The reason I decided that today's fishing was notable is that it showed a clear lesson on fly selection. The water is still low and clear, and I was fishing The Bridge Pool. There were 3 patterns used. One was a size 14 caddis worm pattern with a chenille body twice the length of the hook shank, 2 wraps of black neck hackle for legs, and a bead head. It was allowed to sink then was retrieved with via figure eight. Two fish took on the fall, three or four took on the retrieve. If the fly was allowed to sink while being followed the fish would loose interest.
The other two patterns were a McPhail Pupa (a very imitative caddis pattern) and a generic light colored Hair's Ear Nymph with crystal flash ribbing.
Which did the fish eat? ONLY the Hair's Ear. You can draw your own conclusions, I have mine. I will say that the biggest take-away is that every fly tying book and fly fishing book I have read (those ones that suggest an impressionistic pattern over an imitative one) is right. At lest in this circumstance.
I couldn't agree more. Some of the best trout flies around merely suggest a type of insect. The hares ear suggests a nymph, the Adams suggests a mayfly. The wooly bugger suggests a leech or a large swimming nymph or crayfish. I have found much success using attractor patterns, and prefer them unless it is clear that the trout are keying in on something specific; yet, often I am the idiot fishing a non-hatch-matching pattern in the middle of a clearly identifiable spinner fall. The trout knows what he wants to eat, so rather than guess what it is, its easier to let him make of your fly what he will, kind of like having a fly that "Looks like a cheese burger but could be a ham sandwich". Congrats on the fish. Any wilds out of the pool?Ive seen them swimming about, but I seem to always pull out holdover brookies... Tomorrow I'm headed to the shore with my 4wt to cast to adult bunker and snapper blues in the harbor. Hopefully I won't get spooled by a schoolie... -Weight Forward
ReplyDeleteI have only ever caught a few wilds out of that pool, only one being a brown, and another, amazingly, a rainbow.
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