What's Catching You Fish?
- Thread starter Buzzy
- Start date
I had a free afternoon today and with tides looking ehhh for SRC, decided to hit a local lake to target bass for the first time this spring. Got to the spot and talked to a gear guy getting off the water who said he got 3…good sign. Got out on the water and soon found myself surrounded by 6 different gear guys in floating craft pounding all the structure in sight. It’s not a huge lake so figured it might not be the best bass day for the guy with a fly rod. Gave it 40 minutes and decided to chase trout instead.
Headed to a spot on the lake where I’ve caught a lot of typical put and take stockers and immediately got into them. Lots of 10-12 inch fish. Stuck to it though, thinking something holds fish here (not near the ramp where they are likely stocked) and it paid off with 5 fish 14 inches our bigger including one a tad over 17 and one right at about 18.5. Solid fish who fought hard and in good condition.
This was the hot fly.
It caught lots of these guys.
A few slightly bigger in 14-15 inch range.
And a couple bigger fish..17 and 18.5 respectively.
Headed to a spot on the lake where I’ve caught a lot of typical put and take stockers and immediately got into them. Lots of 10-12 inch fish. Stuck to it though, thinking something holds fish here (not near the ramp where they are likely stocked) and it paid off with 5 fish 14 inches our bigger including one a tad over 17 and one right at about 18.5. Solid fish who fought hard and in good condition.
This was the hot fly.
It caught lots of these guys.
A few slightly bigger in 14-15 inch range.
And a couple bigger fish..17 and 18.5 respectively.
I would literally pee myself if I caught a crappie that big!
But I'm 75 and pee myself some anyway, so maybe I should word that differently…
MT_Flyfisher
Life of the Party
I fished a well known large creek, stream, river, or whatever you want to call it in north central PA on Thursday, from about 7:00am to just past 5:00pm, with only a brief time off for lunch around noon. The water was low, as was just about everything in PA then, but it was in nearly perfect shape otherwise, and I caught LOTS of trout. But, I had to work for them most of the day.
I fished wets and drys, sometimes with a single fly, and sometimes in a 2 fly combination, and caught fish on just about everything I put on, except nothing wanted my March Brown wet or emerger patterns. Most of the flies I saw were caddis anyway, so it ultimately came down to me fishing a #16 Parachute Adams, which is my favorite fly anyway.
However, sometime in the middle of the afternoon, after I accidentally broke my fly when trying to release a fish, I reached in my fly box and pulled out a differently tied #16 Parachute Adams that had a shorter tail and much larger hackle than I normally tie that fly with. What was I thinking when I tied that fly? I musta been half asleep!
Anyway, when I said earlier that I had to work most of the day to catch fish, it wasn’t the case after I tied on that oversized Parachute Adams. The fish seemed to really like it! Who knows why, but I’m thinking that while the normal sized #16 Adams is a good caddis representation, maybe one with a shorter tail and larger hackle is an even better representation. Who knows for sure, but it sure did work. (I never saw many caddis with tails anyway 😊 but the oversized hackle could easily be mistaken for fluttering or spent wings.)
We got a lot of rain across PA over the weekend, and our trout streams have tripled, or more, their water levels from last week so there won’t be much fishing for me for the time being - and May is the prime time of the year for trout fishing.
I fished wets and drys, sometimes with a single fly, and sometimes in a 2 fly combination, and caught fish on just about everything I put on, except nothing wanted my March Brown wet or emerger patterns. Most of the flies I saw were caddis anyway, so it ultimately came down to me fishing a #16 Parachute Adams, which is my favorite fly anyway.
However, sometime in the middle of the afternoon, after I accidentally broke my fly when trying to release a fish, I reached in my fly box and pulled out a differently tied #16 Parachute Adams that had a shorter tail and much larger hackle than I normally tie that fly with. What was I thinking when I tied that fly? I musta been half asleep!
Anyway, when I said earlier that I had to work most of the day to catch fish, it wasn’t the case after I tied on that oversized Parachute Adams. The fish seemed to really like it! Who knows why, but I’m thinking that while the normal sized #16 Adams is a good caddis representation, maybe one with a shorter tail and larger hackle is an even better representation. Who knows for sure, but it sure did work. (I never saw many caddis with tails anyway 😊 but the oversized hackle could easily be mistaken for fluttering or spent wings.)
We got a lot of rain across PA over the weekend, and our trout streams have tripled, or more, their water levels from last week so there won’t be much fishing for me for the time being - and May is the prime time of the year for trout fishing.
Crawbugger
Smolt
He’s on the dry side.
Flood control outlet. No filling yet as we're at 160% snowpack (but only even on the water year total). But yes, the swallows nest there. They tell you when to put your chironomid emerger on.
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After seeing your fly I tied something similar and it worked pretty well today. No fish pics but a got a couple standard stockers in about 25 minutes on a break from work.
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I am not a very skilled tyer so I tend to lean heavily on buggy, simple stuff. Tough since I fish a ton with @Kfish who I’d consider a very talented tyer. He fishes works of art I’d probably frame if I tied while I fish stuff that kind of looks like shit but for whatever reason still feels fishy to me. Both types of ties seem to catch fish but I am jealous of those of you who tie super clean, realistic stuff! In the end though, it’s all about getting fish in the net I suppose. Glad you got out on a break from work. I have done that over the years and every fish caught on my lunch break regardless of size or species is memorable for some reason
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I think your flies look great (and they clearly satisfy the most important critics)! But yeah, @Kfish ties some pretty ones.I am not a very skilled tyer so I tend to lean heavily on buggy, simple stuff. Tough since I fish a ton with @Kfish who I’d consider a very talented tyer. He fishes works of art I’d probably frame if I tied while I fish stuff that kind of looks like shit but for whatever reason still feels fishy to me. Both types of ties seem to catch fish but I am jealous of those of you who tie super clean, realistic stuff! In the end though, it’s all about getting fish in the net I suppose. Glad you got out on a break from work. I have done that over the years and every fish caught on my lunch break regardless of size or species is memorable for some reason
Haha nah your flies are great with that free spirited style and not burdened with my OCD tendencies. If there was ever a controlled comparison study on the effectiveness of flies based on appearance this would be it. Our comparative catch ratio is pretty much 1:1, you might catch more than me in fact. That says a lot about confidence and how important presentation is.I am not a very skilled tyer so I tend to lean heavily on buggy, simple stuff. Tough since I fish a ton with @Kfish who I’d consider a very talented tyer. He fishes works of art I’d probably frame if I tied while I fish stuff that kind of looks like shit but for whatever reason still feels fishy to me. Both types of ties seem to catch fish but I am jealous of those of you who tie super clean, realistic stuff! In the end though, it’s all about getting fish in the net I suppose. Glad you got out on a break from work. I have done that over the years and every fish caught on my lunch break regardless of size or species is memorable for some reason
Spent a few days last week floating a western MT river right before and as it was starting to go out with runoff. Fishing was really solid day 1, a bit slower day 2 and really tough day 3 as CFS had doubled by that point but water still had some decent visibility. These patterns worked well the first couple days as dry/dropper combos, day 3 was an indy day on any soft edges or seams we could find with only 2 fish to hand over a 9 mile float. Great trip, great weather, beautiful country.
rainbows, cutts and whiteys to hand.
rainbows, cutts and whiteys to hand.
Some for sure. Some are more a delicate pluck. Never gets old!
Wayne Kohan
Steelhead
Chan‘s chironomid saved the day for me, but took a beating in the process.
In the 2nd image the indicator disappeared right after I snapped the pic. The bird watched me most of the day.
In the 2nd image the indicator disappeared right after I snapped the pic. The bird watched me most of the day.
Sweet, you are the man !!
I need that Popper
I usually fish the pumpkin head and after several fish, this one had had enough. When opening my fly box to get another, I noticed an older “carey bugger” sitting there. This was the first pattern I learned to tie (many years ago) and really haven’t used one in decades. So I thought I’d give it a try for old times sake. Ended up being pretty productive.
