Big Flies, Big Fish

Another one of those partly-true statements! If a size 24 midge larva goes by the mouth of a 15 lb brown trout, I can guarantee he’ll (or she’ll) eat it!! The problem is that it will be attached to a 6X  or 7X tippet. The angler will never know what broke him or her off! “Boy, I hooked a big fish but it broke me off!”

Under many conditions, that same fish may not move more than a foot or two for that little bitty fly – it just takes too much energy for so little caloric return. If, on the other hand, the fish is hungry and a streamer goes through his field of vision, the fish may go a long way to eat it. I had a big rainbow chase down, and engulf, a streamer that hit a good 15 feet  up stream. That fish went after the fly the second it landed! The good news is that the streamer was attached to 15 lb test tippet. No chance of a break off!

In some cases, fish that live in insect rich environments will become so selective on tiny insects, that they will often ignore bigger items. Many tail waters like the San Juan, Missouri, and Hams Fork, fall into this category. If an angler wants to catch fish, even big ones, they will often need to use the little flies and tippets. When this happens, the biggest fish may break off. The reason lots of big fish are caught in the fall is because the hatches are thinning out and the big fish are hungry, so they are looking for food like streamers, which are attached to stronger tippets.

By the way, a related myth is that fish, especially big fish, eat more in the fall because they are “storing up for winter”. That is nonsense. Fish are cold blooded. They eat less as the water gets colder – not more! It appears to the angler that they are eating more because the hatches are less dense and all the big juicy insects are gone. Fish travel a long way for food. This fact, and the fact that we use more streamers with heavy tippets, accounts for the large number of big trout caught in the fall.

So, I guess the statement is mostly true! Bigger flies use bigger tippets, which equals more landed big fish.

 

Casting 70

To catch fish I don’t need to be able to cast 70+ feet or know how to do any of those fancy casts. This is partially true. Lots of fly fishers can’t cast in the wind. (A good caster can easily deal with a 15mph wind). If we can’t cast well into the wind, there are lots of days both in freshwater and saltwater situations we simply won’t be fishing or we will be miserable doing so. In addition, there are plenty of times when knowing how to throw a curve cast or a slack line cast will catch more fish, even in saltwater. And, mostly in saltwater, being able to cast 70’ or even 80’ will reach fish that others can’t catch. To me, the wind is the biggest factor that restricts the anglers ability to catch fish – or to even fish at all.

If a person doesn’t learn to double haul or cast various loops on command, they severely restrict their ability to fish in wind, at distances, or with different setups and lines. (If a person can cast 70’ in good conditions, they can cast 50’ in the wind. If a person can cast 50’ in good conditions, they can only cast 30’ in windy conditions, or not at all.) If we are simply interested in getting outdoors and enjoying a nice day fly fishing, and catching some fish now and then, then learning to cast better is not an important goal. If it really upsets us when we can’t fish on certain days, or when we can’t fish to spots out of your reach, or we can’t keep your fly from dragging, then maybe we should consider practicing casting.

I guide lots of golfers and most spend a good bit of time practicing. I think the reason golfers spend more time is that success, or failure, in golf is objectively measured while in fishing this is much less the case. ”They just weren’t biting today” or it “it’s just too windy” are common fly fishing refrains. We are not being compared to an objective standardized norm established over time. If par is 5 and we consistently take 8 to get it in the hole, and our three partners consistently take 6, we know we aren’t as good as them – and everyone knows it. The results are objectively measured. If it’s important to catch more fish, practice your casting!

Catch and Release

Facts: I have been communicating with Tyler Allen at Rajeff sports and I would like to pass on some of the research that Tyler has shared. This research deals primarily with trout, as other species have various tolerances. 

In normal circumstances, as many as 30% of fish caught and released will die within a few days. Factors that contribute to this situation are: 

1. Water temperatures – as water temperatures rise above 60°, fish – large fish especially – become more and more stressed because of the fact that warmer water holds less oxygen. This becomes very critical as temperatures reach the mid-60s to higher 60s. 

1. By mid-August, the Green sometimes has temperatures in the high 60s. We will not fish in these conditions. 
2. The Smiths Fork seldom gets into the 60s. No real restrictions due to high water temps.
3. The Hams Fork normally runs from 56° to 62° – with occasional temps in the mid-60s, especially a few miles down from the dam. We need to be careful. 
4. Playing fish for longer periods of time creates a build-up of lactic acid which when insufficiently dispersed, will cause fatalities. This is a reason we use 5x tippets and larger on the Hams Fork. Playing fish for “the fun of it” is unsportsmanlike. Using a net helps land the fish more quickly.
5. Holding fish out of the water for more than just a few seconds is very damaging. This negative effect is exacerbated by how long the fish was played, how warm the water is, how big the fish is, and how the fish is held.
6. Holding fish out of the water, especially larger fish can cause serious injury to a fish’s internal organs. Fish are used to a near weightless environment. The force of gravity displaces internal organs. We will begin being more mindful of this problem.
7. We use small-mesh rubber nets to minimize the loss of slime coating critical to a fish’s health. When you are fishing alone, PLEASE use such a net, and please never drag a fish onto a bank.
8. A critically injured fish will swim away, but that doesn’t mean it will live.

Conclusion: Again, we hope this has been helpful in understanding the dynamics of catch and release practices. No matter how careful we are, a percentage of fish will die. Our job is to make that percentage as small as possible! Let’s be good stewards of our resource! Let’s not let our egos kill fish! Please help us by understanding the attached photographing policy we will instate 2016. 

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While everyone we guide practices catch and release, lots of new and old research tells us that regardless of the care taken, there is a mortality rate. What we’d like to do is keep the damage done to a minimum.  

Here are some basic rules we will be following starting in the 2016 season: 

1. We won’t take pictures of every fish you catch. In all probability, you will catch one of the biggest trout of your life. We will take a picture of your first fish if it is important to you. After the first fish, our policy is generally to take a picture of only very special fish – extremely colored or extremely big.  

How we take pictures

1. The client holds the net and the guide removes the fly while the fish is in the water and in the net. (Barbless hooks only.) If the fish requires some reviving, it is done at this time. If the fish doesn’t act normal almost immediately, the pictures are off the table and the only priority is reviving it and returning it to the water. 
2. The camera is readied while the client puts the rod on the bank, and the fish remains in the water. 
3. The client kneels in the water while wetting his/her hands.
4. The client reaches into the net and gently cradles the fish. One hand under the shoulders with no fingers or thumbs around the fish. The other hand holds the fish around the tail. 
5. The fish has gently lifted a very short distance and for a very brief period of time. 
6. The picture is snapped within a few seconds and the fish is returned to the water. If the fish is a flopper and/or the client unable to hold it properly, there will be no pictures. 

Pictures of the fish can be taken in the net and even underwater.  It really isn’t encouraged that fish be removed from the water. Large fish especially should be photographed in this manner. We hope our clients understand our catch and release protocols. We want to catch the same fish next year – or next week! And that might be you

Cutthroat are Stupid Fish

Facts: Now this is a 100% myth!

If you have ever fished for Cutthroat in Flat Creek, North of Jackson, WY, you will know this to be categorically false! Those are as tough to catch as many fish on Earth.

So, why did this myth get started? Most Cutthroat live in environments that Browns and Rainbows could never tolerate. Most Cutthroats live in rivers and streams that get scoured every year by spring runoff floods. Rocks get tumbled, insects and fish get killed by the millions. Where a river like the Hams Fork or the San Juan River may have 3,000 to 4,000 insects per square yard of the river bottom, a river like the Greys or Smiths Fork will have maybe 10% of that number. There are very few dense hatches and thus, little selectivity on the part of this fish.

I’ve fished the Snake River when tiny Baetis are hatching and the Cutts are maddeningly selective. During August, those same fish will go 10ft. for a rubber legged monstrosity whose only similarity to anything natural is that it moves! There is simply nothing else to eat. Where Browns or Rainbows do live in the same water as Cutts, their level of “intelligence” is exactly the same. The lower Hams Fork has all 3 species, as does the Green River. If you catch more Cutts than Rainbows and Browns, it is simply because there are more of them!

Conclusion: Be careful about calling Cutthroat bad names – the fishing gods will punish you with some fishless days on the water!

All floating fly lines are pretty much the same.

FACTS:

• Actually, there are good reasons for the various configurations of floating lines – other than marketing advantages of having multiple types.
• A fly line is divided into 4 sections:

Front Taper: The portion of the line that you connect to the leader. Its purpose is to dissipate energy in an optimal manner. They range in length from 3’ on lines meant to cast very heavy or wind resistant flies, to 18’ on lines meant to cast tiny dry flies. For most trout fishing, I would pick a front taper of between 6’ and 9’. This would be a good choice for most trout situations where you are casting dry flies, moderate nymph rigs, or smaller streamers.  The heavier the stuff you chuck, the shorter the front taper. The more little stuff, the longer taper would be better.

Belly: The belly of the fly line is the fat part that follows the front taper. This portion of the line helps bend or load the rod on casts of about 25’ to 60’.  This depends on the configuration of the rear taper – to be discussed next.  For most trout fishing, a shorter belly of say 20’ to 25’ is adequate. If you are going to be making long casts of 60’ or more, a longer belly may be required.

Rear Taper: This portion of the line helps smooth out the cast as the belly leaves the rod guides. A longer, more gradual taper ( 20’ – 25’) is best if you are shooting lots of lines. For normal trout fishing, a rear taper of about 20 feet is usually adequate.

Running Line: This is the skinny and level line that follows the rear taper. It runs to the end of the fly line, which is usually 95’ to 100’ in total length.

Head: This is the combination of the front taper, belly, and rear taper. A good trout line for all around fishing would be in somewhere around and 8’ front taper, 20’ belly, and a 20’ rear taper giving you a total head length of around 45’ to 50’.These are only rough guidelines. Your specific fishing conditions, style, and rod can alter these parameters significantly.