Fall RR Patterns

[andy]

I have fly fished Bennett Spring for a couple years now, but I am going on a family trip to Roaring River (my first time there) this upcoming weekend. I was curious about about a few different things. Are there some certain sections of the park with comparably larger concentrations of fish than other sections? What are some good starting patterns to throw? Are dropper rigs legal, like a crackleback and scud combination? And lastly, is there a part of the park with a reputation for producing some larger fish? Any info would be awesome.

[timsfly]

The fly area (zone 2) probably has the best numbers of fish right now, the C&R area has the biggest fish in the river right now. Droppers are legal, I fish a beetle/pheasant tail dropper a lot this time of year, but a Crackle back is a good fly down here right now. I use the green/grizzly crackle back most of the time #14 seems to be best right now. I have been catching fish on griffiths gnats, lt. cahills and a few fish on caddis, everything #16 and smaller. The Zone 3 area produces some big fish, there have been several fish over 12lbs taken out of there the past few years. In zone 3 you can fish anything you want and most of the big fish taken out of there have been caught on bait. Sowbugs and scuds both work well at the park and any small thread midge, zebra midge or diamomd Jim type midge will work well. Small glo-balls and small woolybuggers have been doing pretty good, the water is very clear right now, so 2lb or 1lb line is working best, 9' leaders are going to work better than 7 1/2 leaders. Good luck stop by the shop when you are down if you need any help or just want to ask some more questions, good luck.

[andy]

Hey thanks Tim I'll probably stop by.

I did think of a few more questions though:

Has anybody ever actually noticed a difference between 7x and 8x at the parks?

What's the best knot to tie these thin leaders to a fly?

I've heard that a strip-set is better with small leaders, is that true?

Thanks for the feedback

[timsfly]

Yes there is a difference in 8X and 7X some days the 8X will get you more action, but you'll break off a few times more, I can usually get by with 7X, now if I'm using, #24's and smaller I'll use the 8X most of the time.

I use the 6 turn fishermans knot myself or a palamor knot, I like it best but it is tough to get the line thru the hook eye twice on a very small hook, and you use a bit more tippet. A stip set will work and sometimes works well, but I miss fish doing this, I just use a 2 or 3 weight and I just try not set the hook to hard I use the shock gum if I have trouble setting the hook to hard, it helps.

[Steve Smith]

There have been a few times this year that I’ve had to go to 7X when there were blue bird skies and the water is slow and low. However, since I fish mostly early and late [before and after work], I do well with a furled leader and 6X Frog Hair fluorocarbon tippet. If I am fishing mid-day with a high sky, I switch to a mono leader and 7X green Maxima tippet. Since I use loop to loop connectors, changing leader types between the furled and mono just takes a few seconds. Working the shade will provide some forgiveness too as I cringe just thinking about 8X. To add to Tim’s fly suggestions, be sure to add San Juan’s in bright colors and chamois worms.