Fished Lower Illinois 2/12

[budman]

Hadn't been fishing in a month and could not stand it any longer. The sun was shinning and the wind was down so at 10:30 I decided to give it a try. With the detour I got on the water about noon. There was a couple spin fishermen walking out with their six each. Went up stream from the gravel lot and there was dead shad everywhere so I started with a 1/80 ounce white jig. Did not even get a bite. Thought maybe they were all too full of shad to take anything I was throwing at them. Tried several different sizes and colored flies with no luck so I Switched to #10 Olive BH Wooly Bugger and started catching a few. So by the time the horn sounded at 3:45 I had caught 21 rainbows and what I think was a brookie, my first. It was a good day. Don't have any picture to share, no camera and I have a flip phone that does not take good pictures. Caught a couple about 16 inches and most of the rest were about 12 inches and the brooke was 6 or 7 inches.

[JCWolfe]

Probably was a brook trout. Picture was posted on Oklahoma's TU facebook page of one that was caught.

[JCWolfe]

Did you try stripping the white jig or were you dead drifting only?

[budman]

Tried both, casting cross current and letting it drift and then strip, then down stream and stripped back up and even tried to throw upstream and let it drift and just keep the slack out. Had a couple of bites but did not catch a thing. About half of them I caught had their bellies so full that I don't know why they were still eating. A couple even puked up a few shad. When I finally went to the wooly bugger I caught the first few letting it drift. Then they would only take it when I stripped a time or two and then let it drift a few seconds, always taking it on the drift. The last 4-5 would only take it if I stripped it 6 or 8 times then let it drift but if they didn't take it as soon as I stopped they would not take it at all. Didn't have a white wooly bugger or I would have tried that. Same fly just a different presentation. At about 3:00 there was some hatch starting and they were feeding on it but they were still biting my wooly bugger. Wiht I could go back today but got to do some work.

[DaddyO]

I had the same thing happen. Shad Kill and couldn't buy a bite on anything white. I switched to the #18 Gray midge with Copper Tungsten bead and Copper rib and caught fish on every cast. I think that they gorge themselves on the shad and like to snack on the midges.

[Guest]

I think you are right on Daddy'O. I had basically the same experience recently, except I was using an all black midge. Just a welcome snack. Like brownies after a big meal...who can resist?