"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2010031717342416807-dplacourse@aolcom...
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)


Indeed Dave - that sound just about right.

Bill