BSC Report 5/31

[ThisFish]

Well it was definitely beautiful out. The water was clear and there were definitely some fish. No luck catching anything, I've been fly fishing just a handful of times and this was my first small stream experience. 

Unfortunately I spent a lot of my time getting myself out of trouble. I tried some smaller patterns, had a few show some interest but no takes. 

Definitely solidifies that I need to find a guide to learn out to fish/present. Walking down stream i mostly swung wet flies under an indicator.  There were a few spots where I could actually cast across into a little riffle and try to let it float through to the slack water. There were a few pools where I could do this too. Walking back up stream I mostly stuck to the spots where I could swing a wet through the riffles again. I tried to stay on the bank as much as possible and out of the water. 

I added a photo of one of these spots, along the right bank where I was trying to float some wets through. 

I had fun either way but any constructive criticism would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[MaxDrown]

Extreme stealth would be my advice. This goes for walking and moving around and casting and presentation. You may even need to sit and wait at a hole for 30 minutes before the first cast.

[ThisFish]

3 minutes ago, MaxDrown said:

Extreme stealth would be my advice. This goes for walking and moving around and casting and presentation. You may even need to sit and wait at a hole for 30 minutes before the first cast.

Good to know. I thought I was sneaky but in reality probably not as much as needed. 

[mic]

I love Blue Springs Creek.  It is a hard place to learn to fly fish with all the tight shots and spooky fish.  

[tjm]

https://www.americanangler.com/what-trout-see/

That is a bright day, not one I would expect great results on, bright sun cast shadows, shadows scare wild fish because birds eat fish and birds make shadows. Fly lines make shadows, sneaky anglers make shadows too, just a thought. If walking the bank, I'd try to stay away from the water's edge by 50' or so, believe this helps with noise transmission through the earth.  Knelling and crawling can help with approach by keeping my head out of the trout's window.  I think I can get closer to fish if I'm in the water with them than I can on the bank, but that may just be what I want to believe, although by wading so slowly that I make no splashes or gurgles I have come very close to many fish over the years. Moving upstream has several advantages over moving downstream, primarily because the fish are looking upstream and I will be behind them, but also because the water will carry any sound I make or mud that kick up right to them if I am upstream but it will take the noise and mud away from the if am downstream.

That picture is begging for a size 14 ant to be bounced off a leaf and dropped into the shadow at the very edge of the water. The leaf movement will attract attention and the splash will be a dinner bell. 

[tjm]

Gary Borger has written on trout vision numerous times, all interesting whether I believe him or not, some of his articles are here http://www.garyborger.com/category/trout-biology/trout-vision/

http://www.finefishing.com/flies/colorovision trout.htm

[dpitt]

  In these small clear waters, I'd use 6 or 7x flouro leader and tippet, along with the smallest indictor possible, like one of those small foam pinch on indicators. Small bugs size 18, 20 or 22, and probably the most important thing, a drag free drift through the hole, which can be hard in tight quarters. 

[ThisFish]

1 hour ago, mic said:

I love Blue Springs Creek.  It is a hard place to learn to fly fish with all the tight shots and spooky fish.  

Yeah i think I learned that lesson the hard way today. Any other smaller rivers that are easier to approach?

[ThisFish]

33 minutes ago, dpitt said:

  In these small clear waters, I'd use 6 or 7x flouro leader and tippet, along with the smallest indictor possible, like one of those small foam pinch on indicators. Small bugs size 18, 20 or 22, and probably the most important thing, a drag free drift through the hole, which can be hard in tight quarters. 

I had 6x tippet but my bugs were definitely on the bigger size. Mostly 12-16 so ill look at finding some smaller options. 

For a small creek like this, do you have a good leader size? I used 9ft to a ring, indicator just off of it and another 2-3ft to the fly. 

[ThisFish]

53 minutes ago, tjm said:

Gary Borger has written on trout vision numerous times, all interesting whether I believe him or not, some of his articles are here http://www.garyborger.com/category/trout-biology/trout-vision/

http://www.finefishing.com/flies/colorovision trout.htm

Thanks for all the resources I will definitely check this out!