Matching the "ghost"

[Cosmic_Nick]

Hey guys been a while! I somehow figured out my forgotten password. I wanted to pop on here a maybe get a discussion going about a spot I often find myself in on SEPA waters of seeing rising fish to a hatch that I can not identify. I usually attribute this to midges but recently found myself on the mighty Penns with fish hitting off of the top almost everywhere and seemingly no insects hatching. I was able to land a few on emerger type patterns but it didn't seem like I was really keying into what was happening. I used my net to skim the water column and didn't find anything. This happens to me a lot and I didn't know if anyone could offer some advice on how to approach this type of situation. I mean how can so many trout be actively feeding and giving flashy rises but there is seemingly nothing in the water column?

 

[dryflyguy]

Splashy rises usually mean they're taking some kind of emerger.
And given that you caught a few on emergers, would seem to indicate that too.

As for only catching a few, that happens a lot on Penns, even many skunkings.
Especially at this time of year, when I'm guessing the water was probably quite low.
Sometimes the fish win!

 

[3wt7X]

Given the time of year... An iso wet fly swung through the area probably would have done the trick. I would have started there and maybe even fished a cdc emerger in the film. I then would switch to caddis emergers (lafontaines). From there, I would have thought about terrestrials getting blown out of the trees. That would all depend on location and weather conditions. If you were fishing near a bank of trees, that could have been the case.

I had the same thing happen on the breeches two weeks ago. The trick was caddis on that day despite the midges and Cahills that we’re on the water.

 

[shakey]

true soft hackle water!!

 

[evw659]

Sometimes in a longer pool with much of the current pushed to one bank, a lot of slow to emerge nymphs/emergers, duns, spinners etc can get funneled into and stuck in that current seam, which can be very narrow. The space between you and that seam may have very few bugs in the water column.
Another thing ive noticed is that it sometimes seems that if a particular hatch is sparse enough, and enough fish are keying on those emergers, they may be successful in getting most of them. Thus, you may have to watch closely for a few minutes for when a trout finally misses one for you to see what type of mayfly/caddis emerges.

 

[Prospector]

You did the right thing by trying to catch the insects. It’s real common for flies to float past an angler just a few feet away and still be out of sight. Make sure your net/screen doesn’t allow insects to slip through. Get in a good run of current to collect your specimens. Dedicate at least 5 mins to this. Giving up too early can be costly. Getting back to casting too soon without any new information will not allow you to crack the code.

Often times the “invisible flies” are actually crippled insects that still have the shuck attached to their abdomen. These bugs have a low profile in the surface film. Dead and dying spinners have a low profile. Ants will have a low profile.

Also get familiar with backwater eddies on the streams you fish. They collect a lot of insects. On Kettle I have several of these places where I spend 5-10 minutes looking for evidence from earlier in day or from last night.

You should push to find out what they are eating rather than guessing. But if you have to guess. Here’s my process.

1) Sz 18 or 20 caddis
2) dominate mayfly at that time tied 1 or 2 sizes smaller
3) Midge
4) terrestrial
5) sz 18/sz 20 Spinner (usually rusty)

Basically give the rising fish something they see all of the time and are likely to accept at any time of day. You will catch some after going through all 5.

 

[Bamboozle]

Are you sure there weren't Little Black Caddis fluttering an inch above the water?

They are tiny so they are hard to see unless you get low to the water's surface, they won't come up in a "skim" and they illicit those types of rises.

Next time, try a size 18 all black Elk Wing Caddis or something all black and see what happens.

 

[Cosmic_Nick]

Thanks guys a lot of good points here!

@dryflyguy so true, sometimes (more than I'd like) the fish win

@shakey I thought of you when I was there and knew you'd of picked em off with some soft hackles!

 

[Dave_W]

A classic FFing field problem. What fun is it if we don't get our butts kicked once and awhile?


Some good answers above. I don't think I can add anything useful to what's already been said. Do agree that you did the right thing by seining the surface and I'll second Prospector's note to pay careful attention to eddies.

Could it have been tricos?

When encountering tough risers on mystery stuff this time of year, my usual tactic is to go straight to small terrestrials. A tiny cinnamon ant or bark beetle will often get eaten by these fish. If this fails after presentation to several fish, I usually default to some sort of small emerger pattern or floating nymph.

 

[Bamboozle]

Cosmic_Nick wrote:
I used my net to skim the water column and didn't find anything.

If you have a regular net with ghost or even regular mesh, you can miss a lot of stuff using it to seine the water.

If your net isn't enormous, you can go to your local hardware or paint store and buy some elastic top paint strainer bags which you can slip over your net when required. Or you can even use the smaller size over your hand if you don't carry a net.

They don't take up any room in a vest or bag and are super fine so you won't miss a bug.

 

[hunter1]

I fished the GP today, Thats what they were doing, making a small slash. Cuaght one on an emerger in the collage pool. Later another one up stream on an ant.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Ive said it before and ill say it again.
If i find a midging fish, i usually just chuck a beatle or bugger at him them :lol:

 

[larkmark]

Blue wings can be hard to see. You didn't say what time of day or weather conditions but I have seen BWOs on Penns at any time of yr. And sometimes they are tiny. They can be hatching or drifting in the current where fish are but not where you are standing. I recently saw fish feeding like crazy right at dark on some kind of tiny spinner. Managed a couple but not convinced I had the right fly. They were all small fish about as long as a hot dog though.

 

[Cosmic_Nick]

True Dave_W keeps us coming back and I don't know about the tricos although my buddy threw some trico patterns with no luck! Interesting to see a consensus on terrestrials being effective in this situation I would never have thought that. Excited to give some of these strategies a try.

Bamboozle-Good to know I'll check that out.

As far as weather and time of day it was morning and sunny I could pretty much see into the water column. I was even seeing decent sized fish refusing naturals on top it was pretty awesome!

 

[Chaz]

Sometimes it pays to look at what’s floating on the surface
or just under. It may be terrestrials or spinners. With spinners look ove the riffs les for large balls of mayflies. These clouds of bugs won’t be evident unless you look closely at the surface. Trout rise to both spinners and terrestrials often with a dimpling rise.
Splashy rises are another matter, many times it’s a trout that’s just looking for a large tasty bug that dropped on the water. Other times it’s chasing an emerged. Eventually you’ll figure it out. Also study the hatch charts available.

 

[timmyt2]

Good thread here. I encountered this same situation last week. I tried a BWO emerger and a spinner and got no love on either but i didnt try a caddis at all. I eventually fooled a couple fish with a sulfur emerger but i dont think it was ultimately what they were after.

It was the strangest thing, every pattern i put on got the fish to rise to it but they were ultimately refusing i guess. I have exlerienced refusals before but drift after drift after drift they would rise for half a dozen casts when i put a new pattern on. I swear they were bumping the fly with their nose or rising right next to it and sinking it with the wake of the rise intentionally. It was cool but super frustrating at the same time. Got to the point where i had to consciously not set the hook on what i thought were takes to see what the heck the fish were doing. I'm a dry fly nut, talk about going against your instincts!

After reading this thread, i really wish i could go back in time and try a little black caddis as i think that may have been the ticket. I didnt see too many bugs on the water but its tough to see sometimes. Bamboozle, i love the paint strainer idea for the net, i am totally doing that, thanks

 

[Chaz]

Maybe it was a spinner all.