Finicky Trout?

[grizzly]

Dain,

I read back through my post and I think that I may have came across a bit harsh.  I apologize if I offended you.  

Anytime I am fishing and not catching, I look to my tippet and my approach.  Fluorocarbon has really treated me well.  When I fish the white, I usually don't go below 5x and I rarely, if ever, use 6x.  I just checked my tippet rolls and it looks like 4x and 5x are the ones I used the most last year.  

I have a friend who guides out west and he never goes below 5x, even if he is fishing spring creeks.  Nonetheless he strictly uses fluorocarbon.  When my friend started out fly fishing, I put him on a 3x leader with a 4x fluorocarbon tippet and he caught a handful of fish on taney.  The reason I used heavy tippet with a beginner was due to the stiffness of the tippet prevents wind knots and tangles(in my experience) and it made for a more enjoyable afternoon.  

Hope this helps.  

[DainW]

No offense taken, in fact that's probably what I would have said if I were responding to this post lol. I was probably a little blunt in my response. 

When I started out fly fishing I almost exclusively used flouro tippet, but switched over to mono because of cost and didn't really think it made that much of a difference, but I think it's time to switch back, especially if I'm going to be fishing to highly pressured fish

[jtram]

1 hour ago, DainW said:

I fished from bottom of zone II to the hatchery and there were literally people everywhere. 

Roaring River is 6-7 miles of trout water;)

[DainW]

I fished below the park too. Conservation park lot was full Saturday afternoon went down to the cemetery area and fished downstream a little, but wasn't sure if we were on private land or not.

[joeD]

The fly fishermen were baitng their lines. See it all the time. One thinks fly fishermen are paragons of virtue and good sport. But, as usual, some color outside the lines. Just look closer to those who are catching fish while others struggle. They will be seen often "looking at their fly" after every catch, but not changing. Sorry. It's not fluoro carbon or your presentation. People cheat. Even fly fishermen. 

[laker67]

5 hours ago, joeD said:

The fly fishermen were baitng their lines. See it all the time. One thinks fly fishermen are paragons of virtue and good sport. But, as usual, some color outside the lines. Just look closer to those who are catching fish while others struggle. They will be seen often "looking at their fly" after every catch, but not changing. Sorry. It's not fluoro carbon or your presentation. People cheat. Even fly fishermen. 

I say get rid of them non native trout and you will get rid of them dang ole fly fishermen. 

[trythisonemv]

8 hours ago, joeD said:

The fly fishermen were baitng their lines. See it all the time. One thinks fly fishermen are paragons of virtue and good sport. But, as usual, some color outside the lines. Just look closer to those who are catching fish while others struggle. They will be seen often "looking at their fly" after every catch, but not changing. Sorry. It's not fluoro carbon or your presentation. People cheat. Even fly fishermen. 

This makes me laugh. People always think fly fisherman cheat. They are just presenting something more naturally . If one was baiting they are cheating and you should call them on it then take their rod snap it and throw them in the river. . . Or maybe they aren't baiting and you could learn something. 

[fishinwrench]

Mitch, extremist flyfishermen are spawned in crowded environments like trout parks and eastern chalk streams.  Anywhere there is lots of people you have a percentage that feel the need to be above the rest.   It's always us and the assholes. Violations of space. Segregation is bred into us all because we are crowded.  Nobody cares what the guy 1/4 mile away is doing, but this asshole 1/2 cast away had better tow the line !

[DainW]

I didn't mean for this thread to start any bad blood.  I can tell you why I got into fly fishing, because the enjoyment in fishing for me has always been the fishing part. I don't care to eat fish really, and to me catching trout with bait got to the point where it was too easy, almost felt like cheating. I think fly fishing for the most part is more difficult, requires a little more focus, and for the angler to be more in tune with what's going on in the stream than bait fishing does.  

But that's just what the way I like to fish. If you don't like to fish like that and prefer to fish differently then more power to you. All I care is that you're following the posted regulations. 

As for the discussion about what the more natural way of presenting a lure or bait to a fish is, 90% of the trout in a stream are going to feeding on items that drift by them in the current. For a trout that has become large enough to be piscivourous, for the most part the fish they're foraging on won't be moving across or upstream, at least when they're being pursued by a predator. When a bait fish is fleeing from a larger fish, their mode of escape will always be downstream. Think about it, if you were a small fish and were trying to escape a predator, why would you flee across or upstream and have to fight the current? 

Thats not to say that a down and across presentation can't be successful, obviously it is or people wouldn't fish that way. I'm just saying that when you get a bite on a down and across presentation using a crankbait, spinner, or even a streamer, it's more likely that you're getting a reaction bite, rather than a trout mistaking your bait for something natural.  

[Mitch f]

36 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Mitch, extremist flyfishermen are spawned in crowded environments like trout parks and eastern chalk streams.  Anywhere there is lots of people you have a percentage that feel the need to be above the rest.   It's always us and the assholes. Violations of space. Segregation is bred into us all because we are crowded.  Nobody cares what the guy 1/4 mile away is doing, but this asshole 1/2 cast away had better tow the line !

You da man!!!