Bigtoad Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 Hi, I'm not from Calgary but I was down for a few days helping my brother-in-law drywall (He owes me so big!) and was able to sneak out a few evenings. On Friday night I went out to fish creek park and found a beautiful spot with monster browns porpoising 6 feet off the grassy bank. Walking past the lone willow tree next to the water I couldn't help but see it swarming with small caddis flies. "Too Easy!" I thought as I tied on the smallest deerhair caddis I had and threw it out into the boil. 2 hours later, MANY caddis and caddis-like flies (had no emergers) tried and I still had no takes while the fish continued to steadily rise. What's the deal? Maybe I just need a refresher in caddis hatching? Were they eating emergers? Or were they eating the caddis as they went back to the water to lay eggs and I just didn't have the right size/color, etc? Also, what do you think the conditions are going to be like in a week for a personal float-trip? Is it still going to be humming? Cheers! Quote
tbone Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 Well Im no pro, but I've learnt that bow river fish like to take caddis in the film when a hatch is on. High floating patterns dont work nearly as well for me...I like to use a grey cdc caddis size 14- 18. It doesnt have any hackle so it sits in the film or sinks a few inches below the surface. I cant see the pattern on the surface when I fishing, so I try and predict where my fly is and if something rises within five feet of it during the drift I set the hook. I was doing this last thursday evening and did well. Quote
SilverDoctor Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 found a beautiful spot with monster browns porpoising 6 feet off the grassy bank. Cheers! The brown was perhaps taking emergers just below the surface, or some other insect stage. Just because a trout is breaking surface don't mean that it is taking bugs above the surface film. Surface rises are usually a splash Bubbles in a riseform show that the trout is, on the surface. A trout suckes in air along with the insect and will eject any bubbles into the riseform. Emergers just sub surface will be a snout or buldge as the trouts shoulder brushes surface. Also the larger the fish the more critical to match the hatch with size and color two crucial factors. For insect stages that are a bit deeper you may only see the top fin or top edge of the tail. A trout taking nymphs sub surface will produce tent like rises forms. There are a lot of different clues for how the trout is feeding, you just have to pair that with how the insect is behaving in the water. tbone has some great insight using film emerging patterns. Quote
Bigtoad Posted July 8, 2008 Author Posted July 8, 2008 Thanks for the info! I'll definitely give that a go. Cheers! Quote
maxwell Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 pupae would ahve bin a good bet.. like silver doc said.. look for teh bubbles.. and snouts or head breaking the water if you see a ton of tails and backs tehre subsurface forsure.. try some pmd spinners.. have never had consistant success with em but have found pods of rising fish from time too time feasting on spent pmd spinners... goodluck dude! Quote
Bigtoad Posted July 8, 2008 Author Posted July 8, 2008 pupae would ahve bin a good bet.. like silver doc said.. look for teh bubbles.. and snouts or head breaking the water if you see a ton of tails and backs tehre subsurface forsure.. try some pmd spinners.. have never had consistant success with em but have found pods of rising fish from time too time feasting on spent pmd spinners... goodluck dude! What do you use for "pupae?" The browns seemed to be rolling on whatever they were eating. I clearly saw snouts, and then enough of their side to see that they were browns. Don't know if that means subsurface or not? Thanks again for the insight. Quote
headscan Posted July 9, 2008 Posted July 9, 2008 I've had luck with a sparkle pupa and soft hackle for imitating emerging caddis pupae. Try fishing them dead drifted in the film or even better put a small split shot on your leader an inch or two ahead of the fly and let it swing. When it gets to the bottom of the swing the fly will rise imitating the pupa rising to hatch. Fishing a caddis dry or cripple with a pupa dropper will cover a couple of bases for you too. Quote
darrinhurst Posted July 13, 2008 Posted July 13, 2008 Hi, I'm not from Calgary but I was down for a few days helping my brother-in-law drywall (He owes me so big!) and was able to sneak out a few evenings. On Friday night I went out to fish creek park and found a beautiful spot with monster browns porpoising 6 feet off the grassy bank. Walking past the lone willow tree next to the water I couldn't help but see it swarming with small caddis flies. "Too Easy!" I thought as I tied on the smallest deerhair caddis I had and threw it out into the boil. 2 hours later, MANY caddis and caddis-like flies (had no emergers) tried and I still had no takes while the fish continued to steadily rise. What's the deal? Maybe I just need a refresher in caddis hatching? Were they eating emergers? Or were they eating the caddis as they went back to the water to lay eggs and I just didn't have the right size/color, etc? Also, what do you think the conditions are going to be like in a week for a personal float-trip? Is it still going to be humming? Cheers! Where in Fish Creek Park were you? Quote
Bigtoad Posted July 13, 2008 Author Posted July 13, 2008 Where in Fish Creek Park were you? Below the walking bridge on east side of bow (parked at fish creek and walked over). Quote
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