Sunny Day Doldrums

Wetswinger · May 10, 2023

The last two outings, including yesterday, have been slow fishing. Yesterday I could tell at the ramp it was going to be a challenge. Calm water without any signs. No swallows flying, no bugs. Got my only bump of the day trolling over to my chosen spot, using a guppy. Tried indicator with several choices. Count down leeches. Nada. Ended up smelling the skunk. Do you all find sunny days more of a challenge.? Care to share any thoughts.?

Buzzy · May 10, 2023

Yesterday I met @Engee at one of my favorite hike in lakes - often the lake produces more than a dozen fish to the net with a similar number of missed takes/lost fish. There were enormous thunderheads virtually surrounding this small Basin lake, to the north they looked ominous (they were, but that's another story) and I wondered if this unsettled weather affected the fishing. It was SLOW. Very slow. Although there were midges here and there, the lake surface didn't have any shucks floating around and it was quite calm. No swallows.

There's a small island a hundred feet or so from the put in point, usually I can fool a couple fish with a jig fished under an indicator between the put in and the island - no such luck yesterday. I didn't hook a fish for the first hour and half - not unheard of, but seldom on this lake this time of year. Of course the first hook up was a jump and then gone. I fished four different jigs under the indicator, midges under the indicators, midges on a long leader, damselfy nymphs, hares ears, boatmen, snail pattern, leeches, a floating dragonfly nymph - a few tugs on one orangish jig and then nothing. Finally I switched to a booby and managed to hook six fish, landing three before that pattern stopped. Doldrums? Very slow. (Same with just a few days before on another lake that usually is good this time of year).

Dug a fence post hole today, set the post in concrete. Living in Grant County? You dig up a lot of rocks.

Stonedfish · May 10, 2023

Here locally, I’d take clouds over sun any day regardless of where I’m fishing.
SF

Bambooflyguy · May 10, 2023

I had a good 22 fish day yesterday on a far west lake.....it was supposed to be sunny/cloudy but it frickin rained! 70% of the day was sunny and calm. Black leeches cast and stripped and bobber fishing produced. The fish ranged from 13” to 3 lbs....bent the bamboo!

Tom Butler · May 10, 2023

Today was sunny, the fish would only hit stripped flies when the surface was calm, a wind riffle chop and it changed to really good bobber fishing. Just gotta keep trying things I think.

Wetswinger · May 10, 2023

Bambooflyguy said:
I had a good 22 fish day yesterday on a far west lake.....it was supposed to be sunny/cloudy but it frickin rained! 70% of the day was sunny and calm. Black leeches cast and stripped and bobber fishing produced. The fish ranged from 13” to 3 lbs....bent the bamboo!

Steve, I bet you were fishing the weed line eh.? I've got to start doing that now they're growing...

Tombraider · May 10, 2023

Ya weather I said for big twin. Pressure drop. Looking east last night

Buzzy · May 10, 2023

Tombraider said:
Ya weather I said for big twin. Pressure drop. Looking east last night

How's the catching? Doldrums? Lights out?

Merle · May 10, 2023

I can’t believe we’re dealing with heat and doldrums already and it’s not even halfway through May. It was cold and rainy all the way up until suddenly it wasn’t. We only got like a week of “spring” this year.

Buzzy · May 10, 2023

Merle said:
I can’t believe we’re dealing with heat and doldrums already and it’s not even halfway through May. It was cold and rainy all the way up until suddenly it wasn’t. We only got like a week of “spring” this year.

Just like last year, Andy - except we didn't get the 19F surprise on April 15th this year............. ticks are out, by the way.

Wetswinger · May 17, 2023

Yesterday I went out for the "evening bite" on another hot afternoon. Fishing was better this time. Got some quick action on a minnow pattern. Then went to an indicator....so just for fun I tried to watch my indicator while also stripping wet flies. Of course I had one on when the bobber goes down hard. Jesus what a s*** show. I'm glad I didn't break something. Finally, after many misses, hooked one on the indicator while occupied with the other rod. Fortunately(?) my indicator rig got all tangled up, so I retired it and just stripped a hares ear soft hackle till the end.
Do you people juggle the rods very often.?

Buzzy · May 17, 2023

Wetswinger said:
Yesterday I went out for the "evening bite" on another hot afternoon. Fishing was better this time. Got some quick action on a minnow pattern. Then went to an indicator....so just for fun I tried to watch my indicator while also stripping wet flies. Of course I had one on when the bobber goes down hard. Jesus what a s*** show. I'm glad I didn't break something. Finally, after many misses, hooked one on the indicator while occupied with the other rod. Fortunately(?) my indicator rig got all tangled up, so I retired it and just stripped a hares ear soft hackle till the end.
Do you people juggle the rods very often.?

Three of us that fish BC together most often fish two rods (never tried three). I remember one day on Big O---, Herb and I were anchored up close to each other, both fishing from pontoons with two indicator rods. At one point, Herb and I were each doubled up at the same time. No sense getting frustrated, just laugh and enjoy the mess or fish one rod. Herb's really the master of it too, he can some how manage to land both fish where I usually land one (or none). Juggling rods is a good way to describe trying to clear one line when a fish runs across the other.

When it's slow and I'm fishing a bobber rig and cast/strip rig, invariably the bobber goes down when I'm busy stripping. My hook to land ratio doing this is low. But it's still fun.

Wayne Kohan · May 17, 2023

Wetswinger said:
Yesterday I went out for the "evening bite" on another hot afternoon. Fishing was better this time. Got some quick action on a minnow pattern. Then went to an indicator....so just for fun I tried to watch my indicator while also stripping wet flies. Of course I had one on when the bobber goes down hard. Jesus what a s*** show. I'm glad I didn't break something. Finally, after many misses, hooked one on the indicator while occupied with the other rod. Fortunately(?) my indicator rig got all tangled up, so I retired it and just stripped a hares ear soft hackle till the end.
Do you people juggle the rods very often.?

I’m almost always on two rods, often an indicator and a sinker. However, if I really want to fish the indicator I need to mostly stop moving, so I’ve taken to fishing two sinkers at the same time. Last week I had a great few hours fishing an indicator at 14 ft down, and hanging straight down at about 16 feet. Had a double of >20 inch fishes. It was a mess but I was giggling the whole time.

Ernie · May 17, 2023

Went out yesterday. The water temperature was 66 degrees and it didn’t make me so happy. Caught 5 8” - 9” bass the first 40 minutes on a type 3 sink line using a black mini leech with a red bead head. I was hoping for some rainbows.
Changed to a type 6 full sink line and fished in deeper water. Tried several variations of soft hackles. Nothing for two hours. Headed back to shore a half hour away, caught 2 14” rainbows off of an olive pine squirrel leech with an orange bead head. I was hoping to catch more trout.

troutpocket · May 17, 2023

Glassy water and bright sun can make for a tough day. If I can see into the shallows and there’s no obvious hatch happening or fish showing, my usual tactic is to move out to the first dropoff and fish deeper and keep moving until I figure something out. But I keep an eye on the shallows. Even a slight ripple can be enough to bring fish back if there’s scuds, damsels, chironomids, etc available.

Shad · May 18, 2023

Every time I think I'm starting to figure out how a given weather pattern affects fishing, I have an experience that blows my running theory out of the water. This spring has been particularly confounding, and I'm almost back to where I was before I started trying to figure this stuff out, which was just to go fishing anytime I could go, because no matter what, it beats sitting on the couch or doing stuff you don't want to do. That said, you know to take my suggestions with a grain of salt....

I have observed a lot but learned next to nothing from my fishing this spring. I've had what appear to be practically identical weather conditions produce vastly different levels of feeding activity.

As regards bluebird skies: they are often associated with high, persistent barometric pressure. There are a lot of theories on why and how this affects fishing, and the only thing everyone agrees on is that there are exceptions to every "rule." It looks like the barometer has been fairly steady lately, and not very high, so it might have nothing to do with the past few days. Either way, when you find slow biters, slowing/sizing down your presentation or fishing tight to structure can help, but some days just plain suck. It's particularly frustrating when you see bugs hatching and nothing eating them this time of year; that's a sure sign the fish are in hiding (not biting) mode. You can still catch fish on those days, but it's a low, slow, PATIENT game. The patience is the hardest part for me sometimes....