A meaningless observation and a question

ROFFians,

I was out at my favorite local river over the weekend, and things
were very slow (*very* slow). At one point, I saw a few smallish fish
sporadically rising, but could see no signs of any bugs on the water or
any minnow activity.

Just for fun I dug out a large (#10) parachute Adams that I had tied
up more-or-less as a joke after having such good luck with #16 para
Adams on my trip to Canuckistan.

On the second drift I got a hit from a small sunfish, and I
continued getting action on almost every cast (well, on every good
drift, anyway) for the next 15-20 minutes. The fly took sunfish and
small Guadalupe bass.

I still can't figure out what they took the Adams for. The only
bugs in the air were some dragon and damselflies, but they were off in
color and size, and the fish weren't rising to them that I could see. I
don't know if the Adams might resemble an emerger or if it just looked
like some sort of generic food to them. Whatever it was, it saved me
from a fishless day on the water.

So has anyone else had luck with the Adams on both warm and
coldwater species?


Chuck Vance (who is wondering if a #2/0 Adams would work for
sal****er fish ;-)

Conan the Librarian wrote:
ROFFians,

I was out at my favorite local river over the weekend, and things
were very slow (*very* slow). At one point, I saw a few smallish fish
sporadically rising, but could see no signs of any bugs on the water
or any minnow activity.

Just for fun I dug out a large (#10) parachute Adams that I had
tied up more-or-less as a joke after having such good luck with #16
para Adams on my trip to Canuckistan.

On the second drift I got a hit from a small sunfish, and I
continued getting action on almost every cast (well, on every good
drift, anyway) for the next 15-20 minutes. The fly took sunfish and
small Guadalupe bass.

I still can't figure out what they took the Adams for. The only
bugs in the air were some dragon and damselflies, but they were off in
color and size, and the fish weren't rising to them that I could see.
I don't know if the Adams might resemble an emerger or if it just
looked like some sort of generic food to them. Whatever it was, it
saved me from a fishless day on the water.

So has anyone else had luck with the Adams on both warm and
coldwater species?

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that imitates nothing, but
usually seems to draw attention from fish. I probably use that dry patterns more
than any, and certainly have Adams tied in more sizes than any other dry fly in
my box.

Just for fun, I tied up a #6 Adams and Royal Wulff. Both worked extremely well
for bluegill.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Tim J. wrote:
. . . indespensible . . .

a New England word, meaning "freakin' wicked awesome"
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

"Tim J." wrote in
:

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that imitates
nothing, but usually seems to draw attention from fish. I probably
use that dry patterns more than any, and certainly have Adams tied
in more sizes than any other dry fly in my box.


I was fishing a mountain stream this past weekend that sees sparse
hatches and probably nothing like an Adams. Yet I was getting hits on
most decent drifts. It is a superb 'go to' pattern when all else
fails. It defines bugginess. On the 'Kill a friend was walking back
upstream after successfully putting down a pool of rising fish and
caught a brookie on his Adams that was dragging behind him.

It does not work at the secret spot though. Nothing does.

GaryM wrote:
"Tim J." wrote in
:

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that imitates
nothing, but usually seems to draw attention from fish. I probably
use that dry patterns more than any, and certainly have Adams tied
in more sizes than any other dry fly in my box.


I was fishing a mountain stream this past weekend that sees sparse
hatches and probably nothing like an Adams. Yet I was getting hits on
most decent drifts. It is a superb 'go to' pattern when all else
fails. It defines bugginess. On the 'Kill a friend was walking back
upstream after successfully putting down a pool of rising fish and
caught a brookie on his Adams that was dragging behind him.

It does not work at the secret spot though. Nothing does.

There's a fly that works every time, but it's a secret.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

GaryM wrote:
"Tim J." wrote in
:

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that imitates
nothing, but usually seems to draw attention from fish. I probably
use that dry patterns more than any, and certainly have Adams tied
in more sizes than any other dry fly in my box.


I was fishing a mountain stream this past weekend that sees sparse
hatches and probably nothing like an Adams. Yet I was getting hits on
most decent drifts. It is a superb 'go to' pattern when all else
fails. It defines bugginess. On the 'Kill a friend was walking back
upstream after successfully putting down a pool of rising fish and
caught a brookie on his Adams that was dragging behind him.

It does not work at the secret spot though. Nothing does.

There's a fly that works every time, but it's a secret.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

"Tim J." wrote

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that
imitates nothing,

I think a parachute adams is super representative of a mayfly dun. Not an
attractor at all. But maybe I've been missing something. ;-)

bruce h

bruiser wrote:
"Tim J." wrote

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that
imitates nothing,


I think a parachute adams is super representative of a mayfly dun. Not an
attractor at all. But maybe I've been missing something. ;-)

Agreed. It's an excellent baetis imitation, and it's close enough to
many other species to pass. The important thing is to have a full
variety of sizes. If there is one indespensible mayfly pattern, it's the
parachute adams.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

bruiser wrote:
"Tim J." wrote

The Adams is one of those indespensible patterns that
imitates nothing,


I think a parachute adams is super representative of a mayfly dun. Not an
attractor at all. But maybe I've been missing something. ;-)

Agreed. It's an excellent baetis imitation, and it's close enough to
many other species to pass. The important thing is to have a full
variety of sizes. If there is one indespensible mayfly pattern, it's the
parachute adams.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Tim J. wrote:
. . . indespensible . . .

a New England word, meaning "freakin' wicked awesome"
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj