No fish

David LaCourse wrote:
On 2009-09-19 20:52:58 -0400, rw said:


I think Tom has a point with his "theory" about larger flies in one
situation: trout opportunistically feeding on terrestrials or whatever
else comes along on the surface. I run into this often when fishing
for cutthroat in relatively infertile freestone rivers like the Middle
Fork of the Salmon in Idaho and similar places. The fish hold deep in
gin-clear water. A Big Ugly is usually the best choice to bring them
up. I especially like the Madam X, Turk's Tarantula, and big
stimulators. Rarely use hoppers, per se.


Yeah, it's called "match the hatch". Of course they are not going
to take a size 22 hopper or Madam X (if such a lure could be tied). No
argument there.

I guess we have different ideas about what "match the hatch" means. A
Turk's Tarantula doesn't match any hatch I'm familiar with.

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

On 2009-09-20 12:59:00 -0400, rw said:

David LaCourse wrote:
On 2009-09-19 20:52:58 -0400, rw said:


I think Tom has a point with his "theory" about larger flies in one
situation: trout opportunistically feeding on terrestrials or whatever
else comes along on the surface. I run into this often when fishing for
cutthroat in relatively infertile freestone rivers like the Middle Fork
of the Salmon in Idaho and similar places. The fish hold deep in
gin-clear water. A Big Ugly is usually the best choice to bring them
up. I especially like the Madam X, Turk's Tarantula, and big
stimulators. Rarely use hoppers, per se.


Yeah, it's called "match the hatch". Of course they are not going
to take a size 22 hopper or Madam X (if such a lure could be tied). No
argument there.

I guess we have different ideas about what "match the hatch" means. A
Turk's Tarantula doesn't match any hatch I'm familiar with.

I was speaking more about the hopper flies. The only time I've used a
hopper or a Madam X was out west. I took some ugly carp out of the
lake above the Bighorn. It was lots of fun but not very sporting.

David LaCourse wrote:

I was speaking more about the hopper flies. The only time I've used a
hopper or a Madam X was out west. I took some ugly carp out of the lake
above the Bighorn. It was lots of fun but not very sporting.

You caught carp on a big ugly dry fly? That would have made my day. You
are like totally awesome, dude. Rock on.

You should have used the Madam X on the Middle Fork.

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

On 2009-09-20 21:10:04 -0400, rw said:

David LaCourse wrote:

I was speaking more about the hopper flies. The only time I've used a
hopper or a Madam X was out west. I took some ugly carp out of the
lake above the Bighorn. It was lots of fun but not very sporting.

You caught carp on a big ugly dry fly? That would have made my day. You
are like totally awesome, dude. Rock on.

You should have used the Madam X on the Middle Fork.

We were in a boat hunting for "lips" - a carp on the surface vacuum
cleaning the surface. When you saw a fish doing this, you cast the fly
about 10 feet in front of it. If it doesn't change course, it will
eventually swim up and inhale the fly. When you set the hook, all hell
breaks lose. They are one ugly but quite powerful fish. The first one
I hooked was about a 10 pounder and he dived straight down taking all
of my line (90 ft or so) and most of my backing (another 90 ft).
Scared the hell out of me. The guide just sat there and laughed. I
eventually brought the fish to the surface and landed him. Every one
that I caught displayed this same behavior - dive deep, straight down.
It really was a hoot.

I used the Madam X (or something similar) on the Middle Fork. My
grandson and I cast into this pool that had to be 15 feet deep. The
water was gin clear and you could see the bottom. As soon as the fly
hit the water you could see a cutt or two coming up to investigate it.
When you had a take, it was difficult to not set the hook watching the
fish come up and take your fly. My grandson kept pulling the fly off
the water before the trout took it. Very funny experience for both of
us.

I'd like to float the Middle Fork before I die. Great river.

Dave
(cold in camp this morning - low 30s with a touch of fog)