Westslope cutthroat and flies
- Thread starter prmike307
- Start date
I dig the purple flies. Good stuff.
prmike307
Smolt
I've read that the westslope are especially surface oriented which I like.
tkww
Steelhead
They'll also readily take a shallow dropper. In my experience nymphing is only needed when it gets really windy and the surface is a mess.
prmike307
Smolt
Yes, I sometimes add a nymph dropper too. It's fun to catch fish though on a large Purple Haze! John Gierach quotes someone who said, "If the trout are hard to catch, then you're not in the real West."
I do like to swing small soft hackles for them…
tkww
Steelhead
That was probably true at one point, lol. That said, I do think Westslopes give a newb the best shot at "oh, so this is why people think this is so much fun." But I've been on trips where the casting skill varied greatly (which is to say, also the ability to get a good drift), and it was pretty wild to see how the fish size directly correlated to the casting/get-a-drift ability.
I think the depends on what they are feeding on. BWO and smaller, castIng matters…sort of. Other hatches, get it “near” the feeding lane and hold on. My favorite place to take new friends interested in fly fishing is places where westslopes are plentiful.
Does not mean catching them is always easy. That said, there are more “I got this figured out” days on westlope streams (and brookie streams) than others. “Usually” not super technical fishing.
In my experience, the smaller fish are extremely eager. I've often had them go after my strike indicator or sighter, sometimes launching themselves half a foot out of the water. However, the larger/older fish are more likely to take a deeper nymph.
prmike307
Smolt
Yes, it's fun to fish large sizes, #10-#14, because I can see them!
They like Purple Haze
When I envision the perfect day of fly fishing in my head it is on a small wadeable stream after run off throwing dry flies for eager west slope cutts with nothing but a spool of tippet, a small box of dries, some floatant and my favorite 4wt. So hard to beat. My largest westslope came on one of those days in western MT and after giving me a lot of grief denying fly after fly, finally rolled on a black EHC size 18 and taped 20”, one of my most cherished fish for sure. Really could go for some of that right now.
One of my favorite attractor dries for days like that is a hippie stomper. Killer fly.
One of my favorite attractor dries for days like that is a hippie stomper. Killer fly.
prmike307
Smolt
Yes, I've used terrestrials like the hippie stomper. I'm kind of partial to Will Dornan's Circus Peanut, a Snake River staple, but also effective on westslopes. My biggest WSC was 18.5" or 19.5". I can't remember which! I caught it on a Goddard caddis skittering on the surface. And yes, it's nice to carry just a small box of flies and a couple spools of tippet.
prmike307
Smolt
Snake River fine spotted cutt? I really should cast one of those Redington Classic Trout rods!
A bit down the basin, northwest of the range of the fine spotted subspecies, I think. I gave that 9’0” to my Dad and he tells me it’s one of his favorites. I do enjoy the 8’6” for the dry fly fishing, or a type 4 full sink line in the lakes.
This thread made me think of a trip to BC where my buddy and I were having a great day catching all sorts of west slope cutt's when we came to another gin clear pool and this hog was just holding there. We floated about 15 different flies at that monster and couldn't get it to bite. I'm glad this zombie apocalypse is coming to an end so hopefully I can get back up there soon.
