Fish are much smarter now!

Flymph

Flymph

Life of the Party
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Chopaka lake in the 70s and 80s had much dumber trout. The May Fly hatch did not come off until late June. Prior to the hatch the above middle fly tied with a strand of dark olive chenille caught plenty of willing fish. Once the hatch came I switched to the size 12 Gray Humpy which was all that was necessary for a dozen or more rainbows to 3 lbs and the odd Atlantic (snake shaped) Salmon. A Fenwick glass rod with a WF5 and a home built Lamigalss with a WF7 20ft Sink tip both mounted with Pflueger Medalist reels worked just fine.

Here in the NCW we look at Mt. Thomas which is 7,000 plus ft in elevation for snow pack. Back then it started showing snow about the same time school started and was finally bare by mid to late July. Chopak's May fly Hatch lasted well into early fall with surface temps favorable all summer long. All the local lakes could be fished throughout the summer without the fear of warm surface temps!

We were fortunate in having a Steelhead stream right in our backyard which is an easy walk from my home. About mid October the Steelhead starting following lots of Salmon. The bottom fly above was the only fly that caught up to three fish in one morning. Lots of whitefish in between the hasty wait for a Steelhead. When the sun was almost overhead I switched to the 5 wt and the Gray Humpy for residual Steelhead and the larger Whitefish.

River temps remained below 65 degrees all summer so, on boring August days, you could always count on a few Whitefish coming up to the Gray Humpy. Life was good and for some stupid reason I thought this would last forever.

The Steelhead are long gone, both the river and lakes heat up too fast for favorable releases, and Chopaka is a circus. I am sure there are those who will disagree and I am happy for their success. And yes, "Fish are much Smarter Now".
 
I fished Chopaka in the 70s. It was a circus even then when it came to getting a camp site from mid-May through June. The trout may have been dumber. I was a very mediocre trout fisherman, and I caught lots of trout, many on an olive chenille Carey Special. No 3 pounders however, those may have been smarter. Fiberglass rods worked just fine then, and still do. I used a Scientific Anglers System 6 rod equipped with a Cortland Rimfly reel with spare spools. I had only the one rod in my canoe, so when I wanted to switch from floating to sinking line I changed reel spools and had to re-string up my rod. I still fish an old Fenwick 7 1/2' 6 wt fiberglass rod with a fast sinking line. With 3 or 4 rods in my pram I no longer have to deal with switching reel spools and re-string a rod while on the water. Chopaka is still a nice lake; I just wish the water surface elevation hadn't dropped.
 
I was watching a fishing show on TV, sorry I don't remember the name of the show.
Anyway the fisherman was releasing his fish on the other side of the boat cause he didn't want the released fish to go back and tell his buddies.
Many times while fishing a dry fly I have had a fish come then turn back, cast again and have what looked like the same fish take the fly.
I always know if someone has fished my favorite run on the river within a couple days, cause I won't have any luck catching.
 
I remember a very productive day fishing a NE WA lake and having an obviously frustrated flyfisherman slowly make his way over to me and finally ask what I was using (is there anything more pleasurable than having a stellar day while those around you are getting skunked?).

In a rare display of charitable candor, I replied I was fishing a wet Renegade.

He gave me the stink eye and replied "those don't work anymore" and paddled away in disgust.

I'm always amused when I encounter a flyfisher who tells me "you should have been here in the old days" who doesn't know I've been fishing that same water many decades before they even arrived in the area.

Like those afflicted with an addiction for gambling, we remember those glorious days of victory and forget the misery of defeat.
 
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krusty said:
I remember a very productive day fishing a NE WA lake and having an obviously frustrated flyfisherman slowly make his way over to me and finally ask what I was using (is there anything more pleasurable than having a stellar day while those around you are getting skunked?).

In a rare display of charitable candor, I replied I was fishing a wet Renegade.

He gave me the stink eye and replied "those don't work anymore" and paddled away in disgust.

I'm always amused when I encounter a flyfisher who tells me "you should have been here in the old days" who doesn't know I've been fishing that same water many decades before they even arrived in the area.

Like those afflicted with an addiction for gambling, we remember those glorious days of victory and forget the misery of defeat.
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I spent over a year 'back in the day'....prior to mixing tower, where all I fished was a renegade. Mostly dries, but also sunken and swung on the Deschutes. Caught my largest redside I've ever seen out of that river on it.
 
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Read somewhere long ago that bass basically have a 3 minute memory.
 
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