TR for the Bighorn Micro Clave and a Trip to Chas's

Warren wrote:

How do you explain pinks? They can slam a fly, pick it up on
a dead drift and just "hold" the fly or can simply be foul
hooked. I hated how often fish were foul hooked and it was
something that disturbed me. Drifting a heavy fly through
shallow water would often snag a male on the hump.


Do you suppose it would help to tie on a mono weedguard
like on bass and pike flies? It might cut down on fair hookups
too, but it doesn't sound like that would be too much of a
problem.

Kevin,
green with envy

Kevin Vang wrote:
Do you suppose it would help to tie on a mono weedguard
like on bass and pike flies? It might cut down on fair hookups
too, but it doesn't sound like that would be too much of a
problem.

Kevin,
green with envy

An interesting idea Kevin. I haven't had much luck with those weed
guards in weeds, and I have had trouble with them getting mangled by
the pike after a fish or two. We were landing 20 or more fish without
retying the fly, and I doubt the weedguard would help past the first
couple fish. I also should add that we weren't snagging many fish. You
can get the drift working for you and the fly will pass through a
school of 100 fish with one following it out of the pod to strike it in
the open. It's a real kick to watch.

Chas
http://home.comcast.net/~chas.wade/w...ome.html-.html

wrote...
Do you suppose it would help to tie on a mono weedguard
like on bass and pike flies? It might cut down on fair hookups
too, but it doesn't sound like that would be too much of a
problem.

Maybe. I really don't enough experience with fishing flies
with weedguards, or pinks for that matter..... The only time
I really had a problem with foul hooking seemed to be in water
that was about knee deep and maybe 20-30' out. The line would
cross their hump, the belly of the fly line would drag and
cause the fly to hook the males in the hump. A weedguard may
be worth checking out. Tying the flies with the hook point up
may also be something worth looking into.....
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)

Warren wrote:
Tying the flies with the hook point up
may also be something worth looking into.....
--

The ones I tied are clouser style, mostly to prevent the foul hooking.
It seems to me that managing the drift can also prevent the foul
hooking. Monday and Wednesday I was on the Skagit, and only foul
hooked a couple fish while fair hooking over fifty each day. The
Rockport hole was particularly hot Wednesday. The water was a foot
lower than when you were there, and the fish were easier to see. I
couldn't manage to catch more than seven in a row, but the fun part was
the way they were taking the flies. They would follow the fly for
about ten feet, and then just pick up the fly as they followed it. If
you saw it happening and set the hook it was a nice hookup. If you
were slow enough they spit it out and you had to wait for the next fish
to pick it up on the same cast. I caught a 7.5 pound buck that looked
like Steve's.

Chas
http://home.comcast.net/~chas.wade/w...ome.html-.html

Warren wrote:

I hated how often fish were foul hooked and it was
something that disturbed me. Drifting a heavy fly through
shallow water would often snag a male on the hump.

Now I know how you hooked those few dark pinks on Sunday -- the ones
that weren't taking. :-)

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

wrote...
Now I know how you hooked those few dark pinks on Sunday -- the ones
that weren't taking. :-)

Hey, I told you I didn't count those. I caught 3 fair and
square and I am a little more strict on what is considered
"fair hooked" than what Chas described the regs as. It is
mouth or nothing as far as I am concerned.

--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)

Warren wrote:
wrote...
Now I know how you hooked those few dark pinks on Sunday -- the ones
that weren't taking. :-)

Hey, I told you I didn't count those. I caught 3 fair and
square and I am a little more strict on what is considered
"fair hooked" than what Chas described the regs as. It is
mouth or nothing as far as I am concerned.

The regs define "legal" as hooked in the head. I'm with you, fair
hooked is inside the mouth.

Chas
http://home.comcast.net/~chas.wade/w...ome.html-.html

"Warren" wrote a most excellent TR...

Man, that was fun to read, and to view. Thanks for taking the time to share,
Warren.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Man, that was a really great trip. Thanks for writing it up and taking all
the great photos! Fishing with Chas is great too. I'll see you up there
one of these years, Chas!

I won't even bother writing up a TR for my birthday fishing in the Wild and
Scenic River section of the Rio Grande for my birthday Saturday, but I'll
hit the high points:

The hike down drops 700' in eight tenths of a mile and I jogged it because
the river below looked so damn good. Heidi dropped me off at the trailhead
at about 10 am and we scheduled a 6:45 pm pickup. At the bottom my legs
were humming as I rigged up. The wading is deadly on the slickest frickin
rocks I've ever encountered (basalt polished smooth). The rocks are also
really big so you're often standing on them and fishing water that's ten
feet below the rock. I took one fall that would have scared even the
esteemed Mr. Reid. I was actually swimming in my vest with my rod.
Thankfully still alive!

I fished hopper/dropper, dry only when the baetis were out, and a two
nymph/bobber rig also. The fishing was great. I caught lots of small,
beautiful browns and a few Rio Grande chubs. While I was fishing just a
small parachute adams (baetis were in the air) I had a HUGE brown turn and
grab it. Alas, I got Buck Fever and immediately left that fly in the
brown's lip with a Bass Bubba hookset. Oh well. That would have been my
fourth "brown of a lifetime" but the first on a dry. Later I hooked (and
landed!) a 30"+ Carp! When I hooked him he took me to the backing, running
*upstream* through some huge rapids and boulders. Amazingly, my 3X (apprx)
Cabela's Tectan held up and I got the fish into some shallow water
eventually. My PT was stuck way back in the roof of his mouth and this fish
scared me. Certainly twice as heavy as anything I'd landed on a five weight
before. As I was struggling to free my hemostats, the hook popped out and
that beautiful fish swam into some deep slow water and sulked. Can't blame
him.

If anyone wants to see this place in the next couple of weeks, I'll meet you
up there. Drop me an email or reply to this thread.

In my opinion, it blows the Box Canyon of the Henry's Fork away - more
variety of fish, more solitude, tougher wading by far, and of course it's in
New Mexico!

bruce h

Oh yeah, my legs are sooooo sore that I can't step off a curb. My "downhill
muscles" were completely unprepared and I'm not sure if they'll ever be the
same.

Bruiser wrote:

I won't even bother writing up a TR for my birthday fishing in the Wild and
Scenic River section of the Rio Grande for my birthday Saturday, but I'll
hit the high points:


You are a cruel man, Bruce! You're sure to delay my home repairs with
talk like that.

And you forgot to mention what the weather's been like in New Mexico lately!

My regular two fishing buddies are unavailable, and I've got a 3 day
weekend coming up. Saturday is probably the only day that works for me.
What trailhead did you start at?

- Bryan