Is It about Practice, Or I am Doing Something Wrong?

[LostMyWife]

Well guys, I am looking for some encouragement and pointers. Rob and I spent last weekend at Taney. We fished Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Between us we caught one rainbow and a tiny creek chub.

Here is what we did. Tell me what we are doing wrong.

We fished the area from The Stretch to just below the MDC Boat ramp. We were using 9 foot 5x tapered leaders with 7x tippets. We drifted scuds with a #10 split shot under an indicator, in depths that varied from 18 inches to 3 feet. We tried gray, beige, and olive scuds, in sizes from #16 to #20. We also tried a primrose and copper dun midge under an indicator.

Now, dumb luck should allow us to caught a couple of fish. Still being rookies, I understand the learning curve. I know about paying your dues because I also play golf. Seems that fly fishing is a lot more humbling than golf, but I have been golfing for a lot longer period of time.

I have read about using multiply flies, but as yet have not found any diagrams that show me how to tie them. I know they exist, and Phil will probably shoot me a link right away, but as of now I am in the dark.

Any words of wisdom?

We have decided to do a little practicing with poppers on our lake at home for bluegill or bass.

[rls1936]

Lost,

I know more experienced fishers will comment soon, but here's my 2 cents. The "take" is sometimes very subtle and extremely hard to detect, especially using scuds and midges. Use the smallest indicator that will float your fly. I learned the hard way that big indicators = less fish. Seeing the size of indicators some use on Taney, I wonder how they catch any fish - I know for sure they are catching less than they could.

A small indicator (I now use 1/2 or a whole palsa) does three things: shows subtle takes better, creates less unnatural drag and is less disturbing to the trout.

You may have been getting takes but weren't able to detect them. The level of concentration required is hard to get used to. Its very tiring to concentrate all day while fishing. Sometimes the take is just a very slight pause in the palsa's drift.

If you were putting the right sized scuds and midges on the fish, you probably got way more takes that you thought you did.

Hope that helps.

[tippet7]

Another thing you may try is using GINK instead of a weight if there is no water running. to me, it seems a more natural drift and lessens the possibility of getting hung up on the bottom.

[LostMyWife]

Thanks guys. I will check it out.

We were using larger indicators this trip.

I don't know what a GINK is, but I know how to find out.

Jim

HMMMMM, this is what I found.

®Gink is a light paste that turns to a liquid at skin temperature. Upon coming in contact with cold water it returns to a clear, unseen, invisible gel that keeps water from making your dry flies or streaking streamers, wet. Flies stay dry for the normal useful life of any and all dry flies astream.

Not sure how this can replace a split shot to weight the line.

[Steve Smith]

I don't think it is Gink you want, as that is for dry flys. There is some sinking gel that you can add, but don't remeber what it was or if it works. Some of the best Taney fly fishers I know rarely ever use an indicator at all. My eyes are too old and poor not to use one, but these guys sight fish unless the wind or water conditions require it. How about it Tim? What's your advice?

[jjtroutbum]

Gink is a Dry fly dressing or floatent, the same company maks a sister product called Sink which well "sinks" flies. I personally like to ad weight while tieing mine by adding lead wire or maybe a bead depending on the pattern. Another way to help a fly sink faster is to place a little mud and water in the plam of your hand gently work to the flys crevises this will fill in the small places were air gets trapped into a fly that would eventually work its way out during regular fishing.. JJ

[Danoinark]

LMW

Another issue could be that you were not getting a good dead drift. If your fly (rig) is moving in the water column faster than the current the fish do not see this as natural and will reject the bug. Try reading about or have someone show you simple line mends to correct that problem. Ususally on Taney it just takes an uncomplicated upstream mend to get the proper drift. Sometimes you have to go down to a size 18 especially in real low clear water. When midging I always start with a size 18.

Dano

[WebFreeman]

I haven't fly fished in a long time, but I was in the same place you were. I started fishing a lot of wooly buggers, something I could strip and have more contact with. The strikes were a lot more like what you'd expect with rod a reel. I've seen some threads you been a part of, but cast parrallel or a little downstream and let the current take it down, stripping it back as you go. As it turns in the current is when you get strikes often. Also, when I fished taney I always had better luck in the quicker water, like the tail end of the rebar stretch. Fishing the very slow water for a novice was difficult I found. It seems to me the movement of the water gives you a little more margin of error and the fish in those locations are usually there to feed, so they'll be more aggressive. In that case, you might size up in fly, too. Keep in mind I really don't know what I'm talking about, but reading these forums has got me thinking about Christmas gifts. You might also try one of the trout parks. Seems those fish are maybe a little dumber and good to build confidence on. Hope my 2 cents helps a little.

[Bob A]

Hi Lostmywife, and just a few generalized comments. I've fished Taney real hard for the last 5 years and sometimes, no matter what, they just are hard to come by. But only a couple of fish in 3 mornings? That's a tough one because these are not the smartest fish around. My impressions are that your lack of success had more to do with the "conditions on the water" at the time rather than your choice of flys,etc. What kind of wind did you have? Was it on falling water? How about sky conditions? Was it dead calm or was the wind blowing your line back up stream? Did you try shallow (near the bank) or did you stick with mid stream? If calm, did you try dry flies? Did you leave the water late in the morning or did you try in early afternoon when the sun comes up a bit more? All these things can make a difference.

My point is, I catch a lot of fish and I know many fine fishermen and guides far more accomplished than I am. Yet these same fishermen and guides (honest ones) had often admitted to me that they "couldnt buy a fish" on some days.

To sum it up, my net impression is that there was nothing you were doing wrong. Rather, your lack of success is like a puzzle and if one piece of the puzzle is out of place, it will mess up the whole thing. Maybe this is oversimplified but based on my experience, only and I'm sure you'll do much better the next time.

Bob A

[Rolan Duffield]

Hey, I play golf also and really enjoy it same as my fly fishing.

You remarked that you were fishing in water 18" to 3 ' deep.

I expect you probably had many strikes that you didn't see. Possibly because you had too much weight or too much distance from the weight to the fly. I prefer to have about 15" of leader between the weight and the fly. Too short of a leader between the weight and the fly may turn the trout away. Too long of the leader will present a problem in sensing the strike if the weight drags bottom.

When fishing an unweighted nymph, it's imperitive that you keep a degree of tension to the fly at all times, else you will not see the strike. This is magnified when you attempt to fish in very shallow water as the weight is likely dragging bottom and will hinder the action of the fly.

You can correct this by casting across the stream and mending the line as it travels downstream. This normally will keep some tension on the fly as it drifts downstream and is less affected by the weight you are using.

You might try using a smaller weight that sinks the fly slower.

Another method is to add some weight to the fly when you tie it.

The most important part is to keep a light tension on the line and the fly being used. Be aware that most strikes are very, very suttle. Set the hook anytime you notice any unusual movement of the float.

Best fishing -- Rolan