Things will change on this river. Five seasons ago a #16 olive soft hackle made dark colored trout go nuts during the Fall. Since then it's been a second tier player. Scuds and hot spots have had great days and always will BUT something has surpassed them at least for this season. The above photo shows what I have been using up and down the river. Size #18 through size #26 works and have produced 43 trout in my last five hours on this river. Early morning or late afternoon seem to work best for this pattern. Maybe it's because these hours yield the least fishing pressure or maybe because the air is full (especially in the late afternoon) of tiny flies. In any event this fly works! I like it!!
There is the occasional post concerning my generosity dealing with naming locations on certain rivers. It has now spilled over to my sublime posting of fly patterns which work on the Swift, Millers and the Westfield Rivers. Frankly, I don't understand it. I really want people to do well on these rivers! I'll continue to post locations, conditions and patterns on this blog because it's my blog. But for this pattern I'll give the pattern instructions to anyone who emails me on the email address that I have on this blog. If you want to tie this fly then just email me. If you don't want to know about this fly then keep fly fishing and have fun!!
Daylight Savings Time ends this Saturday night. Sunday morning (11/7) will have light at 6am but darkness around 5:30pm. Bummer!!!! The "Dark Season" begins!!
Ken
11 comments:
Ken,
Thanks for your post. You're right, over the years, a number of different flies have led the charge. My recent success was with a skinny black bodied nymph with a grey head #22. It's interesting what can make the fish take notice. I'll have to tie up a couple and try them out.
See you on the water.
Ken,
As your and my friend Charlie Shaden states "it's the archer, not the arrow".
You can give fishermen "the fly" and they still don't...
Harold
2 patterns I now regularly use were posted by you in regards to fishing the Millers. I've had great luck with them there and on many other waters, including areas of the Swift.
I've tried some other patterns but Harold posted the likely reason for not doing as well - maybe could also be that my tying skills are sometimes questionable, maybe, just maybe.
Al
Ken,
I'm sure that in addition to your knowledge of fishing the swift, that thin trailing shuck has alot to do with your success...
Browntrout,
What thin trailing shuck????
Your advice is always welcome. the community of fly fishers is just that...a community. Most of my knowledge has been gained not only by my own experience but from others. I appreceiate that you wish to share.
Those look similar to my go to flies too. I also find the trailing shuck makes a big difference. I believe the fly is called a "Burkett's Midge", but not certain. The shuck is olive/purple, fly black with little white on top. Size 24-26.
I support you in sharing info, frankly I think it is less "dangerous" to share flies that work as opposed to "hot" spots, but it's all good.
Bob O,
I have to comment on your post concerning "over the years, a number of different patterns have led the charge". It has always amazed me how one fly kills during one time of the season but then falls off the chart the next year during the same time, especially on the Swift. And this happens even when we are not "graced" with new hatchery fish.
November of 2006 found that trout would commit suicide over a size 14-16 grouse and flash, a neat soft hackle fly. A woman that I guided on the Swift, a real beginner, caught 10 rainbows on that pattern while everyone else didn't match that number in total! I hammered them with that pattern in the weeks before and after that event. Now that pattern is a last resort, it's success rate has fallen off dramatically. The "hotspot" has worked for four years straight except for one year where it was a dud!! Last year my version of the serendipity was a so-so fly after a good previous year. Now it works again!!! Only my scud pattern seems to work year after year.
My question is: How come????
Ken,
I've been reading your posts on your forum for quite sometime, and look forward to them everytime.
Your tying instruction/recipe for those tiny flies would be appreciated if you could supply it to me.
Thanks & tightlines.......Phil
Great question Ken. My belief is that once fish are stocked such as in the Swift, in order to survive they are forced to learn by trial and error-actual food ie; midge pupae, vs. what is not ie; sticks, small gravel, prince nymphs... On the Swift the learning curve is most likely quick as I suspect fish are caught many times over rather quickly and begin to learn what to stay away from. Hence the reason for them becoming so selective. Simply fish a standard black or olive woolley bugger the first week a river has been stocked and you will catch a boat load or trout. Try the same woolley buggers again a month later and the catch rate drops dramatically- in essence, the fish have learned by getting hooked. But food sources (bugs)continually change throughout the year. The mayfly of spring becomes the caddis of early summer. This forces the trout to have to re-learn what is acceptable vs what is not. The trial and error technique again makes them more susceptible to being caught.
Throw into this mix the periodical re-stocking of the Swift several times throughout the season and you have a real recipe of learning curves at multiple levels from the 1st day tank trout to the more experienced, veteran 8 month fish. These plus many, many more factors all play into the anglers success of why one pattern works well then does not.
My favorite river is one in northern NE that harbors predominately wild fish. Though the catch rate is typically much lower vs fishing a stocked river, the fish size and strength more than makes up for it. I find it much more challenging. And knowing you were able to fool a wild fish by properly identifying and presenting a particular pattern in its correct stage to a fish that was born in the river system and understands its true food source throughout the varying seasons is truly rewarding. I only wish there were more rivers like his in our part of the country, but the reasons for this are a whole other story...
-BT
Browntrout,
I agree with you concerning your observations. Today I found that a seldom fished stretch yielded trout that seemed "uneducated" compared to a heavily fished area.
Wild trout....easier to catch if you don't scare them first!
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