6-24-18 Report

[Seth]

Dad and I were bored and headed down around 3pm. We started out near the steps on the upper end of the park as there were a lot of fish laying there. I started with a gold head olive micro jig that I could just barely reach the fish with on 2# test and caught several in short order. Dad was using a white micro and an orange powerbait trout worm and caught a few. A white trout magnet produced a few for me there as well. We then moved down below the second cleaning station. An orange trout worm/ 1/32oz green/white rubber leg jig and a white trout magnet produced several more fish for me. Dad tried velveeta cheese beneath a float, but they weren't showing much interest. It seemed like they wanted something moving. My fish count ended up being 14, but should have been around 20 if I hadn't broken several off. Dad ended up catching 5 or 6.

Water was fairly clear with a slight green tint to it. If you go down, I'd be sure to have some micro jigs on hand. They have produced the most bites for me by far during my last two outings. I'm not sure color matters much as long as it's small and you shake it in front of their face long enough.

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

Thanks for the report. Probably camp for a day or two down there once it gets cooler. What size head and hook are you using on your micros? Been tying lot's of small jigs down to a #16 jig fly hook. 1/100 head looks huge with these, had to do some modifications for the hooks to fit.

[Seth]

I think most of mine are 1/80th with #10 hooks. Definitely not the smallest micro out there, but much smaller than your typical marabou jig that you would typically fish straight. I'm fishing them on a 6' Falcon Ultralight, Pflueger President 6920 and 2# Pline. That 2# is key as it allows me to actually cast the micro 25-30'. Most of the fish I am targetting aren't too far out and in big schools. Stand up stream enough so that you can swing that jig around in to their faces and shake it as long as possible before it's out of the strike zone. You're pretty well force feeding them, but eventually one of them won't be able to resist. I've caught plenty of them using just a plain jig head in the same size. You have to react fast on the hook set fishing like that. They can spit that jig faster than you would believe.

[JUNGLE JIM 1]

Nice to see what you are using as well as your gear. A lot of times it looks like they have it but think they miss. Don't know how many swings and misses I've had sight fishing rainbows but it's more than a few. Best part is watching them eat the jigs and sticking them, love the sight fishing. I like longer rods and I'm dying to try them with a 7.5 foot custom rod I got earlier this year. Curious about the average size since you broke a few off.

[Seth]

Most of the break offs were on the hookset due to my line being old. OnE fish that buated off was due to it being nice and then burying itself in moss. He was stuck for a while and I finally just pulled till the line gave. Later on I saw him chillin in the riffle with my lure in its mouth. I had another rod with fresher line and didnt have the break off issues. My own fault for being cheap and trying to stretch out the life of 2# line that was over a year old.

[Johnsfolly]

Seth

Thanks for the detailed report. Sounds like you and your dad had a great time. I've even try set the hook when it looks like the fish is going to bite because as you mentioned they spit so quickly. If the fish follows the bait on the drop and those gills flare it may be too late.. Helps having really clear water.

I may have to change out my old line before I go 😀.