02-15-2010, 12:45 AM
One thing I do is screen the water. How you do it is take an aquarium fish net (the bigger the better) and scoop up some mud and dig through it to see what's in the river at that time. You can also kick up some of the river bed with your foot and put your screen in front of it and let the current take it in to the net. I made a seine which is a larger version of this that is really cool. It's some kind of mesh fabric between two dowels. Then you have someone stand up stream and kick up the river bed. It's amazing what you will find. It's almost as fun as fishing. It's amazing how many places have craw dads in them.
As for colors of streamers when the water is not as clear I use dark colors like black because that will give a better outline for the fish to see. In the fall I also use brighter colors. I don't know why just read some places it is good ( like yellows and chartreuse). Depending on fish species as well. For example a good streamer for browns and cuts is a jj special (variation of a wooly bugger). the top of the tail has brown and the bottom has yellow. A lot of fish are dark on top and get brighter towards their bellies. This works as camouflage for them from predators like birds and fishermen. So use a fly that is darker on top and lighter on the bottom. Along this same line the fish that survives is going to be the one that blends into the river bottom where it is at so to pick a color you can look at the river bottom and try to match it. That's one reason why olive and brown wooly buggers work so well. That is the color of most river bottoms.
Probably to much info and I am definitely not a biologist so take it for what it's worth.
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As for colors of streamers when the water is not as clear I use dark colors like black because that will give a better outline for the fish to see. In the fall I also use brighter colors. I don't know why just read some places it is good ( like yellows and chartreuse). Depending on fish species as well. For example a good streamer for browns and cuts is a jj special (variation of a wooly bugger). the top of the tail has brown and the bottom has yellow. A lot of fish are dark on top and get brighter towards their bellies. This works as camouflage for them from predators like birds and fishermen. So use a fly that is darker on top and lighter on the bottom. Along this same line the fish that survives is going to be the one that blends into the river bottom where it is at so to pick a color you can look at the river bottom and try to match it. That's one reason why olive and brown wooly buggers work so well. That is the color of most river bottoms.
Probably to much info and I am definitely not a biologist so take it for what it's worth.
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