Gavin Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Had a great time at the trout bust this weekend....Nice drive down on Friday afternoon..decided to take 19 down to Salem for a change...and we had a great time on the roller coaster with cicada's bouncing of the windshield the entire time...Didnt fish Friday but set camp, and caught up with some old friends and made a few new ones. My wife and I got on the water around 10:30am at Tan Vat for a float down to Parker...really crowded at the access, including one 15-16 year old boy who got a lecture from me about the short rainbow on his stringer. Hardly a soul out on the water after we got more than 200 yards from the access..Saw 4 more canoes and my buddy Doug's jon boat sitting empty at Baptist, but they never caught up...and we ran into 4 other canoes from Akers down river...nice folks... 30-40 something couples on an overnight float down to Akers and they werent fishing much. Kath picked up 4-5 right away on a small crome kastmaster...but we got to the bluff stretch below tan vat, broke out the fly rods with some cicada patterns...and started getting some interest...spin rods stayed in the boat the rest of the day. Nice float...and the river is in great shape...lots of deep water, and most of the big bars lost allot of gravel...Ashley gravel bar is about a 1/4 of its former self, big bar below the bluff stretch is about a 1/3rd of its former self...One log across the river at Mountain Lion Camp...bought 1-1.5m above Parker. Didnt fish much...it was more fun to watch her fish..She ended up touching ten or so on top and she lost two beauty browns that wrapped her...4-5 for me....all on Cicada's...no reason not to fish one right know...Cicada's arent aquatic insects...you may not see them struggling on top...but many are drowned..and the fish are keyed on them. Some fish puked a few up! I think we would have done allot better with a smaller pattern...The ones I tied up were too big...probably 3 times the size of the actuals down there. Probably 3-5 looks & smacks for every hook up but still a ton of fun!..Tried some smaller Chernobyls and no interest...Ran into Chris Conant on the way back to camp at 5pm...we were headed to Montauk for ice...and he was walking from Ozark Mountain Ranch to Tan Vat...we talked a bit, and he and showed me a really nice bug that he'd been working on...bought the perfect size, and several good triggers...He ended up with around 15 for the evening. Great time that evening as well...fish dinner, some live music, and some great raffle & auction prizes...ended up with a half dozen flies tied by Chuck Tryon in the $5 raffle, and $40 in the silent auction brought me one of those Feather-Craft Streamer boxes stuffed with a dozen Kelly Galloup Patterns. Fun Time! Some Pics. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1938758722470.107417.1647470288&l=45ab898c90
Smalliebigs Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Good for you and your wife Gavin.....I'm glad to see someone on here can do a float with a few obsticles. glad to here you had a good time.
2sheds Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 So what size hooks should I be tying for cicada patterns to interest trout ? The cicadas I see around the house look to be about a size 6 on a 1X short, similar to hooks for top water bass bugs.
Gavin Posted June 6, 2011 Author Posted June 6, 2011 Mine were too big...tied on size 1/0 Mustad Signature Series Popper Hooks....bought my usual size for a smallmouth bug...will be sorting through my hooks this evening looking for something suitable...Gotta have a big hook gap, sharp point, and a shorter shank than most trout patterns...I'm thinking that the Dai-Riki 810 or TMC 8089 might fill the bill...there will be tons of foam to float it. I've attached a little sketch of the bug that was working best. Use a long needle to thread the legs and lots of super glue. Cheers.
stlfisher Posted June 6, 2011 Posted June 6, 2011 Sounds like a great day....water looks great....nice pics. Would you say the river is deeper? It was kind of hard for me to tell last time I was down. Hopefully, those Cicada's will still be singing this weekend. I smashed a few bugs with my car on 40 this morning...can hear them singing in the tree's. Need to buy some orange legs...think I got the hooks and the foam for the job.
Nortrad Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 Great report and like the diagram. I was thinking the same concept, super gluing the pieces around the shank. Lucky guy, Kelly Galloup streamers...
Greg Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 Your mentioning the kid with the short rainbow on his stringer made me wonder what the length limit is? I've fished the Current several times but we don't ever keep trout. Sounds like a great trip. "My biggest worry is that my wife (when I'm dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it" - Koos Brandt Greg Mitchell
Kayser Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 18" minimum, 1 fish/day in the Blue Ribbon water, any trout species. In the white ribbon, any size on rainbows, 15" min on browns (statewide), and 4 fish/day. Not sure if there is a statewide creel limit on browns, though. WARNING!! Comments to be interpreted at own risk. Time spent fishing is never wasted.
Ted Calcaterra Posted June 7, 2011 Posted June 7, 2011 I have been experimenting with cicada patterns and have found that the Idylwilde pattern found in fly shops outfishes the Rainey's pattern 10:1 although the Rainys pattern looks cooler and catches more flyfisherman. The reason in my opionion is its smaller, and rides lower in the surface. Whatever the reason I had tons of success with it and hope to try it on carp this week at busch.
Gavin Posted June 7, 2011 Author Posted June 7, 2011 Which One Ted? http://www.idylwilde.com/html/fly_gallery.php?category_id=1&subcat_id=27
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