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Posted

Hi guys!

 

I should give a try this week in a stream I use to fish...I always fish with dry but with the cold coming, maybe the fish will be more at the bottom of the pool...

It could be an opportunity for me to first try nymphing and change my mind about it...Some of you says that it produces more and bigger fish...

 

Anyway...could you tell me which pattern would be effective at this time of year?

 

Thanks...

Posted

I fished a small stream over the past weekend with a #20 Flash Back Pheasant Tail, #18-20 Kingreys Copper Ice nymph and a #10 Red Devil worm, which produced exceptional results. Many of the insects in the rivers at this time of year are very small, so it is a good idea to keep the nymphs tiny.

Good Luck and Good Fishing.

Posted

The small dark nymphs are around all year.. like the guys said, hare's ear, pheasant tail, prince nymph.. you pretty much can't go wrong.

Posted
#18-20 Kingreys Copper Ice nymph

 

I googled this fly TM but got nothing back. Do you have a picture?

Guest Rocknbugs
Posted

They look like they would be fairly easy to tie as well.

Posted
I fished a small stream over the past weekend with a #20 Flash Back Pheasant Tail, #18-20 Kingreys Copper Ice nymph and a #10 Red Devil worm, which produced exceptional results. Many of the insects in the rivers at this time of year are very small, so it is a good idea to keep the nymphs tiny.

Good Luck and Good Fishing.

Hey Greg,

Out of curiosity, how did the worm produced compared the the PT and Ice nymph? On the Bow for the past few weeks I've been keeping my bottom two nymphs pretty small, mostly 18 and smaller. PTs, CJs, Midge, weevils, etc. While all of them have caught some fish, they are getting absolutely killed by the sjw, size 8 or so (smaller working better than bigger). What surprises me is I went a long time without catching anything on the worm, but couldn't often make myself take it off. That has changed to almost exactly the opposite.

 

What was also a bit surprising is that one day I was fishing with BobLoblaw and he didn't have a SJW on. I was outproducing him in numbers, but he was killing me in size. That was more location related than anything. But I did not catch more than one fish on smaller nymphs, worm only(and we are talking 15 fish or so). And unless I am remembering this wrong, I think he only caught fish on the worm when he replaced one of his nymphs. Seemed to me like they were just hitting what caught their attention the most? And when I moved up in the run to where the bigger fish were, both fish I caught there were worm also.

 

Anyway, I think there is a question in there somewhere. If not, if you or anyone else can share their opinions on this.

Posted

On Saturday, the #18-20 Ice nymphs I used, were producing equally as well as the small, unweighted SJW that Hawgstoppah was using.

On Sunday, the #18-20 Pheasant tails were working very well, as was an unweighted #10 Red Devil worm, (untill I lost my last one). The #10 wire wrapped worm picked up a few trout, but the PT and Ice nymph ruled my line for the rest of the day. I think bhurt was using a #18 Black Copper John, that he modified to his taste, which worked great for him.

We tend to stick with the worm when it is working, but most often there is a nymph/larva/pupa, that would work as effectively, but we are usually not changing flies often enough to hone in on it. We stick with what works and don't try other patterns/sizes that might bring in bigger and more trout. Also, try different worm patterns, in different sizes/colors/materials, when your usual size and type is not producing.

You mention fishing with Bobloblaw and catching different sized trout with the worm rig vs his nymph only rig. Likely the two different rigs were bieng seem by the trout as two different presentations, concerning drift speed and depth. Wire wrapped SJW's, usually get the flies deeper (the secret to its success) but also influence the presentation of the other nymphs on your line.

You can try using dropper loops for your smaller flys, when using a heavily weighted SJW, to allow them to drift more naturally. Some anglers tie the SJW on as a point fly, with one or two dropper nymphs tied above. I like to tie the heaviest fly in the middle (control/anchor fly, which regulates depth), with a 4"dropper tag above it and a point fly below it, when using a triple rig. Bieng the largest food choice on your line, the trout will most often still hit the worm if it is the right size/color/texture. Tippet size and type also influence the presentations to a great degree and this may account for some of the differences in your rig and BobLobLaws rig.

During the warmer months which produce hatches, the trout will sometimes be very selective, feeding only on a few localized food choices and usually not as deep as wire wrapped worms tend to drift in the water colum.

During the colder months, trout hug the bottom most days and a weighted worm gets the rig down to them and produces very well. There are still many nymphs/larva/pupa in the drift during the winter, but not as many as in the warmer months. The trout may be less selective when there is less food in the drift, but there still might be a particular fly that really works well on any given day during the winter months.

Posted

I did well the other day on the wire sj, but nothing on the PT above it. Switched the PT to a chenille worm, & next 2 biguns were on the chenile. Go figure.

Posted

Guys/Gals,

 

I would think that most of your ties should be gray/blk. and tiny. This is a sample of the bugs I picked up on Stauffer the other day. There is about 20 bugs on the leaves.

 

Don

 

 

tiny-bugs1w-1.jpg

Posted

Cool, thanks for sharing that Collin. I also use the Silver, Black and Red versions of the Kingreys Ice Nymphs.

Don, thanks for the photo and wise advice. Great to see Staufer has prolific numbers of nymhs/larva this season.

I would also add, that with winter approaching, Midge Larva/Pupa starts to become an important food source for trout on most Streams.

Posted
Guys/Gals,

 

I would think that most of your ties should be gray/blk. and tiny. This is a sample of the bugs I picked up on Stauffer the other day. There is about 20 bugs on the leaves.

 

Don

tiny-bugs1w-1.jpg

 

thanks Don. I was already small, will try smaller....

Posted

My #1 fly for this time of year (and into the winter) is a #20 beadhead midge pupae in black. (silver bead on a #20 hook, body black thread, ribing fine silver wire, and some people us peacock herl at the head, I do not...) this fly imitates almost everything in Don A's hand there, imho... and the fish tell me that too. I like the thin profile (without peacock herl) some insist on the herl. Either one works... but I can tie 25/hour without the herl ... :lol::lol:

Posted

Thanks for the advice...

 

I would have tried a LOT bigger than these sizes...As I m a beginner I tend to think "The bigger the fly, the bigger the catch"...I should start thinking like a trout...

 

Anyway, I can t wait to try...

 

thanks again

Posted

lamponius,

 

What you must remember that the seasons dictate what sizes of flies you use. Fall, winter and early spring, the previous years bugs are small due to water temperatures. As the water warms, the bugs grow in size till they hatch. This applies to caddis and mayflys. As stones maybe 1>2 years in the water, the sizes are larger.

Fall, winter, spring use sizes <14. Summer go larger for caddis and mayflies. This also applies in some degree to other aquatic stuff.

Midges, which compose upwards of 75% of all trout food, are small in a flowing water environment. Use <16's and more often 20's.

 

catch ya'

 

 

Don

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