Kettle Ck, Clinton Co night fishing 6/28, 6/29

[Mike]

Following the day-long rainfall of 6/28 we (4 of us) fished wet flies from midnight until 2 AM on the 28th. Flow was up a bit from late on 6/28 into early on the 29th. The fishery was on fire and among the four of us high numbers of trout were landed, mostly RT, but a few BT mixed in. I landed 13-15, with a number of others becoming disconnected. Kept 4. Most were 11-12 inches, but my partners had some in the 15-17.75 inch range.

Returning to the same spot and moving on to another from 10:30 to 2 AM Friday, but with flows having returned to pre-rainfall conditions, perhaps a third of the previous night's numbers were caught. None of the fishing was done in the stretch that was recently stocked and, based on caudal fin regrowth (complete or nearly so), almost all fish were from the preseason stocking or early inseason stocking. Water temps 63-66 deg F.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
Following the day-long rainfall of 6/28 we (4 of us) fished wet flies from midnight until 2 AM on the 28th. Flow was up a bit from late on 6/28 into early on the 29th. The fishery was on fire and among the four of us high numbers of trout were landed, mostly RT, but a few BT mixed in. I landed 13-15, with a number of others becoming disconnected. Kept 4. Most were 11-12 inches, but my partners had some in the 15-17.75 inch range.

Returning to the same spot and moving on to another from 10:30 to 2 AM Friday, but with flows having returned to pre-rainfall conditions, perhaps a third of the previous night's numbers were caught. None of the fishing was done in the stretch that was recently stocked and, based on caudal fin regrowth (complete or nearly so), almost all fish were from the preseason stocking or early inseason stocking. Water temps 63-66 deg F.

Good job, Mike! Sounds like fun.

Proves you don't need to fish worms and minnies to catch a bunch of fish. 🙂

 

[Mike]

True enough, but I did string minnows (dace) in two late morning 1.5 hr sessions and caught 4 and 6, respectively. In two late afternoon sessions of the same length I then fished Prince nymphs to catch two and five, respectively. Stringing minnows involves fishing a minnow like a spinner...it spins and the angler maintains a tight line. The fish are easily caught and released.

 

[afishinado]

Mike wrote:
True enough, but I did string minnows (dace) in two late morning 1.5 hr sessions and caught 4 and 6, respectively. In two late afternoon sessions of the same length I then fished Prince nymphs to catch two and five, respectively. Stringing minnows involves fishing a minnow like a spinner...it spins and the angler maintains a tight line. The fish are easily caught and released.

^Well, you're half-way there, anyway. We're gonna make a fly fisherman out of you yet!! :-D

 

[outsider]

Sounds like you had a great time.

 

[Prospector]

Mike,

I fish wets a lots but only in daylight. I use either size 14 or 12. Did your group go to really large sizes to improve visibility (sz 10 or larger) or stick with what I consider standard size?

 

[Mike]

Large flies, as we are typically interested in targeting larger fish, but the first year that I did this I was surprised that the standard size stocked trout would hit them so readily.

 

[Maurice]

Mike wrote:
Large flies, as we are typically interested in targeting larger fish, but the first year that I did this I was surprised that the standard size stocked trout would hit them so readily.

This is an interesting thread and post. Technique burning if you will. (sharing a technique that many know nothing about, me included) but thats one of the benefits of this message board and having contributors willing to share. Thanks Mike.

To this post, I say that I too find it surprising that smaller trout will hit larger flies, like catching 6" wild browns on a 3" streamer with a #6 hook. But it is rare if you size the hook large enough. and leave a bit of a "short strike" buffer. Leave some material hang beyond the hook bend . Don't worry, the larger targeted fish will still eat the whole thing but the smaller ones will just nip it. Saying "Oh I missed one there" just means it was a small fish.

 

[Dave_W]

It's also nice to get a night fishing report, as we rarely see those.

It's the time of year to think about fishing at night (and not just for trout) and this thread is some motivation. Every summer I vow to do more night fishing and rarely follow through.

 

[jifigz]

I kind of hate night fishing. Tonight my girlfriend and I will be busting out a spinning rod and chasing some channel cats down in the Juniata. That is about my only night fishing. Except each autumn I do target walleye with a 6 weight and clouser minnows a lot and I do extremely well at night. Good Lord those fish get predictable when it starts turning cold.

 

[Prospector]

Mike wrote:
Large flies, as we are typically interested in targeting larger fish, but the first year that I did this I was surprised that the standard size stocked trout would hit them so readily.

Thanks Mike, that’s what I thought. Probably 25 years ago I tied a half dozen huge wets to use at night sometime. They remain in my flybox but have never been wet.

There is a guy who stays in an nearby camp when we go to Kettle in early June that night fishes at least once during that week. He seems to favor big streamers or a floating mouse pattern. He doesn’t seem to admit to catching anything but he keeps going so maybe there is more to that story.