02-17-2013, 06:40 PM
[quote riverdog]I caught about a dozen trout last weekend in 3 and a half hours out. They ranged from all of 3 -12 inches. Did that suck? Nope, it was a great day out in warm weather in southern Utah. Just me and my dogs in solitude and a beautiful location.[/quote]
Now that is what its all about, especially this time of year! As I was on the big Green yesterday in 40-degree weather with quite a few other fishermen for February, I actually thought of you several times, wondering how some of your little secluded southern haunts were doing with a little rise in water and slightly warmer temperatures. But my two dogs had the better swimming/stick-chasing hole, which is mostly what we did! (Not where others were fishing)
[quote riverdog]Now Tarpon Jim if you want to join me for an afternoon from May to early July or late August to early November I can probable put you on 20 descent size trout an hour all afternoon long. I'll warn you it doesn't take the skill of fishing a spring creek and may not be a suitable challenge for someone with your skills[
]. I however enjoy it, especially when I hook into a 20+ incher in such a small fast moving stream.[/quote]
I'd take you up on that. I don't mind a bunch of "if it floats, eat it" trout from time to time, especially earlier in the season. Just wouldn't want to make a habit out of it[]. I do like difficult, or at least "challenging" trout first and foremost, but one has to just rip on some lips once in a while to maintain some resemblance of partial sanity. Some. Some of the fishing I do around Jackson/Yellowstone is just like that.
To the original poster, again, don't worry about how many you catch. Like Riverdog says, if you do a little home work and leg work, you can find those situations once in a while where the fish just jump on the hook. That's not the normal for anyone though.
If its long hatches of rising fish you're looking for, you need to look to tail waters and spring creeks, where insect life is the most dense for the most part. Slower water, where fish can hold and wait for the bugs. Summer caddis on freestone rivers often hatch all afternoon and become swarms in the evening. Green drakes in June can make trout silly, though that one is harder to hit.
I often laugh at myself because, for the style of fishing I like, I find myself chasing bugs (hatches) rather than trout most of the time. I think to myself that I go to River XYZ to fish the ABC hatch, not go to the river to catch "big browns" or "wild cutts." Chase the hatch. If a river has good hatches, it usually has "good" trout, either in numbers, size, or a little of both. If its long hatches you seek, research and follow the bugs. Be patient. The fish will be there. Most hatches don't last all day. A few hours is more like it. You have to plan, wait, be there, keep a watchful eye, and not have a bobber on your line when it happens![] Save that for non-hatch periods if you must.
Spring: Just around the corner
Spring: Only 8 more snowstorms away
Spring: Should be tomorrow
Spring: Only 34 more calendar days (ya right)
Spring: What a 45 degree Feb. day teases you with.
Just get here Spring, would ya??
Campeche Tarpon: Just 35 days away--again.[cool] And it will be full-on SUMMER there by then!
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Now that is what its all about, especially this time of year! As I was on the big Green yesterday in 40-degree weather with quite a few other fishermen for February, I actually thought of you several times, wondering how some of your little secluded southern haunts were doing with a little rise in water and slightly warmer temperatures. But my two dogs had the better swimming/stick-chasing hole, which is mostly what we did! (Not where others were fishing)
[quote riverdog]Now Tarpon Jim if you want to join me for an afternoon from May to early July or late August to early November I can probable put you on 20 descent size trout an hour all afternoon long. I'll warn you it doesn't take the skill of fishing a spring creek and may not be a suitable challenge for someone with your skills[
]. I however enjoy it, especially when I hook into a 20+ incher in such a small fast moving stream.[/quote]I'd take you up on that. I don't mind a bunch of "if it floats, eat it" trout from time to time, especially earlier in the season. Just wouldn't want to make a habit out of it[
]. I do like difficult, or at least "challenging" trout first and foremost, but one has to just rip on some lips once in a while to maintain some resemblance of partial sanity. Some. Some of the fishing I do around Jackson/Yellowstone is just like that. To the original poster, again, don't worry about how many you catch. Like Riverdog says, if you do a little home work and leg work, you can find those situations once in a while where the fish just jump on the hook. That's not the normal for anyone though.
If its long hatches of rising fish you're looking for, you need to look to tail waters and spring creeks, where insect life is the most dense for the most part. Slower water, where fish can hold and wait for the bugs. Summer caddis on freestone rivers often hatch all afternoon and become swarms in the evening. Green drakes in June can make trout silly, though that one is harder to hit.
I often laugh at myself because, for the style of fishing I like, I find myself chasing bugs (hatches) rather than trout most of the time. I think to myself that I go to River XYZ to fish the ABC hatch, not go to the river to catch "big browns" or "wild cutts." Chase the hatch. If a river has good hatches, it usually has "good" trout, either in numbers, size, or a little of both. If its long hatches you seek, research and follow the bugs. Be patient. The fish will be there. Most hatches don't last all day. A few hours is more like it. You have to plan, wait, be there, keep a watchful eye, and not have a bobber on your line when it happens![
] Save that for non-hatch periods if you must.Spring: Just around the corner
Spring: Only 8 more snowstorms away
Spring: Should be tomorrow
Spring: Only 34 more calendar days (ya right)
Spring: What a 45 degree Feb. day teases you with.
Just get here Spring, would ya??
Campeche Tarpon: Just 35 days away--again.[cool] And it will be full-on SUMMER there by then!
[signature]