3/17 Report and Question

[emoussa]

Well I fished the upper SBR today and came to the realization that I have a long, long road ahead of me before I can really call myself a fly fishermen. Today was my third skunk of the year, even though insect activity was as good as I've seen this year. There were big stoneflies everywhere, fluttering around and skittering along the surface (saw no rises). Water was high but clear and very fishable. It was a great day to be out but I could not buy a bite. The only thing I did manage to get was the attention of two jogging MILFs that decided to watch and ask me stupid questions for about twenty mins.

Now for the interesting part. Everywhere in the stream I looked there were cased caddis larva on the top of rocks. These things where EVERYWHERE and it seemed to be like they had migrated to the top of the rocks because they are about ready to start poppin off. Forget mayflies, I want to be around when these things start hatching. I managed this crappy pic of a few I scrapped off a rock. There cases were made out of small pebbles and the actual body of the larva was a light tan/white color. Roughly size 16, maybe slightly larger.



What kind of caddis are these? How and when are the suppose to hatch and what are some patterns that you guys like to use?

 

[biloutback]

I fished too ! Water a little higher than i cared for had 3 ldr. The wind kept putting a bow in my line. So my strikes were a little late, small caddis puppa 16 and heavy weighted stone. Went way upstream next tca..to dusk some some splashes, and flashes couldn't get tight. Water clear and 52 degrees. Most life was around 2 to 4 pm.

 

[JeffK]

I fished the upper SBR Friday 3/18 and found the only active fish were on shallow shelves next to the bank by the wintering holes. The shallow fish were very aggressive and crushed streamers; the fish in the runs/pools seemed lethargic to me. Big problem with the higher water was that I couldn't wade to many spots from which to cast to the hot spots so ended up with a couple of skinny 16" to 17" browns and one of those "holy crap" sized bows that drift down from Anglers Anonymous. Fishing nymphs deep I got a number of bumps, but couldn't really land anything.

I have better luck with caddis larvae and cased caddis nymphs on the upper SBR than the adults, although it never hurts to have a Usual or tan Klinkhammer on you. I find the little brookies will rise pretty quick when just a caddis or two is about, but the nicer browns stay down until there are a whole lot of bugs on the surface.

Went across the hill to the Black R where fish were on fire.