Flies

Winter Fly Fishing Tips

Posted Sat, 02/13/2010 - 12:17 by jmaslar
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Winter Fishing Tips:
Just because you are cold don’t assume that the trout are cold and not feeding. Many of us have caught hundreds of trout in the mounatins of North Carolin and Tennessee when the water was between 45 degrees and 50 degrees and even when it was below 45 degrees! Of course you will need to slow down your presentations, and have confidence expecting to catch fish. I can not stress enough that the winter fishing required slowness and stealth!

However, if you are planning to use a dry fly in fast moving water the way you would do in warm weather, you will probably not have a good day. You will need good imitations of nymphs fished correctly to overcome the slower, clearer water conditions and the slower metabolism of the trout. Under the right conditions and the right degree of stealth you can have some very productive days in the winter. There are fewer hatches in the winter but despite that, there are more nymphs and larvae in the water than any other time of the year.

During the winter months, the Blue Winged Olives, and the Midges will be the most likely hatches that you will see. Occasionally, there will be hatches of the Little Black Winter Stoneflies on the warmer days. However, the major insect activity will be a result of the Midge hatches. Be sure to not key on the hatch itself but be prepared to fish the nymphs before the hatch. Check out Class 3021 “Correctly Matching the Hatch” for some tips about hatches.

Try using midges or try to match some of the naturals that you see in red, black, gray and cream colors and think small in the area of size #20 through #24 hooks. Again we will stress that Midges are by far the fly of choise for all purposes in the winter. The leader tippet combination should be about 10 feet or more. Fish the lightest and longest leader that you can be comfortable with, perhaps a 7x leader, to make the leader and tippet combo equal to 10 feet at a minimum.  Use a longer rod, especially in the larger waters as it will allow you to achieve a drag free drift and you will get longer casts in the open runs.

It will always be necessary to weight the nymph with split shot in order to get to the bottom especially in the deeper fast moving water. Remember the trout will stay lower or on the bottom since that is where they expect the food to be. Also, with the slow metabolism brought on by the colder water, the trout will not move far to take the fly.

Cast upstream slightly across and quickly mend the line. As the fly begins to head down stream raise the rod holding the tip of the rod high above the fly keeping the fly line out of the water. Get the fly to drift in a natural manner and not be dragged along by the fast current near the surface. Keep the fly line upstream behind the fly throughout the drift. This will keep the line tight so that you can feel the trout strike.

The Czech method of nymphing often referred to as the "high stickin" method provides an alternative method to get your fly down into deeper water or pockets where trout may be hiding. This method eliminates the impact of the drag caused by faster moving water on or near the surface pulling the fly line.

For tips on how to use a strike indicator and the dropper technique for nymphing go to Top Nymphing Tactics from George Dainel, the National Fly Fishing Champion .

Note: The pictures above are trout caught on the Davidson River, North Carolina in December by Ralph McClellan Jr. from Mountain Fly Fishing Adventures in Spruce Pine, NC.

Fishing Fertile and Infertile Streams

Posted Tue, 02/09/2010 - 14:22 by jmaslar
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Class Code: 
Class 4271
Syllabus: 

The student will then learrn what flies and techniques will be the most productive on each type of trout stream; and why the same flies and techniques will not be effective on both trout streams.

Course Content: 
 
Trout fishing in the infertile waters:
The bad news is that you'll have trouble predicting what kinds of food are prevalent in an unfamiliar infertile stream. The good news is you probably won't have to. Further good news is that the flies you can get away with will be larger. Trout in infertile rivers don't have the luxury of being selective, because they don't see enough of any particular insect to get picky about which one they choose.  Either trout eat every piece of food that looks remotely edible or they starve.  In most fertile rivers the quantity of aquatic insect larvae available to the trout by midsummer is insignificant, and they depend on terrestrial insects that fall iinto the water for a great part of their food.  Since trout never see many of the same kind of aquatic insects, and the terrestrials they feed on are a stew of all shapes, sizes, and colors, they prefer to eat the largest morsel of food available, providing all else being equal.  All you have to do is turn over a few rocks or shake the bushes and decide what is the largest edible insect they are likely to recognize.
 
On infertile rivers, pass up much of the water, the stuff that doesn't look fishy. Move faster between spots, then concentrate hard on the best ­looking water. You can also move faster on infertile rivers because the trout don't agonize over fly patterns, so neither should you. Trout in infertile rivers will move farther for a fly, so unerring casts are not as important here, and if your fly lands within a foot of where you think a trout is lying and floats drag-free (or swings properly if you're fishing a wet or streamer), make a few more casts and move on. I don't want to suggest that you get sloppy, but many times trout in unproductive streams move five feet for a dry fly. As we have mentioned before, the cane pole technique can be effective with brook trout in these infertile waters. The only time a trout will move this far on a fertile river is when there are large, meaty flies like salmon flies (a huge, size 4 or 6 stonefly that hatches on western rivers) or grasshoppers on the water.
 
Dan With Large Brown TroutTrout fishing in the fertile waters:
In more fertile rivers you have to pay greater attention to what's on the trouts’s menu. The trout are used to seeing multiple foods at any given time, and although trout are not usually selective to a given species of insect, most of their food falls into specific parameters of size, shape, and color. If you go outside of that realm, you won't draw as many strikes. Here the largest available food item might be rare enough that trout don't recognize it.
 
If you intend to fish only to rising fish during hatches, geology and a knowledge of stream reading are unimportant. You need only sample the drift to find out what flies will work, and you know where the trout are because you can see them feeding. But when you prospect without the benefit of hatches, you need other clues to help you select flies and find trout. The relative richness of a river, which you can usually determine with a few minutes of observation, is one of the most important clues.
 
I've found that in richer rivers, smaller flies are more effective in catching trout. I'm not exactly sure why. Perhaps it's because smaller insect life is more abundant, and the trout are more likely to take a fly that's similar to what they're eating, while the trout in an infertile stream grab almost anything that looks edible.
 
In the Battenkill, for example, most of the nymphs are small, skinny, and brownish olive-dull. If you turn over enough rocks, though, you'll sometimes find a couple of those giant black stoneflies that trout go crazy over in the Rocky Mountains. I have tried size 6 stonefly nymphs in the Battenkill year after year, with never even a touch. Not only do the trout not eat them, I bet if I could look underwater I'd see them bolting for cover when that ugly nymph rolls into the neighborhood.
 
Trout in rich rivers are evenly distributed, all over the place, because there is enough food to support trout everywhere. Even in shallow sloughs with a mud or sand bottom, spots that look more suitable for minnows or frogs, trout can be found. In fact I've noticed that large brown trout in spring creeks seem to prefer these places over the deeper channels. On the other hand, in infertile rivers trout distribution is spotty. They will not be found in backwaters because it might be an hour's wait for a piece of food to drift by, even at the height of a heavy hatch. So trout in rivers that aren't so rich frequent the logical spots, the places that scream for a well-placed cast with an Adams or Hare's Ear nymph. These logical places are the areas protected from the heaviest flow of water, but close enough to the main current so a sideways tip will allow trout to intercept food. At the edge of seams, at the tail of a pool, in front of and behind rocks, and where the head of the pool spills over a shelf-these are all logical places.
 
On rich streams, cover all the water. Never assume that a trout won't be right in front of you, and concentrate on covering the water closest to you with repeated casts, changing flies or techniques often if you aren't getting any strikes.
 
The number and size of trout a stream can support are always limited by something, but almost never by fishing pressure or other predation. Populations of trout are usually limited by the physical features of the stream, and you can make predictions about how many trout a stream holds by an estimation of its richness. Infertile streams have little migration, stunted adults, and many juveniles. Rich trout streams, on the other hand, are space-limited. Trout can get enough food anywhere in the stream, and the total number of trout is limited by the number of available places to hold and feed without wasting an inordinate amount of energy. A rich trout stream with a bottom covered with rubble of different-sized rocks offers lots of nooks and crannies to break the force of the current, and it can hold many more trout than a stream of equal richness with a sand or gravel bottom.
 
A spring creek with many weedbeds offers protection from the current and places for the trout to hide when danger threatens, and it can hold more trout than an equally rich stream that has been widened, shallowed, and trampled by cattle.  Exerpts from The Orvis Guide to Prospecting for Trout. by Tom Rosenbauer.
Assignments: 

Try to recall your fly fishing experiences and see if you can identify, in retrospect, why some flies were effective on one trout stream and yet were not effective on another trout stream.  Put on some polarized sun glasses and armed with your new knowledge, revisit those trout streams and observe the results.  Also, if possible try the new learned techniques on a tailwaters trout stream. 

Follow these Links: The Appalachin Angler   River Through Atlanta   Davidson River Outfitte

Extra Credit: 

Recommended DVDs:

Fly Fishing for Small Stream Brook Trout

Fly Fishing for Small Stream Rainbow Trout

Fly Fishing for Small Stream for Cuttroat Trout

Fly Fishing for Small Stream Brown Trout

Read the The Orvis Guide to Prospecting for Trout.

Class material has appeared in MidCurrents.

Fly Fishing the Green Sedge Pupa

Posted Sat, 12/12/2009 - 16:33 by jmaslar

The Green Sedge Pupae General Description:
The green sedge (green rock worm) hatch occurs from early spring through the middle of summer and occasionally on a warm day in the fall of the year. There are over 100 species of the green sedge so it may be possible that the hatch can be extended depending on that particular species. Normally, as a hatch occurs, it will last over one month before all have hatched, deposited their eggs and die.

In the late afternoon hours in the spring, you will often see them emerging and swimming to the surface of the water. Later in the season, they will emerge in the early evenings..

 
 Presentation Information:
As with the pupa you should fish the imitation fly on the bottom of the fast moving waters, riffles, and runs. Of course weight will be necessary to compensate for the depth and the speed of the water. An alternative is to fish it as a dead drift somewhat below the surface, or you can fish it as if it rising to the surface. As you swing the rod, lift it up and let it down to simulate the movement of the pupa as it rises to the surface. 

 

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Fly Fishing the Little Black Caddisflies Adults

Posted Thu, 12/10/2009 - 18:19 by jmaslar

Adult Caddisflies General Information:

As a rule the trout will eat more little black caddisflies as pupae than they will eat as adults on the surface. However, it is still worthwhile to fish the little black caddisfly adult imitations. In fact many good anglers will prefer to fish the dry fly during this important hatch.
 
The body of the little black caddisfly is dark charcoal brown and the wings are gray with tiny black veins. The males approximate a #18 hook but the larger females will approximate an #18 hook size. We prefer and sell only the #18 since the females are the ones laying the eggs on the surface and as such are our main target.
 
Since the hatch takes place in the spring, the water is usually about 50 degrees F when the hatch commences. Sometimes they will float in the water for 20 feet or more before they fly off to the banks. In the earlier part of the hatch while it is still cold some of the adults are lethargic and not eager to fly off, preferring to sit on the rocks protruding out of the water. On the colder days, the adults will start flying more aggressively by the mid afternoon.
 
Presentation Information:
The female little black caddisfly will deposit her eggs on the surface of the water or she may dive and deposit her eggs. If she dives to deposit her eggs, she will return to the surface for a short time before flying away. Either way they become a source of food for the trout.
 
When the hatch starts, the best fly will be the pupa, but after the hatch is mostly over, it will be time to switch to the dry adult imitation fly. Start fishing the dry fly allowing it to dead drift where you see the action on the water. As the day progresses, there will be collections of spent caddisflies, forming in the eddies and in the slower pockets of water along the banks. This is where you will want to use the adult pattern. Sometimes the trout will hit it as it circles the eddies or as it floats below the riffles and runs.
 
 

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Fly Fishing the Little Black Caddisfly Pupa

Posted Thu, 12/10/2009 - 17:31 by jmaslar

Little Black Caddis General Information:)
The little black caddis hatch is an important hatch due to the fact that the pupae swim up to the surface when emerging causing the hatch to look very much like the typical mayfly hatch. The caddisflies hatch will usually take place in relative smooth portions of water.


The hatch will start usually in the early afternoon hours often lasting until the late afternoon hours. Usually, but not always, the hatch is still going on the female adults will start to deposit her eggs on the surface film of the water.
 
The trout create a feeding frenzy once this activity commences. As they hatch on the surface, they shed the thin pupa skin and start to dry their wings. Note that the shedding of the skin enables the wings to become strong enough to fly away to the foliage beside the stream. The process of ascending to the surface and shedding the skin causes them to change into an adult and this process makes them vulnerable to the trout. The trout will gorge themselves at this time.
 
As the trout feed, they take the pupae just below the surface and you might see a slight swirl on the surface of the water. However, sometimes you might miss the slight effects on the surface, none the less, be assured it is happening if the trout are present. We believe that more little black caddisflies are eaten in the pupae stage than are eaten as adults.

Pupae Presentation Information:
The little black caddisflies pupae usually hatch in the slower, smoother areas of the stream such as pocket water. Using the up and across stream presentation would be appropriate for the pupae imitation fly. It is suggest that you will do somewhat better fishing upstream because you will get closer to the feeding trout.

Using either the across stream or the downstream presentation will be effective if you duplicate the pupa swimming to the surface to hatch. To duplicate this action, stop the rod near the end of the drift, allowing the fly to rise up to the surface. Let the current at the end of the line, bring the fly to the surface much the same as the rinsing pupa.
 
The caddisfly hatch can be detrimentally affected by the early heavy spring rains in the freestone streams of the Southeast USA like the Great Smoky Mountains, however, it still remains the most important early season hatch.

 

 

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Fly Fishing the Golden Stonefly Adult Fly

Posted Thu, 12/10/2009 - 16:41 by jmaslar

Golden Stonefly adult General Information:

On occasion, the female Golden Stoneflies can be seen depositing her eggs during the daylight hours, which is contrary to other giant stoneflies. Therefore the angler has an opportunity in the late afternoon to catch the trout feeding on giant egg laying stoneflies. However, you most probably will not find them in large numbers such that they would cover the waters.
 
As with all stoneflies, the golden stoneflies do not get in the water until after the female deposits her eggs. After mating the female will dip down and deposit her eggs on the surface of the water. After depositing her eggs she will fall into the water. The males will hatch, mate and die out of the water, and then fall spent on the banks; never having been in the water at all.
 
If you see the females dipping down to skim the water brushing off the eggs, you may see the trout eating the stoneflies. This activity will usually occur late in the afternoon unless the clouds have covered the sun which would cause them to begin earlier in the day. When you see this activity you should tie on the adult golden stonefly imitation and go for it.
 

 Adult Presentation:
The females will deposit her eggs in the same spot of water where she was hatched and this should be the exact spot where your adult fly imitation should land. Spotting them as they deposit their eggs should not be a problem since the golden stoneflies are large enough to see even in the late afternoon lighting.
 

 

 

 

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Fly Fishing the Little Brown Stonefly Adult

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:46 by jmaslar

Little Brown Stonefly Adults General Information:
The Little Brown Adult Stoneflies can live a long time after the hatch but before depositing their eggs and they can be seen along the banks of the streams at these times.  So when you see them on the banks, it does not necessarily mean that they will be depositing their eggs on that day. They will deposit their eggs in the daytime or in the evenings depending on the particular species of stoneflies. Therefore you should fish the adult imitations only when the stoneflies are depositing their eggs. 

Quite often when the egg laying is in progress, the water is cold making the trout metabolism low so they are not active enough to take the flies from the surface film of the water. However, there may be times during the day on any given stream that egg laying will occur. In these instances it is good to have an adult little brown fly imitation in your fly box.
 
Presentation Information:
The adult little brown stonefly will skip around as she deposits her eggs, you can just let your fly drift along in the current especially in the fast or rough waters or in the seams. As a rule, you may not expect a lot of catches when fishing this stage of the hatch. However, on any one afternoon in the winter or early spring, at the right time or the right stream, you may be very successful proving my earlier comments incorrect. Give it a try!

 

 

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Fly Fishing the Little Stonefly Adult

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 15:01 by jmaslar

Little Yellow Stoneflies Adults General Information:
There are several different species of the Little Yellow Stoneflies and they deposit their eggs at different times of the day. The yellow sallies will usually start to deposit their eggs in the late afternoons just prior to dark. You need to watch them depositing their eggs before you start to fly fish with the adult yellow sally. Since they are a relatively large insect they can be easily spotted as they drop down to the surface and bounce along on the surface of the water depositing their eggs. 

The eggs usually will be brushed off as the adult touches the surface but there are times when they will actually lite on the surface of the water. When you see this show progressing, you should fish the imitation of the adult yellow sally. You will notice a wide variation in the size of these flies, and you should try to match the size as nearly as practical.
 
Presentation Information:
As you watch the bouncing of the adults along the surface, you might think that it would be an improvement in your presentation if you were able to match the action. However, should you try that, by jerking the rod up and down, you will most likely spook the trout. Use an up and across cast along the seams in the water. Remember to keep your presentation delicate so as not to spook the trout. 

With the little yellow stoneflies in a good hatching situation during the middle of summer, it is possible to catch and release a dozen. 

 

 

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Fly Fishing the Light Cahill Duns

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 14:19 by jmaslar

Light Cahill Duns General Information:
Unlike the March brown duns, the Light Cahill duns do not spend much time on the surface of the water; and as the weather warms up, they spend even less time on the water. Generally, their wings will dry fast enabling them to fly away almost as soon as they hit the surface of the water often within a few seconds. The trout do not waste any time in searching out these mayflies and eating them. As a result the trout are frequently just as happy to take a Light Cahill imitation. 

 Presentation Information:

Present your dun imitation along the current seams of pocket water and the edges of the runs. Use short upstream or slightly upstream and across casts keeping your rod high. Keep as much line as possible up off the water to avoid a faulty drag. Use frequent short casts in order to cover as much water as possible remembering that the duns will not remain on the surface for long periods of time. Be sure to hit the best possible seams of water, and keep moving. Do not expect to see a heavy concentration of duns in any one area since they do fly away fast. 

You might consider using a 2 foot size 4X tippet and keep the leaders around 8 feet in length to give you good control. As with any dry fly the presentation should be delicate. 
 

 

 

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Fly Fishing the March Brown Dun

Posted Wed, 12/09/2009 - 13:12 by jmaslar

March Brown Duns General Information:

How long the duns remain on the surface of the water varies depending on the temperature, the colder the day, the longer they tend to drift before flying away. The duns are an important stage to fly fish with so watch for them especially on the cooler days.
 

Presentation Information:
March browns like other mayflies are normally found in the faster moving waters and the rougher pocket waters but it depends somewhat on the species. In these waters fish the dun imitation in an upstream presentation along the seams of pocket water and the edges of the runs. Use a 2 foot size 4X tippet and keep the leaders around 8 feet in length. As with any dry fly the presentation should be delicate. In the more moderately moving water where there is little drop in elevation, you may consider using a down and across the stream presentation.  If so, a longer leader and a smaller tippet size may be more appropriate. As a rule of thumb, stick to the current seams and make a number of short slightly upstream and across casts. This will keep the fly in the target zone longer.

 

 

 

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