02-07-2010, 05:01 AM
I agree that this is not the common season of the year to throw dries.
I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that trout are opportunistic feeders. They will eat anything that looks like food. Trout key on specific food items when they are plentiful; scuds, nymphs of all kinds and hatches.
When we fish during hatches we are trying to put something that is approximately the same size, color and shape as whatever the fish are keying upon. It is our goal to put that fake item in the feeding lane so the feeding trout will take it for food. If there is no hatch then it is a question of whether the fish are "looking" up, if that theory holds water, as it were. If they are, then anything that looks like food might be OK.
Stoneflies are low-riders once they hit the water. Or, skitters, if laying eggs. Any artificial fly that approximates the size, shape, position and color might work.... for an opportunistic feeder.
This works best for those super-elitist dry fly only fishers. (I could only hope to be elitist in one thing in my life, but am a poor enough dry fly fisher not to qualify.)[
] One could fish all day without a strike. For the rest, this time of the year might be best served with nymphs, an occasional streamer, midge dries and (do I dare say it?) a small mouse pattern to see if you can move a pig or two.
[signature]
I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that trout are opportunistic feeders. They will eat anything that looks like food. Trout key on specific food items when they are plentiful; scuds, nymphs of all kinds and hatches.
When we fish during hatches we are trying to put something that is approximately the same size, color and shape as whatever the fish are keying upon. It is our goal to put that fake item in the feeding lane so the feeding trout will take it for food. If there is no hatch then it is a question of whether the fish are "looking" up, if that theory holds water, as it were. If they are, then anything that looks like food might be OK.
Stoneflies are low-riders once they hit the water. Or, skitters, if laying eggs. Any artificial fly that approximates the size, shape, position and color might work.... for an opportunistic feeder.
This works best for those super-elitist dry fly only fishers. (I could only hope to be elitist in one thing in my life, but am a poor enough dry fly fisher not to qualify.)[
] One could fish all day without a strike. For the rest, this time of the year might be best served with nymphs, an occasional streamer, midge dries and (do I dare say it?) a small mouse pattern to see if you can move a pig or two.[signature]