Crowsnest Help

[southfisher]

I was out on the Crowsnest the other day and came away a little frustrated (not unusual). Their was a huge hatch of Mayflies ( small green ones , Green Drakes ?? and a small brown, one PMD perhaps?). At any rate I couldn't match the hatch. I caught some fish but most casts were refusals to an active pod. The big fish were sucking something out of the film with only dorsal fins showing. I am assuming that they were grabbing one of the mayflies as they emerged.

 

Now my question what are some good patterns / sizes to use in such situations and any tips on how best to fish it? Are there problems with detecting strikes with a fly that is in the water skim and really not visible to the eye?

I noticed that the big fish rarely grab anything that requires more than a nose out of the water, so I have to figure this out to consistently catch the larger trout. Any help would be much appreciated.

[monger]

You could try something like this: RS 2 emerger

 

http://home.att.net/~ferenc/Tie-rs22.htm

[cdock]

Don't feel bad. Almost all of the books I have read from pros and seasoned vets talk about exactly what you are describing. Some days the fish just don't and won't cooperate, they are very selective and nothing but the real thing will do.

[bowbonehead]

Tie yourself up some olive Klinkhammers, they work on fish taking subsurface

[maxwell]

when u only see backs they are eating dorsals dude! sticking te nose out they are sucking back adults usually.. just had a epic day on teh crow fishing only too fish like u saw! pmds (yellow ones) peds(tany yellow ones) bwos(green ones) mahogany duns(brown ones) caddis pupae and caddis adults(brown or tan moths micro) were the ticket.. get a book on bug id and study it dude! get the flies that look like bugs no goofy or cool attractors..... spend a little less time tossing flies and look at teh water.. check back eddies things, along the rivers edge, rocks and logs things like that.. match the hatch the best you can.. tippet size is key too.. having no drag on your fly also is a must... getting it right in the fishes feeding lane(within a inch or two sometimes) is tops....... most fish were tough and didnt take the first fly but 1 or 2 good drifts and i was on too one of the next bugs i identified befor i began casting.... all of them sucked my fly back no problemo once i got all of that right! fishing a adult(dry) with a emerger(unweighted nymph) 2 feet behing can be deadly too! dont get frustrated dude thems fish arnt easy when they are keyed into specific bugs.. odds are most of the fish in teh pod were eating different stuff too...dont give the fish too much credit they are not genuis.. BUT when they only want chicken wings dont toss a drumbstick, apple or orange at em! there is alot too the equation but they all will eat your bug if its the right bug presented propper.. hope that helps and tightlines!

[southfisher]

Thanks for the pointers. I've heard good things about the klinkhammer from another guy. I'll have to sit at the vice one of these nights and make a couple.

 

Some nights on the Crow its a can't miss, the next trip I toss the white towel in and go home. On those nights I usually find the fish feeding subsurface and haven't quite figured out how to capitalize on that behaviour.