Outdoors

By Bill Barker

For the Corvallis Gazette-Times

With this hint-of-spring we've had lately, a few people have requested information on both flies, and techniques, for upcoming expeditions.

"What fly?" is a hard question to answer. There are thousands of usable patterns to choose from when trying to match the hatch-menue. If you are new to fly fishing, selection of the proper fly can be confusing. A good class in Entomology would help, but most people just want to go catch fish on their own.

So where to begin as you're standing alongside your chosen stream?

Watch what's happening in, and over, the water.

Are any fish rising? What are they after? Are they coming out of the water, or just making a bulge on top? Maybe you only see an occasional flash from the side of a submerged fish.

All these activities can give you useful information on how to start.

Jumping can indicate they're feeding on adult, floating, insects. Bulges, or swirls and ripples, often mean trout are feeding on nymphs or emergers. These are visible indicators of what's happening. If you see nothing happening, it's likely they're feeding at a deeper level. Sometimes they just aren't very hungry; then things begin to get really ugly - unless the surrounding scenery is great.

So, you just saw a bug get swallowed by a trout you'd love to hook. You've managed to catch the bug - at least finger-mangled remains, rearranged into what it might have looked like before your hand closed. It really doesn't matter if you don't know the scientific label for this critter, what counts are: Size, color, and shape of this fish food. Do you have something in your fly box that comes reasonably close to matching? Tie it on.

Before casting, take a little more time to observe the actions of these insects on the water. Try to make your fly do the same. Don't give up. Sometimes only slight differences in pattern and presentation can lead to success.

An important point to remember: Stream fishing is not a stay-in-one-place activity, as lake fishing can be. After fishing an area for a while, leave; you've probably spooked the local fish.

Trout in streams are easily frightened by unusual movement, or activity that can signal danger from predators. Fishy's reason for existence is surviving to perpetuate the species. The big ones have obviously been good at it, so move on; give them a lengthy time, to destress before returning.

But, once upon a time - in fall - I was seeing large bulges on Davis Lake. None of the usual mayfly, caddis, or damselflies were present. The weather had cooled enough to stop major hatches. I'd tried every nymph and leech pattern in my collection, to no avail. Finally, I spotted tiny midges hovering near a feeding leviathan. I tied on lighter leader, a size 20, dry, midge imitation, and cast toward a fish-caused tsunami. A flash, a swirl by my floating fly, but no strike. Another cast - to a different fish - yielded the same result.

They were interested, but not taking adults from the surface. I needed a nymph-type imitation, but had none. Reeling in, I got out my handy nail clippers and proceeded to change my dry fly into something slightly sinkable; didn't need to sink very far because feeding was occurring just beneath the surface.

My next presentation, after sinking a few seconds, yielded a monster strike.

After nothing for several hours, my response was enormous. I set the hook too hard and broke the leader.

Oh, my! Now I only had three of those flies left. They caught fish the rest of the day, but, by morning only one remained. It lasted until 11 a.m., then left with a large rainbow.

Now what? The only similar color and size was really buoyant deer hair never meant to sink. I began trimming. Not much hair remained when one finally sank, but I caught lots of large trout that day and the next.

Remember: Observation is the key to successful fly fishing. If you can't quite match the hatch, don't be afraid to alter your closest imitation until it works.

Write Bill Barker at billbarker@comcast.net.