On 2010-03-17 17:15:31 -0400, "Bill Grey" said:


"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2010031618312175249-dplacourse@aolcom...
Went to my local fly shop today to get a line put on my 5 weight reel.
Asked the fellow behind the desk while the other guy was putting on my
line what the local trout have been hitting. He cryptically said "egg
patterns." Egg patterns? Huh. What fish spawn this time of the year in
these streams? Suckers? To early. What? Nothing spawns in these waters
this time of the year.

Hmmm. No spawn and yet the fish are hitting egg patterns? Sounds fishy
to me.

This afternoon Joanne and I were out shopping and stopped by this one
place. I noticed fish pellet machines - plop in a quarter and you get a
handfull of fish food to throw at the fish. They love it (both the
tourists and the fish). Hmmmmm. The pellets look like.......... wait for
it................ egg patterns.

Well, duh! Match the hatch, eh? Chances are they are hatchery fish to
boot. I guess the tourist fly fishermen must be appeased.

Dave


Last year, the local club stocked the river with brown trout. Just after
the stocking, while walking my dog, I tossed a smallpiece of dog food about
the sice of a baked been into the river only to see it instantly snatched by
a stockie which was probably conditioned to be fed by being thrown pellets
at the fishery. I rose several fish by lobbing in the dog food pellets and
one of the local kids even tried tying a deer hair pattern to copy the food.

I don't suppose the fish you're talking about are stocked, but that could be
one reason.

Bill, it wouldn't matter whether they were stocked or not. They have
been conditioned by the tourists throwing the fish food bought for a
quarter out of the vending machine.

A few years back I was fishing a pond near my home. It is heavily
stocked in the spring and lots of bait fisherman go there to collect
their limit and put food on the table. They weren't having very much
luck, while I was wacking them on every cast using a small pt nymph.
They asked for each fish I caught, but I threw them back. However, I
collected a handful of pepples on the beach and told them to cast their
bait into the pattern I would make when I threw the pebbles. Two of
them did, and caught a fish. When I left, they were looking for more
pepples to throw. Hey, food is food.

d;o)