What were they eating?

[gwb72tii]

I had a chance this past weekend to fish the Cle Elum River near Roslyn. I got down to the river about 9:30 in the morning, and found a place to fish. Beautiful water, beautiful day. I could see trout rising to feed, lots of them actually, but it was also about 40° out. I didn’t see any insects at all no, no hoppers, no whatever yet the fish were feeding on the surface or appeared to be feeding on the surface.
I fished a hopper imitation with a size 14 purple nymph dropper. I did hook one fish but fished for a good hour with fish rising 20 feet from me and no other takers. Any ideas what they might’ve been feeding on?

 

[mcswny]

I had a chance this past weekend to fish the Cle Elum River near Roslyn. I got down to the river about 9:30 in the morning, and found a place to fish. Beautiful water, beautiful day. I could see trout rising to feed, lots of them actually, but it was also about 40° out. I didn’t see any insects at all no, no hoppers, no whatever yet the fish were feeding on the surface or appeared to be feeding on the surface.
I fished a hopper imitation with a size 14 purple nymph dropper. I did hook one fish but fished for a good hour with fish rising 20 feet from me and no other takers. Any ideas what they might’ve been feeding on?

Midges? Emergers?

 

[Smalma]

Tiny BWOs?

 

[Long_Rod_Silvers]

Tiny BWOs?

That'd be my guess as well.

 

[Brian in OR.]

9:30 seems early for BWO's but like mcswny said midges would be my first guess or BWO emergers or a micro caddis???

 

[Zak]

Several times when I could not see what they were eating on the surface it turned out to be tiny (like size 20) black beetles. But that was back in Vermont.

 

[mcswny]

Were you seeing their heads/mouth break the surface or just the dorsal fin/back? That could give you an idea if they were eating emergers just below the surface vs eating adults.

 

[gwb72tii]

I could see their backs break the surface, almost jumping but not quite. I fished a spring creek in Idaho and witnessed a group of trout feeding on surface bugs, just their open mouths breaking the surface, like little pyramids. This was different as no mouths visible and the trout were active.
Thinking back I think I should have shortened the length of my dropper to something like a foot to 6 inches. Anyone ever fished a dropper like that in order to imitate an emerger?
All these questions are from someone relatively new to flyfishing. I done a fair amount but with lots of time in between trips.

 

[mcswny]

This was different as no mouths visible and the trout were active.

This. This right here. I bet you they were eating emerging insects. Fish a soft hackle, emerger pattern, or unweighted nymph.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

This. This right here. I bet you they were eating emerging insects. Fish a soft hackle, emerger pattern, or unweighted nymph.

Yep, don’t shorten the leader rather dress it with mucilin or other floatant to a foot from the fly.

 

[gwb72tii]

Man, I'm back at work and I'd rather be fishing.........

 

[Tom Butler]

I see that behavior down this way occasionally. Even with a net or piece of pantyhose I can't seine out the morsel. Usually a sz. 18 black ant or spider works, partridge and orange, hare, or green also. The trick for me seems to be to run it just under the surface, and slow the flies drift a bit with good line control, balance drift and swing.

 

[Itchy Dog]

Fished the Cle Elum on Saturday (10/13). Got on the water about 1pm. A beautiful, mild, sunny day. There were a few bugs in the air, including a random October Caddis, but nothing too plentiful. I posted up on a pod of rising fish for a couple hours and caught a handful of 10-12” (rainbows and one cutt). One fish nosed an October Caddis pattern but took the purple Prince Nymph dropper instead. Another fell for a size 18 Purple Haze, but no other takers on that fly. They were sipping without showing themselves and I finally decided that they wanted tiny bugs so I tossed a size 20 Adams (that I could barely see on occasion) and caught the remainder on that. But I also had quite a few refusals on that bug as well. If I’d had a PMD Emerger with me, size 20, that would have probably been the ticket. Unfortunately, I left my box of tiny mayfly patterns at home, thinking October Caddis would seal the deal. About halfway through my ordeal I spied an otter on a nearby log. Its fur was dry so I figured it hadn’t been hunting recently, thus the abundant fish in the run. The otter didn’t stay dry for much longer but the fish continued to feed, at least until I left shortly thereafter.

I wonder how many of those sipping fish lived to see the next day.

 

[Brute]

Damn otters…destroying the kelp and all…

 

[Salmo_g]

Damn otters…destroying the kelp and all…

I hear the damn otters destroyed all the kelp from the Cle Elum River! Most other rivers too, now that I think about it.