08-07-2023, 05:25 PM
(08-07-2023, 05:08 PM)RockyRaab2 Wrote: No trout in Illinois where I grew up, but we did have lots of catfish. Two or three 'hoppers on a big hook would almost always catch your dinner.
Bet that would work in Utah, too.
I have caught cats on hoppers in several waters around the west...usually while fishing for other species. But one of my best sessions was on Chatfield Reservoir near Denver...on hopper pattern topwater flies. I had been catching bluegills and small bass on those flies when I noticed some big splashy rises a bit downshore. I kicked my tube down there and plopped one of my ersatz hoppers near the bank. It disappeared into the maw of a big ol catfish.
Seems the cats are opportunists and a breeze was blowing some hoppers into the water near the shoreline. I probably caught a dozen or so kitties on the fairy wand. A lotta work but a lotta fun. Have not duplicated that since.