Little Dell 04-15-18

[T-DOG91]

Got some redemption at little Dell yesterday after getting blown off by the wind last weekend. Fished for a couple hours and caught 1 chunky cutthroat around 17-18 inches.

Fish was caught on a black body zebra midge with red wire and a black tungsten bead.

A video of the action is here https://youtu.be/8-RbuS59SlQ
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[Jmorfish]

Nicely done....good video too....never fished there, but have driven past a few times and always wondered...assume you're using a Go Pro head mount?
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[T-DOG91]

Thanks!!

Chest mount actually. When I tried a head mount I thought the camera moved too much. Stays pretty still and centered with a chest mount.
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[OldTroller]

Silly question but what does it cost to park there?
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[Joe_Dizzy]

[quote OldTroller]Silly question but what does it cost to park there?[/quote]

Upper lot is free to park, but you have to hoof it down to the lake. Right now there is no guard to allow access to the lower lots at the lake, but once that starts (~mid May) I believe the price is $5.00.

Even after they start charging for full access you can still park at the upper lot (or alongside the road) for free.
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[Mooseman75]

Fun and entertaining videos. Nicely done. I enjoy your reports and glad your able to get out and catch some fish. The clarity in your videos make me want to get out as soon as I watch them lol
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[fishalot13]

Got out and hit little dell for the first time because of you! Cold cold day. One fish about 18”. Reaches for the camera and left it in the car! So thx for letting me share my fish story and giving me the idea to get up there and try it out! And you are right they like midges on that water! Hit green gold bead head!
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[T-DOG91]

That's awesome! Fun place to fish if you don't have time to drive somewhere further. It's only 20 minutes from my driveway. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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[Joe_Dizzy]

T-DOG & fishalot,

Hopefully you guys are fly TYERS as well (it's really the only way to build a well rounded selection of chironomids). A few points of interest regarding chironomids; They hatch every day, ice out to ice up... trout munch on them constantly... and while in the midge family, they are much larger than their stream cousins (hook sizes 8-18 in most cases... 12-16 the majority of the time).

Here are some "rules of thumb" regarding chironomid pupa patterns that I dug up on line somewhere:

Proportion - the hook size is right for the pattern. The fly should be tied onto the bend of the hook but not around the bend. The bead size should be about 3X the diameter of the butt end


Taper - all pupa are tapered, the body should taper evenly, or slightly more taper on the head end. The tail end should be skinny.


Rib - all chironomids have 6 or seven segments between the tail and thorax. Not that fish count the segments, but the proportion of the segments will be right with 6 and the correct tapered body.


Collar - the collar should be smaller than the exposed part of the bead, it should taper evenly onto the curve of the bead.


Gills – Bright, white, and prominent… the gill diameter and length is about the same as the head.

I would add to this that because of the oxygen deprived environment they live in, many ascending chironomid pupae still have trace hemoglobin trapped in their body and it tends to collect near the rear which is why many patterns are tied with red wire or a red butt section.

Also, as they near emergence the gases beneath their skin start to produce a metallic sheen which is why some patterns are tie with silver tinsel or over-wrapped with anti-static bags to try and imitate this.

Here are some examples of what the naturals look like as they wiggle to the surface:





And I've attached a few pattern examples that I tie/fish.


Tight lines! []
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[Saltslam]

Nice ties Joe. Looks like you've got it down.
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[T-DOG91]

I love that thanks Dizzy!! I am a beginner at tying but am pretty much only fishing hand tied flies at this point. I needed a good lesson in Stillwater bugs.
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[Joe_Dizzy]

[quote T-DOG91]I love that thanks Dizzy!! I am a beginner at tying but am pretty much only fishing hand tied flies at this point. I needed a good lesson in Stillwater bugs.[/quote]

Great thing about chironomids... they are as EZ to tie as they are effective at catching fish!

I was new to stillwater trout when I moved to Utah back in 2010, but I really prefer it now to river fishing. Three great resources that were complete game changers for me:
[ul][li]DVD - Conquering Chironomids Vol. I (Brian Chan & Phil Rowley)[/li][li]Book - Fly Fishing Stillwaters for Trophy Trout (Denny Rickards)[/li][li]Book - Fly Patterns for Stillwaters (Phil Rowley)
[/li][/ul]
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[kandersonSLC]

Joe, thanks for sharing your knowledge and photos.
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