night fly angling in trophy area advice please

[trythisonemv]

Planning a night trip first week of october and was wondering if there is a particular time of night that is best or a particular flt setup that works well in the dark. I have tied up some custom sculpin patterns and have traditional taney stuff as well. Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

[Russell Doughty]

Get there a hour after dark and fish till you can't stand up anymore, or until it gets light, which ever comes first. Be sure to fish some mini mohair leeches; dark color on a dark night, bright color under a bright moon. Cast them down and across and retrieve them with a slow 15" pull. Phil has the dubbing in his shop and can prolly show you how to tie them. He may even have some of the leeches in stock.

[JestersHK]

So lately I have been fishing quite a bit at night down on Taney since first trying it out 2 years ago, but primarily using ultralights.  I know you want to Fly fish and my advice there from what I have learned from others is go big and go dark.  Big streamers, or giant wooly buggers and get them out as far as possible and then strip them back in quick.  Tie up some really big sculpins too.  We had Rainbows and browns both hit full size rappalas when we were targeting the walleye back in June.  Some nights the fog is going to really challenge using any type of indicator.  I watched a gentleman one night go out on the point just to the right in between outlet 1 and the cable.  He would wade out as far as he dared and then cast way out up stream.  He'd let his streamer sink in the current until it was straight out in front of him then strip it back through the current with pretty good success.  

Our success has come farther out and working the main channel which can also be difficult getting out there depending on flow.  I'd say bring a traditional rod with 6lb test and throw a med size stick crank too.  I'm fond of the baby trout pattern rappalas, but anything shiny seems to work best.  For fish health I do crush my barbs as the trebles can be hard on the fish and the fingers.   

I know its not fly fishing, but can tell you I've never been skunked at night on that setup, and it might help break things up if the fly rod is slow.  Outlet 2 I've also drifted with the glow in the dark indicators when we had plenty of moonlight and the fog let up.  I've always had good luck using BIG san juan worms. and big shiny bead heads on midges. 

Good luck, and be safe!  Hopefully you can bring a buddy, if not I usually come down a few weekends in October too!

[trythisonemv]

Ty guys i got a buddy coming with me . Im stoked for it. Alteady tied up tons of patterns and rigs. Thanks mr doughty an. Enjoyed the article about you guys in mo con.

[Lancer09]

I've never done well on big buggers or anything. i fish mostly 8 and 10  4xl streamer leeches, unless I'm going big, and then I'm looking 4 to 6 inch big on the small side.

Frankly though I don't think it's been as good the last 3 or 4 years as it was in the past. Now there seems to be a lot of froggy water that just sits there instead of being a gravel bar, a lot of the old gravel ledges are gone too.

If the water is off I've never understood how people do well up by the outlets, there isn't any current and is pretty dead to me, I even see less fish up there. But give it a go and let us know how you do. 

[CrappyKing]

On August 17, 2016 at 9:47 AM, Lancer09 said:

I've never done well on big buggers or anything. i fish mostly 8 and 10  4xl streamer leeches, unless I'm going big, and then I'm looking 4 to 6 inch big on the small side.

Frankly though I don't think it's been as good the last 3 or 4 years as it was in the past. Now there seems to be a lot of froggy water that just sits there instead of being a gravel bar, a lot of the old gravel ledges are gone too.

If the water is off I've never understood how people do well up by the outlets, there isn't any current and is pretty dead to me, I even see less fish up there. But give it a go and let us know how you do. 

Like Lancer said, leeches have always been the best bet for me at night. Especially for numbers but even then my biggest fish has been on those too actually. I throw big 4-9" flies with success when looking for bruisers but its not a numbers game. 

Good luck, the rainbows have been above average this year, for me at least. Numerous 16-20" fish at night

If they shut the water off or maybe even if it's 35mw this weekend I may head down and looking for a partner if anyone wants to join. My normal buddy is out of town. I may even commit to throwing some monster flies hoping for staging Browns. Just shoot me a PM.

[trythisonemv]

Got all my flies tied up for the trip in october. Doing some training for my buddy on casting and handling fish This week. Should be fun. hoping those browns are getting up stream come october.

[trythisonemv]

Reviving this thread as the trip is next week. Anyone been down? I know russell doughty posted a nice brown from night. Going to throw leeches and some big ugly stuff. Bringing buggers too.

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Been hearing that the leech pattern has been quite successful - but do not quote me on that. Or do.

[barredrock]

Caught a few browns on  Tuesday,  couple  of them were pretty  nice.  I was up  by the  outlet area, they  must be moving up.  I was  using midges and  it was  in the daytime