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Old March 30th, 2004, 02:09 PM
vincent p. norris
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Default Early season tactics

Here's a TR, posted on the Fly Fisher's Paradise web site. It may
contain some suggestions you can use:

Last week the Baetis hatch on Spring Creek was the most intense
that I have seen in many years.

I looked forward to a return engagement this week. I found a
stretch of water below Fisherman's Paradise that was deserted, except
for a few anglers far downstream. I was ready to nymph until I heard
the first fish rise. That initial surface feeder was soon followed by
more. In less than a minute there were eight or ten nice browns
working within 25 feet of me.

There were only a few Baetis duns on the water, and it appeared
the fish were actually bulging to nymphs in the film. I tried a Baetis
Nymph first and then an emerger, but I had no takes on the surface or
deep. A Dun/Black Midge was similarly ignored. A #18 BWO comparadun
was not.

In the next half hour five decent Spring Creek browns inhaled the
fly. These were solid fish that averaged a foot, and they were already
putting on girth after feeding on midges and Baetis for the last
month. There was a final fish still rising after the commotion. This
fellow refused cast after cast with the small, dark dry fly but took a
Baetis Nymph drifted by his nose.

I still had the nymph on my tippet when I saw the next group of
active fish 75 yards upstream. They were feeding sporadically in a
small pocket, with the best of them anchoring the top and most
desirable lie.

This trout was in full view, and it was clear that he was not
rising. Rather, he would dart from side to side and inhale sunken
prey. It took five or six casts to get the drift just right, but the
brown took the fly deeply when the presentation was proper. It was a
fat 14" female and the best trout of the afternoon.

After blindfishing a riffle and several pockets without a take, I
encountered another group of rising fish. Like the two previous pods
of feeders, these too were working along the banks in sheltered lies.
A #18 Blue-winged Olive Comparadun accounted for more than a dozen
trout over the next hour or so. There were a few dinks among them, but
the majority were near 12" in length.

When the rising activity wound down around 3:30, I nymphed for a
few minutes. I had no strikes. Clearly, the trout were once again
focused in on the Baetis. As the hatch waned for the day, so did the
fishing. I had covered less than 200 yards of water in about three
hours and had easily had my best afternoon of the year.