Year of the crazies?

[JustFish]

TimMurphy,

I wasn't disagreeing with you by any means. I know there are some guys on hear that think that nypmhing is cheating. Therefore, they'll probably have some rebuttles. I myself primarily fish with subsurface flies and only fish with dries if there is a significant hatch going off. Although, I do like seeing them come up and take a dry. For me, I feel nymphing is just way more productive.

I once read a post not here, I actually forget where. However, this guy got out in January to do some fishing and cited he didn't get any. But he was using his favorite searching pattern, a size ten Royal Humpy(sorry bighumpy9 I know you love the humpy, but even you wouldn't use it in January). I thought to myself, it is one thing to be dedicated to dry flies but a size ten humpy in January? Why not a griffith knat?

 

[Fishidiot]

I thought about this a bit and it seems to me that I actually don't see as many "crazies" on trout streams as back in the 70-80s. The prize probably goes to a fellow who I saw on the fly fishing only section of Big Hunting Creek in the early 80s. He was sitting on a rock with a party boat rod, a 6/0 Penn, and a couple massive hooks with cut bait and a pyramid sinker. Although Tim's right that micro jigs and big Rapalas will definitely get trout - I think this guy was wasting his time . I tried to explain the regs but his English was poor and I moved on. Although I see fewer cases of fishermen with weird tackle than back in the good ole days, the one exception is here in Adams Co. In recent years I see more people on the fly only section of Conewago. Upper Adams Co has a rather large population of non-English speakers and I seem to see more folks "poaching" this stream. A couple years ago I saw an entire family with bait rods and a stringer of trout on this section. I tried to explain their infraction but not sure they go it. Fortunately, it was summer and the trout die off in this creek usually by mid-July so I didn't feel too bad. They had little kids with 'em and the fish will provide food. Maybe it's time for "bilingual regulation posters" (?). Keep in mind, popular waters with lots of fishermen on them will invariably be noticed by casual fishermen with little knowledge of trout fishing (and sometimes English language) and they'll be tempted to wet a line there with whatever tackle they've got.

 

[afishinado]

Tim Murphy wrote: “….it's just my opinion but I do find dry fly fishing to be boring. Once you figure out what they are eating it's like shooting fish in a barrel….”


There’s nothing more exciting to me than to peek through the bushes streamside, and see fish rising. I strain to see or try to capture a natural, if possible, to try to figure out what they are rising to, reach into my fly box to try to match the hatch, and try to make a perfect cast to cover the fish without drag. Watching the trout come up to eat my fly and knowing I fooled them is one of the most satisfying things about fly fishing and fly tying for me. If I can’t get the fish to take, it’s like a game of chess to figure what fly, rig or presentation change it will it take to catch that fish.

Tim, perhaps you have reached such a high level of proficiency in fly fishing, that catching trout has become too easy and you become bored. If the rising trout are boring you too much, be sure to give me a call next time…..

 

[MKern]

This gets me every year:
Opening weekend the guy wet wading in sub-40 degree water in blue jeans.
What are you thinking????????????

 

[JustFish]

MKern wrote:
This gets me every year:
Opening weekend the guy wet wading in sub-40 degree water in blue jeans.
What are you thinking????????????

I saw a guy doing the same thing. It was drizzling rain and cold. I had my neoprenes and a raincoat on. I look to my right and see this guy coming upstream with his vest, short sleave shirt and shorts with wading boots. I was freezing looking at him!!!!

 

[TimMurphy]

MKern wrote:
This gets me every year:
Opening weekend the guy wet wading in sub-40 degree water in blue jeans.
What are you thinking????????????

Dear MKern,

If he had steel-toed boots on then he was wearing "Selinsgrove Simms." I see guys fishing like that all the time at the Flubber Dam. :-D

Those steel-toed boots really help you hold bottom in the current!

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[FarmerDave]

TimMurphy wrote:


Think about it? How many people fish dry flies without already having seen the fish they are targeting?
Regards,
Tim Murphy

I know of at least one person who does that. ... Me.

Tim, we don't often disagree when it comes to fishing (and not just fly fishing), and I don't necessarily think this is one of the rare cases where we do. I think it is just different types of streams?

When fishing tiny streams, 90 percent of the battle is not being seen by the trout. If you see them, there is a good chance they have seen you. Also, many of the streams that I fish are infertile freestone with sparce hatches. I am rarely worried about matching the hatch exactly. Any attractor is a good choice in most cases (Chaz will agree to that). Heck, a brook trout in one of those streams will hit a hemlock needle, small stick, or even a cigarette butt. I often prospect a new stream that way, only not with cigarette butts. I don't smoke. The key is not being seen. You learn where the fish are likely to be and you cast there. Hmmm, sounds like your description of nymph fishing. I don't wait around to see where one is rising and then cast. That would be boring. On the other hand, if I do see one rising, I'm not going to ignore it. It is a lot like nymph fishing only you see the strike. You appear to be describing dry fly fishing on larger streams. Even then, i often get bored and go fish pocket water (without waiting for something to rise).

Contrast that with nymph or streamer fishing where you select a fly you think they will eat and you cast it out into water in the hopes that something will eat it?

Yep, sounds like about half of my dry fishing, too. Then again, maybe i am one of those crazies the original guy was talking about. :-D

By the way, I reeled in a large snapping turtle on Saturday. He let go as soon as I got his head out of water. Was using a hotdog for bait. What can i say, it was kosher. :-D Here is the story in a nut shell. WE invited the neighbors from down the street for a cookout, and for their 3 year old (almost 4) to fish. It was his first time fishing. His first fish caught was a hybrid sunfish that was probably about a pound and a half! Anyway, while we were eating dinner, the kid wanted to fish more, and was so excited he didn't eat his hot dog. I told him I would use it for bait, so i grabbed a spinning rod... Austin caught several bluegills, a couple hybrids (i only have a few in there), and a couple bass. All this on a scoobie-doo pole. :-D

Didn't catch any catfish.

 

[FarmerDave]

MKern wrote:
This gets me every year:
Opening weekend the guy wet wading in sub-40 degree water in blue jeans.
What are you thinking????????????

What were they thinking? Maybe they were thinking waders are too expensive?

What exactly is so crazy about that? I've wet waded in March for steelhead and I’m not talking about dinky streams like walnut. However, I was wearing dockers, not jeans. Jeans make me look fat. :-D

Warm day (50s or 60s), but water temp was 33F. Was too hot that day for the neoprene waders and didn't have breathable waders at the time so I took the neoprene off and left them in the truck. I’ve always been active, and even somewhat athletic, and cold doesn't bother me, especially my legs. I've fished with neoprene waters on days like that, and my legs get soaked anyway from sweat. So, the only difference was that I might not have looked so crazy if I had been wearing wet waders, but that is another thing I never worried about (what people think). However, I did buy my first breathable waders right after that, so you won't see my big wet butt that early in the year anymore. :-D

Come to think of it, that was the last time I used the neoprenes. I hate those things (still hanging in the garage). Now I use stocking foot breathables even in the winter. I'll still wet wade in the summer though.

I once fished all afternoon on opening day in a snow storm after taking a dunking right when I first stepped into the stream. I actually slipped and fell on my side. Darn lug soles. Water was shallow, but my entire right side was soaked to the skin. Even my underwear got wet. This was a wild stream (long walk), and truck was over a mile away, uphill, and I wanted to fish, sooo... Dumped the nylon hip wader out rung out my shirt, pants and sock, put them back on and continued to fish. The water was cold enough that ice was forming in the backwater. It actually wasn't all that bad, and I still have all my toes. All 11 of them. :-D didn't catch anything though. Not sure why I remember that.

 

[FarmerDave]

Another one questioning those of us that are part polar bear.

It is this simple really. Some of us aren't bothered by the cold as much as others, and if I intend to walk a lot, I'm better off wearing less so I don't sweat (at least not upper body). If I get cold, I walk some more and warm right up. This is true, wet or dry, hunting or fishing.

It's physics. The larger an object, the less surface area per cubic inch of mass for cooling. Therefore larger and/or wider people don't cool off as fast. The extra blubber helps too, but that is my story, and I'm sticking to it. Short thin people can't handle the cold as well but do better in warmer weather.

 

[jayL]

FD,

Fair enough, but ya gotta admit that it's a bit weird.

When I was 15 and had bright blue, purple, or orange hair, I could justify my actions... but I still knew that it wasn't the popular way to go about things, and accepted the scoffing.

 

[pete41]

Try explaining to your wife or girl friend the reason they can handle the cold better than us is because they have an extra layer of fat.Nature evolved them that way as its more important that more females of the species survive than males for reproductive reasons[one bull to a herd etc.]
If you survive the initial onslought it won't help much to explain thats also what makes them softer and more desirable than us.

 

[RLeeP]

>>Think about it? How many people fish dry flies without already having seen the fish they are targeting? Contrast that with nymph or streamer fishing where you select a fly you think they will eat and you cast it out into water in the hopes that something will eat it?>>

Has prospecting with dry flies become illegal? Near as I can tell, this would be the only way what you're suggesting would be valid.

Of course, this too is simply an opinion...

 

[JustFish]

RLeeP,

If that's what works for you then keep on truckin. For me, during a hatch I like a tandem rig with a dry and an emerger. If you value seeing them take it from the top more than numbers then have a blast. It's all about what you like at the end of the day. When I use a tandem rig during a hatch it seems I get more to take the emerger. But that is what works for me. :-D

 

[RLeeP]

Justfish: That's good information and I appreciate having it, but it's not precisely what I was talking about..

Tim seemed to be suggesting that most folks who are fishing on top are fishing to trout already sighted. I'd say 80% or more of the time, this does not accurately describe me. Not does it describe the majority of fellow fly flingers with whom I am acquainted. And I'd opine that this is particularly true in a place like PA where the majority of quality trout fishing opportunities are in smaller freestone waters. A lot of guys fish mostly by prospecting on top and in so doing, I don't see that they lose a single bit of the element of "surprise" Tim spoke of.

 

[JustFish]

RLeeP,

Sorry about that. I think what he means is that when your swinging flies or pulling streamers you lose the sense of sight for the most part and when they take your flie it's more of a surprise than expected. I could be wrong but that it how I interpreted it.

 

[FarmerDave]

jayL wrote:
FD,

Fair enough, but ya gotta admit that it's a bit weird.

When I was 15 and had bright blue, purple, or orange hair, I could justify my actions... but I still knew that it wasn't the popular way to go about things, and accepted the scoffing.

Of course I admit it is a bit wierd, but compared to sporting blue, purple, or orange hair? On purpose??? When I was a kid, only old ladies had hair in those colors. :-D

 

[FarmerDave]

I don't think so JustFish. Tim was very specific.

"How many people fish dry flies without already having seen the fish they are targeting?"

I just figured it was different where he fished (bigger and slower water). RLeeP and I fished a lot of the same streams (but not at the same time as far as i know). Maybe that is why our opinions are similar on this point.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Dave,

To expand a little bit let me ask how many people go astream and see a Hendrickson hatch or a Sulphur hatch, or a hatch of your insect of choice taking place and specifically cast to spots on the stream where they don't see fish raising?

I'll venture to say that very few people do that deliberately. Most folks I know seem to target a rising fish or at least a rise form or a flash that they just saw rather than blind casting.

I'll give you the prospecting with a dry fly scenario but even that gets done primarily by casting to places where you previously had success in raising a fish or two. Maybe not the exact same place, but you form a mental catalog of successful lies and you tend to direct your casts towards places that paid off in the past.

If you move slowly and watch the water carefully on small streams you can often see the fish you want to target. Just pay attention and don't rush things.

I'd rather prospect with a nymph or streamer if a readily identifiable insect isn't making it's presence known, but like I said that's just me. Heck, I'd rather fish a Rapala Skitter Pop than a dry fly anyday. :-D

Regards,
Tim Murphy