Beginner has some questions.
Mike Glennon
---------------------------------------
I'm no expert, but have caught a few trout over the years, so I can only
tell you what I'm most comfortable with and what works for me. And, I'll
just be addressing dry flies.
1- if the water is very high fast and dirty I don't bother. If it's high
fast and clear, well.... I'll get to that in a sec.
2- I fish mostly attractors, and, worry about matching a hatch only if
we're in the middle of a major hatch period. Of course I'll give a hopper
or some such a chance later in the season.
3- I fish and travel UP and cross stream, fishing ahead of myself and
letting the fly float down past me.
4- a good cast is all very well and good, and looks impressive as hell to
somebody watching from the shore, but, the fish could care less about a
cast as long as the fly dosn't slam down on the water and you don't lay
your line right over the fish. The worst caster in the world is going to
catch more fish then (boy, is this going to cause a rumpus) an olympic
gold medal caster (if there was one) if they can make their fly float
more naturally while it's on the water.
Mike G. (mtco...@marsweb.com)
Lolo Mt.
Donald Phillipson
Anthony J. Petrella (petr...@sprite.me.pitt.edu) writes:
>
> 1. What significance does water color/clarity have for fishing strategy?
> Also, is water level important on a particular stream?
Changes in colour/clarity may be more important than default
colour/clarity. Usual folklore is that FF success declines when a spate
river is growing muddy and improves as it gets clearer. But fish are
adapted to the default environment (and can live all the time in
permanently clouded water, as you find in clay/limestone regions.)
Similarly, rising or falling water levels probably matter more than
default levels. The changes are important since they enlarge or reduce
living space for both fish and their prey.
The simplest tactic is to fish upstream as far as possible, to reduce the
chances of the trout's seeing you first.
--
| Donald Phillipson, 4180 Boundary Road, Carlsbad Springs, |
| Ontario, Canada, K0A 1K0, tel. 613 822 0734 |
Al Beatty
petr...@sprite.me.pitt.edu (Anthony J. Petrella) wrote:
>Dear Anglers:
>
>I'm a newbie to the sport and I have enjoyed it very much so far. Haven't
>caught anything yet, but my casting is improving tremendously with regular
>practice (though I have to admit that it's a hell of a lot more fun
>practicing on the water than in the grass at the park like everyone
>recommends). Now, I have a couple of questions for the experts:
>
>1. What significance does water color/clarity have for fishing strategy?
>Also, is water level important on a particular stream?
Hi Anthony
Usually water clarity & level does affect fishing. What you need to
decide is what the norm is and go from there. Water that is dirty
after a storm may put the fishing off. On the other hand if the
fish have been suffering from water that is shallow and too warm,
raising off colored water may very well improve fishing. Another very
important consideration is water temperature in relation to the species
of fish you are interested in. Trout like cooler water than bass as an
example.
>
>2. I've read of fly fishers using Clouser minnows or streamers in the riffles,
>and other dry flies and such in slow moving/calm water. Do you change your
>fly every few minutes as you are fishing your way down a stream or do you hit
>the riffles and then come back for the eddys and slow spots?
I do not change my fly every few minutes but instead decide what I want
to fish -- streamer, dry, or nymph -- and do so. I base my decision on
what seems to be happening on the water at any given time. If the fish
are actively feeding I determine what they are eating and try to match
that. I often fish two flies when fish are feeding on or near the
surface -- a dry and an emerger of whatever species is hatching.
If nothing is happening on the water I usually fish nymphs or a
nymph/streamer combination. To fish the combo I tie a nymph on my
tippet,then tie an additional piece of tippet to the bend of the nymph's
hook and tie on a streamer. This rig will look like a small fish chasing
a nymph and can be real effective. Cast it quartering up-stream and let
it dead drift as long as the current will allow. Then let it swing
accross current until it is downstream from you. Then repeat the process.
Tight Lines
Al Beatty
BT's Fly Fishing Products
Bozeman, MT (96 catalog)
Robert (Bob) Lundy
Anthony J. Petrella wrote:
>
> I'm a newbie to the sport ...
>
> 1. What significance does water color/clarity have for fishing strategy?
> Also, is water level important on a particular stream?
Colour/clarity is siginificant, as is water level. The impact and degree of
these varies widely. A normally clear stream which is suddenly high and muddy
after a big rain will be mostly unfishable, until it starts to clear. It can
still be FFed, though with a big weighted nymph or wet fly. (The fish still
need to eat.)
> 2. I've read of fly fishers using Clouser minnows or streamers in the riffles,
> and other dry flies and such in slow moving/calm water. Do you change your
> fly every few minutes as you are fishing your way down a stream or do you hit
> the riffles and then come back for the eddys and slow spots?
Basically, NO. That is, don't complicate things. If you want to use a dry fly,
then use a dry fly. If you want to use a streamer (such as Clouser minnow), then
do that. For starters, use a big nymph, or maybe an attractor wet fly. Cast
across and let the fly swing downstream. When it gets straight down below you,
strip in line, a few inches at a time, and repeat. The areas that you want to
concentrate on are the seams (where the fast water makes a noticable line against
the slower stuff) and around visible structure like rocks. You can do the same
with an attractor dry fly. I know it's BIG HERESY, but you can cast across, and
let the fly swing down in the current. Try to minimize, and eventually eliminate
drag (the wake produced by the fly being pulled across the water by the
line/leader). Again, concentrate on the seams and visible structure.
Don't worry about big long casts. Unless you fish some huge river like the
Missouri, most of your casts will probably be less than 30 or 40 feet. Focus
on not slapping the line, not dropping your backcast too low, and such.
When you get comfortable with this basic stuff, then you might try "strategies"
like fishing nymphs downstream, and working your way down the river for several
hundred yards, then coming back up with a dry, this time casting in the "proper"
upstream method.
Then there's matching the hatch and all that, which will eventually come.
To answer your basic question, most of us DO NOT do as you pictured: dry fly this
yard and a half of water, wet fly that, nymph another couple of feet, streamer
across there, back to a dry, then another streamer. We pretty much focus on
one strategy/concept/idea/dream and K.I.S.S.
Hope that helps, see you OUT THERE.
--
Bob Lundy
IWFFC
Mississauga, ON, Canada
**new** rlu...@ican.net
**new** http://home.ican.net/~rlundy/
T-Bone
Anthony J. Petrella wrote:
[rip !]
> 1. What significance does water color/clarity have for fishing strategy?
> Also, is water level important on a particular stream?
I love it when the water goes off color. I whip out my big flies and my
3X. I am a bit of a heretic because I relish the highest, muddiest part of
runoff. No people and I nail big trout my friend. I do not seek
perfect conditions ever in my fishing, I simply try to see that perfection
which is always there.
> 2. I've read of fly fishers using Clouser minnows or streamers in the riffles,
> and other dry flies and such in slow moving/calm water. Do you change your
> fly every few minutes as you are fishing your way down a stream or do you hit
> the riffles and then come back for the eddys and slow spots?
Good question. The answer is, only if one or the other is not producing.
If you're catchin' 'em in the tail outs or riffles, you ain't be movin'
down to the pockets, will ya ?
TimW
Anthony J. Petrella
Dear Anglers:
I'm a newbie to the sport and I have enjoyed it very much so far. Haven't
caught anything yet, but my casting is improving tremendously with regular
practice (though I have to admit that it's a hell of a lot more fun
practicing on the water than in the grass at the park like everyone
recommends). Now, I have a couple of questions for the experts:
1. What significance does water color/clarity have for fishing strategy?
Also, is water level important on a particular stream?
2. I've read of fly fishers using Clouser minnows or streamers in the riffles,
and other dry flies and such in slow moving/calm water. Do you change your
fly every few minutes as you are fishing your way down a stream or do you hit
the riffles and then come back for the eddys and slow spots?
Thanks in advance,
--
---------------------------------------
Anthony J. Petrella
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Mechanical Engineering
petr...@sprite.me.pitt.edu
---------------------------------------
Rick Fletcher
T-Bone (twa...@infosphere.com) wrote:
: runoff. No people and I nail big trout my friend. I do not seek
: which is always there.
Tim Walker, demonstrating that he is actually the roff Buddha.
--
Rick
T. Rick Fletcher - http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/~fletcher/
Associate professor of chemistry | That's Idaho, not Iowa. | ad hominem
University of Idaho | Upper Left Hand Corner. | ad hominem
Moscow, ID 83844-2343 | No, I don't grow potatoes. | ad hominem
DGracia
In article <31F46E...@marsweb.com>, Mike Glennon
<mtco...@marsweb.com> writes:
*SNIP*
>The worst caster in the world is going to
>catch more fish then (boy, is this going to cause a rumpus) an olympic
>gold medal caster (if there was one) if they can make their fly float
>more naturally while it's on the water.
Only true if the worst caster in the world can get it to land delicately
on target. If you can't get your fly to the target, everything else is a
moot point. But, you're right, it doesn't have to look pretty it just
has to work. The thing you may find out is that it's a lot easier to
consistently put the fly on the target if your casting is good.
I agree totally with your comment on drift. In real estate it's
"location, location, location" IMO in fly fishing it's "presentation,
presentation, presentation".
Dan
Dan Gracia
Orvis West Coast Fly Fishing Schools
DGr...@aol.com
If you kill that big fish you can't catch 'em again. So what if they eat
other fish? If you kill the big ones there will only be little ones left
(funny how that works!).