Fishing Report 01/04

[memphisflyfisher]

I usually fish the Little Red, but this year I decided to check out the Spring in the winter. I've not been disappointed at all. This was my fourth trip since Thanksgiving and probably my best one. Caught over 25 fish, from about 9am to 2:30pm. The wind and cold finally took its toll and I had to head home a little earlier than I wanted.

Fished Dam 3 early and started off great with 2 stockers in the first 5 casts, all caught on a snail fly trailing a Y2K, right by the boat ramp. Headed downstream to fish a couple of runs where I had caught some really nice fish on my last trip. Caught a 20" rainbow and about 10 minutes later, hooked up on a 25" fish that took me forever to get in, since it was in a deep, fast run. Both big fish were caught on the Y2K. Walked the railroad tracks down to the island and caught a few more fish, then I got hungry and headed into Mammoth Springs for lunch. On my way to the car, helped a guy land a really nice male rainbow by the hatchery outlet flow. Fish was almost a mirror image of the biggest fish I caught downstream. He caught it on a fly that looked like a brown Wooly Worm with white rubber legs.

Went to Lasseters for the afternoon and continued catching fish. Mostly numbers at Lasseters, nothing too big, but still fun. Most of my success was downstream from the boat ramp. Probably 90% of the fish I caught were on the snail fly I was using. I had come up with the snail pattern after my last trip and reading some of the posts on this board. I tie it on a size 10 scud hook and all I do is tie in a tail of Krystal Flash (7 or 8 strands) that I cut to be equal to the hook gap. Then I tie in some medium Black Krystal Chennile and wind it up to the hook eye and put a fairly large head on the fly. I then trim up the Chennile strands to create a tapered body, with the full strands at the back of the fly. I was shocked at how well it worked. After reading jdmidwest's posts I learned that the snail is the primary food source on the Spring, instead of my typical sowbug and soft hackle setups for the Little Red.

Still learning the Spring, but so far so good. I've caught some really nice fish there this winter and it's not been crowded at all, there were only 3 or 4 cars at Dam 3 when I pulled in. I understand the summer brings the crowds, but I usually fish some ponds and lakes closer to home in the summer, so I may keep it as a winter hangout. Hope this helps someone planning a trip. The water was a little cloudy/milky and the weather stunk, but still had a good time. Big thanks to JD and everyone else that posts about the Spring. The posts were really helpful and I've had a great time learning more about this river.

[jdmidwest]

Were you in the Red Truck? I was in the Red Blazer.

I never even made it to Dam 3, sounds like that is where the big fish were this weekend.

[memphisflyfisher]

I was in a gray Infiniti and got to Lasseters after lunch. The wind and losing my last snail pattern were the only reason I left.

Dam 3 has been the place to be the last couple of trips I made. I've seen a lot of bigger fish moving around from the hatchery outflow down to the end of the island. About 3 weeks ago, I caught a nice male rainbow that measured 27", unfortunately my friend's cellphone didn't get the picture. I doubt that it's always like it's been the last month, but it's been pretty nice to catch some larger fish and not be in the middle of the crowds like on the Little Red.

[jdmidwest]

They have been letting loose some of the brood stock this year and I have caught some nice ones also. You were parked on the other side of the red 4x4 from us, we left about 3. Glad you had a good trip.