I fished the creek for two hours this morning. I really shouldn't have done it. I have way too much homeweork to do, but I had a tough week at school and needed a break. I grabbed my 3wt and headed out to the creek. I usaully use my 5wt, but with the low flows and slow water, I figured it would be more fun. Anyway, I fished from 9AM to 11AM in a slower section of the creek. That's where most of the fish tend to hang out after spawning and throughout the summer. There's just so much food for them in these slower pools, and they don't have to waste tons of energy fighting the current.
When I got to the creek there were tons of midges coming off of the water. There were a few mayfly spinners (pretty big) flying around as well. I saw a few fish rising, so I used a dry/dropper rig. I used a #20 Griffith's Gnat on top with a #20 dark red beadhead midge down below. I landed two fish with this setup, but it wasn't long before the fish stopped rising. I changed my rig to fish deeper. I went with a #16 tan Fox Poopah and #20 olive midge pupa below a small yarn indicator. I hooked four fish on my first five casts with this rig, and this set up continued to produce hookups until I left. I landed seven fish total--two on the red midge, two on the olive midge, and three on the Fox Poopah. I don't know how many fish I lost. Of the fish landed, one was 17" and another was 18". Both of these were landed on the Fox Poopah. A couple of the fish that I lost were really nice fish.
One thing that disturbed me was that one of the fish I landed today was missing about half of his operculum (plate that covers the gills). How could that happen? I guess it could happen in the hatchery, but it was of the bigger fish that I caught. If it did happen in the hatchery, he's been going around like that for a long time. It seems that he would be pretty vulnerable having his gills exposed.
It looked like most people were in the mountains or out riding their motorcycles today. There were only a couple of people fishing the creek. It was a beautiful day. I just wish that I could have stayed into the afternoon to catch the rest of the caddis hatch and a possible mayfly hatch.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
Funny thing is i must have looked at the tan fox poopah a dozen times today and thought about trying it but its about the only thing i didnt try...damn it !!!!.
When using a dry/dropper rig, I usually suspend the dropper about 2 feet below the dry. I have fished it deeper and more shallow, but I think that's about the average depth. It really depends on how close to the surface the fish are feeding. It's all about trial abd error.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I find with those poopahs they hammer them hard! Tan is the key. The small midges seem to get the dinkers for me mostly.
You know when you tie those things, you dont need the wings & herl like the recipe says. Just use thread for the head. The fish don't seem to care either way.
The tinsel for the hook shank does make a difference though gives it a little shine from beneath and to the side. I use partridge for the legs and cover up about 80% of that tinsel so that it kind of shimmers a little bit. Legs make a HUGE difference IMO. dont know why exactly buy I've tried them both ways and partridge legs hook 2x more than without. *shrugs* Im no entemologist but does that stage trigger more strikes?
Emerging caddis pupae are vulnerable to trout. As they are ascending, the trout can easily pick them off. The pupae have nowhere to go but up. The fish usually slam them, trying to get them before they hit the surface and fly away.
As far as colors go, it just depends on the species of caddis. I've caught quite a few fish on both tan and green pupal imitations. Try to get a look at the naturals.
I wouldn't give up on small midges. I catch a lot of big fish on #20-22 midges. Most of the fish are able to shake the hook, but without those midges I probably wouldn't hook half as many fish as I do.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
I think maybe Im just fishing the midges in appropriately. I really hate using indicators and prefer to tight line dead drift and swing at the end. Something I got used to fishing for steelhead on the american here in sac. Is there an appropriate way to fish the midges like that without the indicator?
I've never had success fishing midges without an indicator. I dead drift them at the level that the fish are feeding. To get to that level adjust the depth of your indicator or the amount of weight that you're using.
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"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."
