July 18TH Double R Fishing Report
Friday, July 18, 2014:
SIZE MATTERS:
Having fished Silver Creek for over 23 years I feel that as a general rule one’ ability to make a crafty presentation is much more important than fly pattern or the size of your offering, within limits. What I mean by “within limits” is primarily that one needs to fish sparsely dressed flies and that getting within a couple of sizes of the natural insect on the water is close enough for government work. When I see a trout “nose” my fly offering or otherwise get a “refusal” I quite frequently tie on a fly one size larger whereas “The Book” says to go down a size. At the bench I have become less focused on tying a realistic imitation, these days I have become obsessed with incorporating “triggering” characteristics into new fly designs. While I generally avoid casting other than in a downstream direction, as the years pass I am more prone to varying the presentation, such as by giving dry flies a twitch as it comes into the trout’s viewfinder, by applying a six inch “tug” to the soft hackled fly as it approaches the site of a subsurface swirl, etc. Fundamentally, I am loath to change patterns or fly sizes which led to success the day before even if they spark no reaction today. For me, it is akin to surrendering at The Alamo.
But, Thursday I felt a chink in the armor. Thursday was a bit cooler than earlier in the week and there was significant cloud cover. As I took this all in I was thinking Baetis. There weren’t that many Trico or White Miller Caddis early morning and it took a rather long time for the trout to rise in force. When the trout riot began in earnest it didn’t seem like the culprits were Tricos. I don’t carry a seining net with me anymore; I had to start drawing the line somewhere. But, it was pretty hard to not see the tiny bugs causing civil unrest as there were so many of them. Yes, it was obviously a Blue Winged Olive hatch but the size of that mayfly was rather unusual this early in the trout season . . . . a bona fide size 24 and perhaps a size smaller. Yet, I was stubborn and would not retire my green bodied size 20 Rene Harrop Trico No Hackle which had worked so well over the prior three days. Hell, due to the tall white wing I could see the damn No Hackle when fishing a long line and the abdomen was green. One would think it was close enough. But, it wasn’t. Admittedly I did land 3 fish. But the No Hackle drifted over about a hundred other trout without being taken and I experienced a couple dozen refusals and three instances where the fly was “nosed.” It was one of those days where prudence dictated that I “man up” and try a different fly pattern or size. However, the Presentation Ego got involved and that’s all she wrote. I promised myself that next time I will change flies, but I know that when push comes to shove I probably won’t make the adjustment.
Doug Andres
Stream Keeper