That flood was a lot more damaging that I initially thought to the fish, river and aquatic insect life.
-Idea 3: I’m not that good (entirely possible but I remember last July being pretty good for fishing especially nymphs/streamers/worms/spinners).
I know the heat and smaller amount of insects hatches plays a factor in July but this year it seems unusually slow.Thanks,Dave

All are good thoughts.
The variables that affect the summer slowdown every year are reasonably similar. Precipitation and the heating of the earth/water are probably the two biggest factors. How and when these two variables, along with a host of others, act in concert to affect the fish and fishing is the puzzle we as anglers try to solve in order to understand our catching more predictably.  Here are my thoughts on summer slowdowns and our trout streams
-1-  Suckers are a valuable part of the Kinni and have been there since long before I started fishing the river. Warm water species like Bass and others move into and out of the river probably based on forage, spawning needs and water temps. Trout can move around, especially the bigger ones. Not sure what effect if any this has on the trout bite.
-2- I believe large water events can have an effect on the abundance of aquatic food in the rivers. Mostly I believe it is a short term effect rather than a long term effect.  Nature, for lack of a better term, is very resilient in its  ability to repopulate after these events. Floods can also have a detrimental effect on the trout population depending on when the extreme flows occur. Heavy flows can be most devastating to the young of the year depending on the timing.
-3- None of us are that good! We live in a different world than the trout.  Until we can engage in meaningful conversations with these cold water wonders, there will be holes in our theories.  We use our own experiences and compare  them to past years. We have the input from other anglers and a bunch of scientific thought and data to help us discover. It is just the nature of our beast to be perplexed until we can attain some sort of iron clad, logical, explanation for the lack of, or abundant success at catching. Anglers who put in the time fishing and read the literature, both science and fiction:), usually become more proficient at catching. Unfortunately this makes the valleys on the graph(non-catching or less catching for those who won’t admit it) even more difficult to understand. Remember how happy you were to catch just one all by yourself, when you really felt you had it all dialed in?
Yours is a great question and here is the only way I know how to answer it right now in this moment.
Every year is different from the previous, every day is different from the past. Anglers will have different results fishing the same spots on the same day with the same patterns. The amount of variables in the equation can be mind numbing and the interaction between those variables can sometimes produce a perfect storm or a perfect skunk. It is a beautiful thing and keeps luring me back for more punishment/reward. Knowing that more time on the water will probably mean more peaks and valleys on my personal graphs if I measure fly fishing by catching. Also, more time on the water will probably give me insight I can use in the future but will also point out that I know less than I did the day before. Crazy, I know.
Now, I went and got all philosophical on ya and I apologize, kind of.
To try and sum up my simple thoughts on an unusual slowdown on the Kinni, I will boldly assume we are measuring catching. I have kind of eluded to that above.
In my experience, my slowdown in catching almost every year begins in late June or early July. I guide many clients who are brand new to the sport on their first ever outings in July and August. I tell them that they are beginning at the toughest time of the year. I reassure them that their expectations for catching should be low because water temps have warmed and active feeding can be sluggish. However, we have had some very good days just when I thought our catch rate would be low. Go figure.
Fly fishing for me comes now without  or with little measure, but certainly not without serious thought. Knowing that the graph below measures cubic feet per second shows me that the flow can vary widely for a given period of time. But this same graph could easily have any units of measure and it would probably look similar because change is certain and measurement for me has less meaning because I know it happens every day or hour or second.  Can I still be frustrated? Absolutely. Especially when the guy right next to me has just caught 7 fish and I have goose egg. I can see what he is doing but for some reason I cannot replicate it. I think now I measure my fly fishing in connections. Connections to those who I fish with, connections to the places I fish, connection to myself. Realizing that the only measure to understanding a solution to the fly fishing puzzle is knowing there is no definitive solution is a stage in the fly angler’s journey. It has opened up more avenues in my thought process, let me enjoy the shimmer of the water more fully, and enabled me to become more successful angler.
I think the fishing since the floods has probably been in line with my expectations.
Great question Dave.

Discharge, cubic feet per second
Most recent instantaneous value: 97   07-26-2013  14:00 CDT
Graph of Discharge, cubic feet per second