Fishing Report

[Jeremy Hunt]

It was another great day of fishing at Roaring River. I went by myself and the goal today was to only fish dries and see what I could trick into biting my tiny little morsel .Last week I fish I threw a few dries and had really good luck so I thought If I spent the whole day fishing dries maybe I would have a chance on hooking something bigger. I really haven’t caught that many big fish on smaller dries because around here it seems like the only thing that bites small dries are dinks. I think if you fish small dries you catch small fish. I’m sure there people that would agree that the bigger the patterns the bigger the fish. I believe that over all the years I’ve spent on the water. Every once in awhile there maybe exceptions to the rule, but it most cases it is what it is.

It was a nice day with little wind and made fishing ideal. There were a few more people in the parks than usual which made fishing difficult at times because I couldn’t get into some of those places I knew were holding big fish. I still was able to get into some great water and have a few chances throwing flies for big fish. One thing I did differently then what I was doing in the past was really change up the flies I was throwing and fish for one big fish for a long time. I wanted to park on the spots I did get if they were good because the park was so crowded. I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity on getting a good spot and then leave and not getting it back.

I spent the first part of the day in the upper section having luck beetles, black caddis, and parachute adams. If you think for a minute that these trout don’t know the difference in dries you’re wrong. I threw about fifty different types of dries and they were real selective on what they wanted. And the size had to be dead on as well. The only thing I could get any of these trout on where sizes 16 and 18 on most the dries I was fishing.

They were also picky on the color of the bodies. Don’t get me wrong, I did catch trout on all types of caddis, but they did zero in on one color over any other color and it was definitely black bodies with black hackle with a natural deer hair for the wing. There is a big black caddis hatch in a size 20 that is coming off about two hours before the park closes. You can catch trout after trout if you fish it right. I ended up catching more fish on the caddis over the adams, but the adams did catch the bigger fish before the day was finish.

I finally had this idea to go in the lower section of the river and spend the rest of the day there. The first thing I did was go to the last hole where I caught that 7 pound rainbow the week before. I will always check that spot out because every time I go down there nobody is ever fishing it. I think it gets over looked for being a good fishing hole. I will let them keep thinking that (hehe).

Well guess what? I threw in a size 16 gray body adams and had this drift going for days and didn’t get rewarded with this fish until the very end of the drift. It must have been a forty foot drift with an awesome current speed creating this drift for days. I saw this fish rise to it at the front of the drift and then he followed it all the way until the drift was almost over and took it right before I was going to lift my line off the water and recast. I had on about a 22 inch rainbow and it was one of those takes I will never forget. That is why I love throwing dry flies. And to catch a trout like this on a dry is something else. After I caught this fish I said to myself it was worth the drive.

[MrDucky]

As you may have noticed, my husband and I are new to fly fishing. We love Roaring River, we just usually use PowerBait and marshmellows in zone 3. Now that we are moving up in the world, other than using small flies in dark colors, any other advice for Roaring River specifically? And where exactly did you land that 22 inch???

[Jeremy Hunt]

Mr. Ducky

Parks are really good areas to get a "whole feel" for fly fishing. I read some of the questions you ask on here and can tell you're hungry for the sport. That is a great way to be and that is how you get good at learning this sport. This sport will always challenge you and you will be asking questions for the rest of your life. I ask more questions now then I did when I first started.

I like Roaring River for throwing tiny dries. Also for the big brutts when they stock them. I would say if you want to fish Roaring try fishing dries and really learning how these trout take these flies. Trout take dry flies differently than indicator fishing and you will find yourself fishing dries alot more once you start fishing them.

That fish you see in the picture was caught on a dry in the last pool down at the very bottom of the catch and release area.

You can really use anything you want down there and it will work. These trout aren’t that picky. One thing you should always remember when fishing any fly is “presentation”. Whatever fly you tie on the end of you line you need to know how to fish it the way the trout see it. I can’t emphasize that enough. Go ask Tim at the fly shop. He is a great guy and will let you know what’s working. I promise.

Good Luck and I’m sure I will see you on the river.

[damselfly]

Nice Fish!!

[Greg]

Mr Ducky

I agree with Jeremy that Roaring River is a great place to learn fly fishing. The trout are usually cooperative. I've found roaring river to be the best place to fish with dry flies in the state. For some reason there just always seem to be trout looking up at roaring river. If you are not getting hits then my advice is to go smaller with the fly - whether you are fishing with a dry fly or subsurface. Sometimes it takes a #20 or even a #22 to get the fish interested. Bennett Springs and Montauk are also great places to fish.

Greg

[Steve Smith]

Can't add much to these excellent suggestions other than don't camp on a hole and concentrate on runs or feeding lanes. Runs are active feeding fish usually in the main current flows or very near it. There will be fish scattered several places in a hole, but they are usually domant. That doesn't mean these inactive fish won't hit, but you will have a much better chance of finding aggressive fish in the runs where there is competition for food flowing through the hole. IMO, this is the main difference between fishing a stream and tailwater [other than outlets].

Only do this with a fishing buddy when they catch a fish. When landing a fish, there will be a horde of aggresive fish swarming the hooked trout. A lot of times, you can thrown just about anything in the swarm, and they'll jump on it. Ive caught my biggest fish using this technique. Again, don't do this with a stranger.

About camping... and I am the worse in the world on this habit. This is sitting on a hole forever. There is a lot of river and feeding fish so keep moving hole to hole.

Finally pay attention to people catching fish and try to figure out what they are using, type of water they are fishing, presentation, etc. If you can't figure it out, ask. I've learned so much through the years by simply asking folks like Tim Homesley and Jeremy.

Best of luck

[MrDucky]

So march 1st wouldnt be a good day to go and camp at a spot with a fly rod ?? LOL . Im just kidding on that last statement . We will be going down there before the start of the season to FF , And also going into Tim's .

[Steve Smith]

Actually March 1st isn't a bad day to fish if you wait until all the tourist have given up and went home IF it is a weekday. Usually about 1:00 PM you can find plenty of spots, especially in the "fly only" zone. Before that, just sit back and enjoy the show.

[bodyman50]

Jeremy, When you were down there using the dry flies,or whenever you fish RR this time of year what size leader & tippet do you use. When you fish the lower end of the stream do you wade or just from the bank. Nice fish in the pictures. Thanks for the info.

[drew03cmc]

The only place to wade is in the C&R area as well as below the old bridge at the end of zone 3.