"MajorOz" wrote




I have spent most of my life in the Rockies, Cascades, and places
there'bouts. I have caught trout of all kinds, sizes, and temperments
in an amazing variety of places.



I don't know the answer to your question (s) but offer some things that come
to my mind

A) Natural food forms depend on habitat ... doh. Most Western freestone
rivers, like those of your past, have a huge variety of same .. from big
salmon fly sized holes between big rocks to tiny niches, cozy to a midge, in
small gravel and sandy silt. They also have big temperature variationsa
over a season. A wide variety of different bugs is therefore normal and one
of the joys of Western living ;-)

B) Many tailwaters are in valleys, below where big rocks naturally exist, so
the bottom is very uniform. Nearly all tailwaters run at very consistent
temperatures .. thus further restricting variety

C) Cold water and small bug 'homes' are ideal for .... midges ... cold
water and small gravel are nearly always the norm on tailwaters too far down
the system to have ever been trout habitat before the dam.


D) Fish 'strike' spoons for reasons other than 'eating' Powerbait ..
stinks .. I bet a caddis shaped, and sized, stinky fly would work fine G
... we could call it a ...um ... ROFF Special ... bent caddis hook, green
PowerBait formed in shape of caddis pupa, rib of silver wire, soft hackle
.... G



Anyway, Western tailwaters I fish that have structure of varied size and a
decent variation of water temps over the season, have a wide variety of
bugs. Places I fish that have limited variety of bottom structure and
always very cold water ( whether tailwater or spring creek ) have very
limited types of bugs but usually large quantity of those few types.

If you want to catch a fish because he takes your fly believing it is a
natural food form, those latter places demand, usually, small flies .. such
as the Zebra. Fish may 'hit' something that irritates them or 'taste'
something that smells good but is new, they are far less likely to 'taste'
something that doesn't look like anything they normally feed on, and smells
like head cement.

Larry L ( who knows nothing but finds ROFF a perfect place to express that
degree of knowledge ....... and fit right in :-)