Fish Not Taking Flies

[TonyFish4Ever]

I have been fishing a small stocked stream for years and have been relatively successful. I fish a pool area about 20 feet wide, 60 feet long and at most 4 feet deep and cast my fly downstream. This season the fish seem to be very selective and I have been having difficulty even getting hits though I have hooked and landed several Brooks and Browns. The fish seem to be larger and fatter this year which I attribute to the large swarms of insects that seem to be present continuously. I have tried matching the insects with different sizes of flies and have put the flies within inches of fish but to no avail. Fish would rise and take insects only inches from my fly. I am not spooking the fish since there are rises all around, some as close as 10 feet from me. Is the presence of so many real insects causing my problem? Is there a different technique that may be more productive? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tony

 

[AKSkim]

If your using a dry fly are you creating any drag (waking effect), if you are try to achieve a drag free drift.

May even wish to try adding a little more leader and casting your fly up stream.

Go a size or two smaller if your matching the hatch.

When the fish rise are they sipping the naturals off the surface? or is it a "splashy" rise?

May wish to try an emerger or nymph.

My favourite searching pattern is a Orange and Partrdge... I just have luck with it.

Good luck.

 

[vince45]

You had not mentioned whether you are using dry flies, nymphs,streamers or wet flies.. today i also went out and i fished a spot with the same nymph i used 3 days ago, on tuesday i could not even get a fish to follow the black gold bead nymph in, i jumped from nymphs to dry's and the most frustrating part was i could see the fish hitting at the top of the water ,. today i went back and caught 3 nice browns ,.. 2 on the same black gold bead nymph i used a few days ago,.. i used to fish just dry flies, and found out that nymphs streamers and wet flies greater my chance of being succesful.. i wish i could help you more..vince

 

[vince45]

From what i have read, if it is the sipping motion , then they are taking dry flies and that "splashy lung" are caddis nymphs risng to the surface, is this correct info or am i incorrect..

 

[Corndog]

Tony,

AK has some great points.

When trout are taking flys on the surface, they take in air along with the fly and then expel the air leaving an air bubble on the surface. Look for the bubble. If no bubble, then their probably taking emergers.

Also, if there are a lot of flys on the surface and trout are rising, it is more difficult to get them to take your fly than if there are only a few flys on the surface. Sometimes in this situation I go with a completely different fly than the ones hatching and it produces. First I'll try a #14 adams then a #22 midge. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

That's why it's called fishing instead of catching. And that's what really keeps us coming back.

Cdog

 

[BIGBOW]

I fish a pool area about 20 feet wide, 60 feet long and at most 4 feet deep and cast my fly downstream. I have tried matching the insects with different sizes of flies and have put the flies within inches of fish but to no avail. Fish would rise and take insects only inches from my fly. Is there a different technique that may be more productive? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tony

Tony,
Sounds like you're fishing dry flies. If this is the case, Im guessing you're definately creating drag by casting upstream as you mentioned. This is no good for almost all dry flies (unless egg laying). You need a dead drift for the fly to look natural, which can only be accomplished by casting upstream, not down as you mentioned. Cast upstream at least a couple feet in front of the rises, mend the line if necessary, and strip it in as it comes near you without moving the fly. Once the fly passes you, let the line run back downstream and straighten out before casting upstream again. The fly should only be moving with the water current and not be pulled by your line. Good luck and FYI, mostly just streamers, wets, and very few nymphs are casted downstream. I have caught trout on a dry with a downstream cast, but its definately the unorthodox way to fish a dry. Presentation is the name of the game.

 

[frogge]

Hey,
I'll weigh in on this one. First of all it is a good problem to have. If you see the fish rising they are obviously actively feeding and you know where they are and how deep. First thing is to see if there is anything floating on the water and if any insects are rising from the water. Midges, which I suspect may be the culprits in your situation may be hard to see when emerging since they are so small. Presenting a midge can be frustrating since they have to be small(size 20) and you have to use something like 6x tippet. They are also the devil to see to check your drift. You can use tandem flies with the tiny midge as a trailer, but this further complicates your presentation. Unmatching the hatch can work, using a larger fly and I've read that it is never a mistake to try an ant pattern. If caddis are coming off, they spend little time on the surface and emergers or wets may be more productive than drys. I've had good luck fishing nymphs in the film in some of these situations. Good luck,Frogge.

 

[quality time]

The group has provided some very good advice so far! I'll add two ideas that I don't think have been mentioned yet...

If the water is smooth, and you aren't sure if the fish are taking emergers or the dun, try a comparadun or sparkle dun instead of a classic Catskills bushy tie. You could also try an unweighted nymph dropper off of the dry.

Try also a cross stream (or quartering upstream) presentation, that way you are not lining the fish while false casting or drifting the fly back down to the fish. As was mentioned in a prior reply, getting a good drift fishing straight downstream is difficult and the fish are facing directly at you.

 

[TonyFish4Ever]

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions. I will try them and see which works best for the area I am fishing.
Thanks again,
Tony