Fish Swami Blog

Fly of the Year For 2008

A great new feature added to Fish Swami in 2008 was the fishing log report summary page. Fish Swami graphs a handful of common statistics on one page to show how many fish were caught each month, what the top fish catching patterns were, etc. The summary page is updated as each fishing log report is added, and previous year’s summaries can also be viewed. I used the summary page this year to determine my fly of the year for 2008.

Number Caught	Pattern
175	Zebra Midge
128	Pheasant Tail BH
120	Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear BH
51	CDC Loop-Tuft Emerger
46	Z-Wing Caddis
43	CDC Biot Thorax Dun
26	Elk Hair Caddis
23	California Leech
21	Chironocone
20	CDC Hackle Stacker

The Zebra Midge blew away the competition this year with 175 fish caught. That total is up from 61 fish caught in 2007, and 2 in 2006. Last year’s top fly, the CDC Biot Thorax Sparkle Dun finished in 6th place with 43 fish caught. So why did the Zebra Midge catch so many more fish, and the CDC Biot Thorax Sparkle Dun so many fewer?

Winter Fishing

One of the big changes from 2007 to 2008 with regards to my fishing was that I fished during the winter more. I typically fish for trout in rivers, and the primary winter food source in rivers is midges. In 2007, I caught 129 fish during the wintry months of January, February, March, and December. In 2008, I caught 318 fish during those same months. Over the past few years, I’ve learned that good fishing can be had throughout the winter. As I’ve become a more adept angler at winter fishing, I’ve fished more with the zebra midge pattern because it realistically imitates the larval form of midges.

Pattern Consolidation

One interesting note when comparing my top flies of 2008 to those of 2007 is the percentage of fish they constitute of the year’s total. In 2008, my top 10 flies comprised nearly 76% of my yearly catch. However, my top 10 flies of 2007 comprised only 56% of my yearly catch. My theory is I have focused on fishing the same set of waters for a few years now, and as I’ve become a better angler on each of the waters, the number of flies I use has consolidated to a smaller, proven set. I no longer scramble through my fly boxes when I see fish rising because I have empirical knowledge as to what should work and why.

Zebra Midge Breakdown

For perusal and without much analysis, here are some interesting statistics related to my 2008 Zebra Midge catch totals. I compiled all of these stats using Fish Swami’s empirical analysis tool.

Top Zebra Midge Colors

Number Caught	Pattern Color
155	Black
18	Rust
1	null
1	Red

Top Fish Producing Months

Number Caught	Month
7	February
117	March
15	April
6	May
1	June
4	October
1	November
24	December

Top Fish Species Caught on Zebra Midges

Number Caught	Fish Species
129	Rainbow Trout
32	Mountain Whitefish
11	Brown Trout
3	Gold Trout

Average Time of Day

Number Caught	Pattern
175	11:49 AM to 6:25 PM

1000th Registered User

Fish Swami had its 1,000^th user register today! The online fishing log has been growing steadily, mostly through word-of-mouth and other fishing sites linking to site.

My goal is to continue adding fishing log related features to the site to help ease entering in fishing log information as well as to help glean information from your fishing logs. I would also like to expand the general fishing related information the site offers to anglers.

Since starting to collect statistics for the site's traffic back in March 2007, the site has had almost 19,000 unique visitors and 150,000 page views. My thanks to those who visit the site.

Mountain Lake Fishing Weekend

It was already 8pm by the time I finally had my pack strapped on at the trailhead. The sun was low in the sky and the air was brisk. The hike was going to take longer than the sun would light my path. As long as I was able to get close to my destination mountain lake before complete darkness, my headlamp could help me the rest of the way.

Any time fish are rising at a mountain lake, spirits rise. Whenever you fish a new place in the mountains, unless you have solid reports from someone else who has fished the place recently, you never really know if you're going to find fish or not. The sub-alpine weather, short growing season, and lack of rich insect life in mountain lakes make life difficult. So when I arrived at the lake and saw occasional splashy disturbances in the lake's silvery-blue reflection of the dusk sky, my hopes for the weekend's fishing rose.

Moth Mayhem

It was warm by 8 a.m. Saturday morning when I finally climbed out of my tent. I was greeted to a haze over the lake that rivaled winter fog. It was difficult to see a few hundred yards to the far side of the lake, and the surrounding mountain ridges were hardly discernable from the smoke-filled sky. A controlled wildfire a few mountain ranges to the south was producing smoke and smell that had me thinking barbeque at 8 in the morning.

Fish were splashing unabashedly all over the western end of the lake. At first, I thought the fish were rising to caddisflies on the water's surface. After watching the water for awhile, I realized all the caddisflies were actually small, #16 cream-colored moths. And there were lots of them stranded on the surface. Occasionally they would struggle to free their wings, sending out concentric wavelets like a beacon to any nearby fish. The fluttering action worked to both attract and repel trout from the insect. As the trout swam in search of food, the surface commotion would attract them from a distance. The fish would excitedly charge towards the surface to inspect the prey. Then surprisingly, maybe 50% of the time, the trout would break off their rise within a foot or so of the surface. While the struggling movements drew trout to the vicinity, it also put some trout off once they got close enough to the moth.

I wasn't anticipating a moth hatch and consequently had no moth patterns. I tried an Elk Hair Caddis, a small Simulator, and a CDC adult caddis, but only very rarely did I convince a trout that my imitation was food. The moths were trapped in the surface with their wings spread out. My guess is their thin wings glowed white from the penetrating sun when viewed from underneath. My Elk Hair Caddis and CDC adult caddis had a vastly different profile from the spent moths, and did not produce the same glow.

After struggling with the caddis patterns, I decided to try a couple of my favorite subsurface tactics despite the continual rises of the trout: the sinking leech and the Hang and Bob.

The Sinking Leech

My first technique was to fish an olive-brown bead-head California Leech to trout cruising the shoreline. My favorite way to fish the leech is to cast it ahead of cruising trout, timing the cast so that the fly sinks right in front of the passing fish. I have found that once the trout has spotted the leech, it is imperative to let it sink motionlessly. Some trout will aggressively swim faster up to the fly to take it - others, if the sink is timed perfectly, will simply continue swimming leisurely along their path, barely opening their mouth as they take the leech in passing. The key to this method is being able to watch the trout and the fly; when the fish opens and closes its mouth, or you see the fly disappear, set the hook! Trout are quite good at taking in foreign objects, tasting them, and spitting them back out. If you wait to feel tension on the line from the trout taking the fly, you may not feel anything at all. This method requires three important points: trout must be close enough to shore to spot; there must be little to no wind to disturb the water's surface (which negatively affects the ability to see trout); and the angler must observe a fair amount of stealth to not spook passing fish.

Once I switched to the sinking leech from my surface presentations, I immediately had success, including a nice 18" cutthroat trout that went on a fantastic run to the middle of the lake after taking my fly. I also netted a handful of fish in the 14" to 16" range - a great size for most sub-alpine lakes. Occasionally with the sinking leech, my excitement for an interested trout would get the best of me and I'd twitch the fly or start retrieving it when the fish got close. In all instances, this resulted in me not catching the fish. Sometimes the trout would get excited at the moving fly and follow it momentarily, but never would they take the fly. In fact, I had several instances where the trout saw the sinking leech as it swam by, then a few feet later the trout made a loop, came back and took the still-sinking fly. Those instances required great patience to not move the fly as the trout swam by.

The Hang and Bob

In the afternoon, the wind picked up enough on the lake to ripple the surface and make it difficult to spot cruising fish from a distance. Without being able to accurately see the take of a passing fish when it gobbles up a sinking leech, the sinking leech technique becomes nearly worthless. To counter this, I switched to a technique that uses the small surface waves to my advantage: the Hang and Bob. The Hang and Bob is basically bobber fishing for fly anglers. It consists of a short leader connected to a bobber, strike indicator, or large dry fly. Tippet is then attached to the indicator so that it hangs down straight into the water. Bead-head flies are then tied to the tippet at 2'-3' intervals, so that multiple flies are fished at different depths at the same time.

For my afternoon fishing, I tied on a #10 Stimulator as my bobber, then attached tippet to the bend of the hook and tied on a #12 bead-head Pheasant Tail about 2' down. I attached another section of tippet to the eye of the Pheasant Tail and tied on a #12 bead-head Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear about 2' below the Pheasant Tail. The key with the Hang and Bob is to cast the setup in a path where fish cruise, since the flies don't move after being cast. For mountain lakes, trout often cruise in a consistent path within 10'-15' of shore, so most of my casts were quite short.

After casting, I simply enjoyed the afternoon warmth and watched the Stimulator bob up and down in the waves. The waves made the Stimulator move up and down on the water, which in turn caused the two nymphs attached to it to slowly bob up and down directly below the Stimulator. This is where the technique gets its name. The nymphs, slowly undulating in the same spot, do a great job at triggering strikes from cruising fish.

I usually didn't have to wait too long before the Stimulator disappeared and a trout was on one of the two nymphs. The Gold-Ribbed Hare's Ear performed exceptionally well, yielding several rainbows and cutthroats in the 14" - 16" range and a couple beauties at 18". My guess is the Hare's Ear performed better because it was the deeper of the two flies, and more fish were cruising at 4' deep rather than 2' deep.

Conclusion

Sunday morning I hiked to a close-by lake where there were fewer, but larger trout than I had been catching the previous day. The fish were rising sporadically to the spent moths, but I instead focused immediately on fishing a sinking leech. The water was perfectly clear and the banks surrounding the lake were high and steep, making it easy to spot cruising fish. The leech started off with 4 hits on 4 fish, but I was only able to hook and land one of the fish. The wind picked up earlier in the day than it did Saturday, and soon it was nearly impossible to spot fish. I switched to the Hang and Bob and hooked a beautiful 18" cutthroat that took me to my backing! Fantastic. I was able to pick up a few more nice fish before finally calling it a weekend. I headed back to camp, took down camp, packed out, and was greeted with a flat front tire. That's all right, changing a flat tire is an easy price to pay for a great weekend of fishing.

Sub-alpine Flower

Hydrographs for Steelhead

Go With the Flow

My alarm blared at 3AM and I rolled out of bed, stumbled into the kitchen and made some coffee, filled the thermos and jumped in the truck. A quick stop at a fishing buddy’s house and we were off to fish the Grande Ronde river.

As we drove through the darkness we chatted about where we caught steelhead last weekend, what runs we were going to fish and what flies we were going to use. Our excitement grew as we got closer to the river in anticipation of a good day of fishing. It was still dark as we wound our way down Rattlesnake Grade towards Boggans Oasis. We got to the river at first light and jumped out to check conditions and were horrified to find that the river was completely blown out! Our hearts sank and we knew it was not going to be a good day. We stayed and fished, but with no luck. The water was just too high and chocolate brown.

That was the day when I decided I needed to learn more about water gauges and hydrographs. Over the last 14 years I have learned how to identify some important river conditions using hydrographs that have increased my success as a steelhead fisherman. Here are some conditions every steelheader should know and what their corresponding hydrographs look like.

Hydrographs

A hydrograph is a graph showing the discharge (cfs), stage (depth), or other property of water with respect to time for a given location on a stream. The US Geological Survey has many gauges located on rivers that you can use to determine the condition of your favorite steelhead river. The gauges collect river flow, height, and sometimes temperature every hour and then transmit it back to the USGS where it is available on the USGS web site.

The USGS streamflow web sites are very easy to use and create nice graphs of the river flow over the last week to month. You can select different parameters for the gauge you are looking at to create a hydrograph. Typically the default is flow and stage over the last 7 days. I like to select flow and temperature (if it is available) over the last 14 or 21 days so I can see if there have been any water events, such as a recent freshette. You can even go back and gather historical river flow data from previous years.

The USGS web sites organize rivers by state and river drainage. Many rivers have multiple gauges and it is important to pick a gauge that is nearest where you want to fish. For example, if you are going to be fishing the Salmon River around Riggins you want to choose the White Bird gauge, not the Yankee Fork gauge. Looking at multiple gauges along the same river can be helpful in determining the whole river condition. For example, the gauge on the South Fork of the Clearwater at Stites (near the mouth) may show a dramatic rise in the river but the gauge at Elk River is holding steady. This may be OK if you plan to fish further upstream.

Figure 1 is a typical hydrograph for the Grande Ronde River at Troy, Oregon from October of 2007. It shows the river flow (in cfs) over the month compared to the historical average (the triangle data points). You can see that at the beginning of the month the river was flowing well below the historical average and then it jumped up from a rain storm on October 20th.

Fishy Freshettes

A freshette is a rise in the river level that improves migration conditions by increasing water flows and/or cooling the river. Freshettes are a magical condition that draw steelhead upstream toward their home rivers because the increased flows from tributaries increases the scent from that watershed into the main-stem river. Fish from that watershed are attracted to the smell and start moving upriver and into tributaries.

Rivers are often too low for fish to migrate in the Fall before the first freshette. For example, Figure 1 shows a hydrograph of the Grande Ronde from October of 2007. The first few weeks the water was running around 600cfs—too low for steelhead to want to move into the river. Then a rain event happened and the river shot up to 1,000cfs, which drew a bunch of fish into the river.

If you can, time your fishing trips to be right after a freshette when the river starts to fall and you will have good fishing conditions. Freshettes get fish moving—and moving fish are more likely to hit your fly!

Bad News Blowouts

A blowout is a period of significantly increased river flows after a heavy precipitation or snow melt event. The rapidly increased flows discolor the river, throw off steelhead and make it difficult to fish. Blown out rivers rise quickly and take days to recover. Recovery time depends on the size of the event and the drainage. Some rivers recover quickly and others can be out for a week. Spring blow-outs from snow melt are the worst, but Fall rains after a large forest fire, such as the one on the Main Salmon last year, can also significantly discolor a river and mess up your fishing.

Some drainages are more prone to blow-outs. The Ronde seems to be more volatile in the Spring. The upper Salmon River around Stanley recovers quickly but the lower Salmon takes longer because of the increased size of drainage. The Snake below Hells Canyon is immune to blow-outs because it is a tail-water.

Steelhead fishing is generally poor on rising rivers and worse in blowout conditions because of the lack of visibility. Blowouts from snow melt in the Spring are particularly bad because the melting snow lowers the river temperature to near freezing which makes fish sluggish. It is a little counter intuitive, but on a Spring blow-out you want a hard freeze to stop the snow-melt. Once the river starts to drop the sun will be able to warm the river better.

The main difference between a Freshette and a Blow-out is that a freshette improves the migration conditions and generally recovers quickly. A blow-out degrades the migration conditions and can be slow to recover. Blow-outs early in the Spring are not all bad as they draw fish upriver and into tributaries and burn off snow at lower elevations which will keep warmer days later in the season from blowing out the river.

Figure 2 shows a blow-out on the Grande Ronde River in February of 2007. The river quickly rises from under 1,000 cfs to 4,000 cfs and then to 7,000 cfs before it starts to drop. You don’t want to fish as the river is rising. Instead look for the river to start to fall, and then go fishing. Blown-out rivers tend to be difficult to wade and fish because the river has risen into the brush and trees along the edge. If you do end up at a blown-out river look for side channels where the flow is reduced and fish very close to the bank.

Showing out at a blown-out river is avoidable. Simply check the river hydrograph before your trip. If you find that the river you plan to fish is blown-out, check the hydrograph on other rivers. Often if one river blows out others will still be fishable. The Clearwater may be blow out, but the Salmon or Ronde may be fine because they have significantly different drainages. And if everything is out of shape, don’t forget about the Snake River. The Snake River below Hells Canyon is essentially a tail-water fishery and so it doesn’t blow out. So if the Salmon at Riggins isn’t fishable, consider jumping over to the Snake at Pittsburg Landing. If the Main Clearwater is out of shape try fishing the NF of the Clearwater below Dworshak.

Checking the weather forecast is also helpful to see if a big storm is coming or if a Spring thaw is expected. A good rule of thumb I learned from John Hull (who used to run the Idaho Angler) is that if Stanley is getting below freezing at night the upper Salmon River will stay in fishable shape.

Different Level, Different River

Every year flows are different on the river, depending on the previous year’s snow pack, temperatures, fall rains, and in some cases dam outflow releases. The same river fishes different at different levels. One of my favorite holes on the Clearwater fishes best around 5,000 cfs. It isn’t there below 3,000 cfs and it is too fast over 7,000 cfs.

Keeping track of where you caught fish, what time of year, and at what flow will help you repeat the success the next time you’re at the river. A fishing log is a great way to do this, but you can also use historical hydrographs to look back at what the flows were last year when you caught fish. To get a hydrograph from a previous year, go to the river hydrograph site and change the “Time Series” parameter from “Real Time Data” to “Daily Data” and then set the date range.

Figure 3 shows dramatically different river conditions on the SF Clearwater in March of 2007 vs. 2008. Last Spring the SF Clearwater was unusually low and there weren’t the normal freshettes to pull fish into the river. The river stayed low and very few fish moved into the river and fishing was poor. In March 2007 the river came up and fish moved into the SF Clearwater and then continued moving upstream. Fishing was great!

In low water conditions steelhead hold in deeper holes and don’t like to move. And the fish that do move are very spooky. In higher water steelhead will migrate upriver and typically hold closer to the edge of the river.

Too Low To Go

Some times rivers are so low that I consider them “too low to go” fishing. Hydrographs can help you determine when rivers are very low. Steelhead won’t move into low tributaries very well, and the fish that are there will be spooky. If the river flow is significantly below the historical average for the river, then it may be too low to fish well. There is no substitute for knowing a river and what levels it fishes well. Personally I’ve had better luck on the Ronde when flows jump up over 1,000cfs and when flows are above 4,000cfs on the main Clearwater.

Thermal Blocks

As steelhead migrate upstream in the Fall their progress can be stopped if the water is too warm—typically over 72 degrees. This year we have had good river migration conditions and the steelhead run has moved quickly upstream. Over sixteen-thousand A-run steelhead have already crossed Lower Granite Dam (early A-run fish are destined for the Snake and Salmon drainages, not the Clearwater). However, once they got to Lewiston their migration was blocked because the Snake River is running in the mid to upper 70s. So the fish mill around in the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater, and even move up the Clearwater a few miles which is running in the low to mid 50s because of the cold outflow from Dworshak dam. Because all these fish are holed up in the lower Clearwater, fishing can be very good, until the Snake cools off.

Once the Snake River cools down below 72 degrees (22 degrees Celsius) the A-run steelhead quickly move out of the Clearwater and start moving up the Snake. Typically this is in early September, but because of the better water year, cooler summer and recent rains in Lewiston the temperature on the Snake River dropped early and fish are already moving up the Snake. This means there will be a large number of fish in the Salmon River early this year. So be prepared to intercept them at Riggins in October!

Some hydrographs have temperature sensors and you can monitor the river temperature. This can be very helpful in the winter to identify warming conditions that will get steelhead moving. When temperatures rise a few degrees fish become more active—and they start migrating upstream when the temperature rises above 40 degrees. The Salmon at White Bird has a temperature sensor and is a good gauge to watch mid winter.

The temperatures on the Snake below Hell’s Canyon dam are warmer in November and December than the Salmon and Clearwater, because the water comes off the top of Hells Canyon reservoir. Temps on the Salmon may be in the mid 30s and the Snake River at Pittsburg landing is still in the 40s. Idaho Power has temperature information online for the Snake at Oxbow.

Use a hydrograph with a temperature sensor to watch for favorable water temperatures. Some key gauges with temperature sensors are the Salmon at White Bird, the Snake at Annatone, the Clearwater at Spalding, the Clearwater at Orofino and the SF Clearwater at Stites.

Summary

Steelhead are influenced by river flows and temperatures. Use hydrographs to find optimum fishing conditions and avoid poor fishing conditions. Monitor your favorite river and watch for freshettes, dropping flows, or improving water temperatures and then go fishing! Keep notes on what river flows were when a river fishes well and check the gauge before the next trip and cross reference the flow to your notes. Your success will increase.

River Flow Web Sites

Here are links to some different streamflow pages on the web.

USGS Real Time Streamflows
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt

Idaho Streamflows
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/current/?type=flow

Idaho - Clearwater at Spalding
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv/?site_no=13342500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho - Clearwater at Orofino
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv/?site_no=13340000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho - Salmon at Whitebird
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv?cb_00010=on&cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&format=gif_default&period=21&site_no=13317000

Idaho - Salmon at Shoup
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv/?site_no=13307000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho - Upper Salmon at Yankee Fork
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv/?site_no=13296500&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho - Snake at Anatone
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv?cb_00060=on&cb_00065=on&cb_00010=on&format=gif_default&period=21&site_no=13334300

Oregon River Flows
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/current/?type=flow

Oregon - Grande Ronde
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/or/nwis/uv/?site_no=13333000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho Power Hells Canyon Flows and Forecast
http://www.idahopower.com/riversrec/waterlevels/hellsrivflw.cfm
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/id/nwis/uv/?site_no=13290450&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

Idaho Power Oxbow Temps
http://www.idahopower.com/riversrec/waterlevels/oxbow.asp

River Forecasts
http://www.nwrfc.noaa.gov/

SF Boise River Genetic Study

Fish Swami has adopted a fish for the South Fork of the Boise River 2008 genetic study. The donated money is being used to offset the cost of genetic testing, which is being done to understand the origins of the rainbow trout in the South Fork fishery. This weekend, anglers are floating the river below Anderson Ranch Dam, catching fish, and clipping fins for the genetic study.

To read more about the genetic study and conservation issues regarding the South Fork Boise River, visit southforkboise.org. You can donate to the conservancy project by clicking on the Support button.

A picture of the FishSwami.com fish will be posted when it becomes available.

Spawning Trout and Redds

In the spring, rainbow and cutthroat trout begin their annual spawning process. In rivers and streams where trout are naturally reproducing, it’s important to avoid disturbing spawning fish during this time. These trout are expending most of their energy on spawning. Angling for spawning fish adds undo stress. Additionally, extra care should be taken to avoid damaging trout spawning areas known as "redds". Trout deposit their eggs in a clean gravel bed where they are left to hatch in four to seven weeks. Wading through a redd can crush trout eggs or the trout fry that remain in the gravel for weeks after they hatch. By not fishing to spawning fish or disturbing their redds, anglers can help ensure strong future trout populations. The following tips will help you learn how to identify redds, spawning fish, and the locations where spawning fish build redds in a river.

What are Redds

• Redds are the nests of spawning fish.

How to Identify Redds

• Clean oval patches of small to medium-sized gravel typically 2 to 3 feet wide.
• Gravel is lighter-colored than surrounding gravel.
• Small depressions and mounds in the gravel indicate nest sites and eggs.

Where Are Redds Located?

• Riffles: 1 to 3 feet in depth with ample current to provide oxygen to the eggs.
• Gravel Bars: gravel bars allow eggs to sit among and below small rocks with clean water flowing over them.

How to Identify Spawning Fish

• Fish hug to a site and refuse to move even if disturbed.
• Large numbers of fish are concentrated in shallow water over a gravel bottom.
• Fish are darker-colored than normal. Their bellies are dark instead of a light, silvery color.
• Fish will fight sluggishly because they’re expending most of their energy on spawning.

What Can I Do?

• Avoid fishing, walking, wading, and mooring boats in shallow gravel bars near islands.
• Don’t cast to spawning fish.
• Politely help inform other anglers about trout spawning behaviors.

River Midge Fishing Tactics - Part 2

This blog is the second of two articles written on fishing river midge hatches during the winter and spring. The first article, focusing on the midge lifecycle and where to find midge-feeding fish, can be found here.

Midge Pattern Setup, Presentations, and Techniques

I almost always use two flies when fishing midge patterns. The patterns are usually small and the trout are less willing to move to feed, so fishing multiple flies allows you to fish two current lanes, two water depths, or two insect stages at once. These methods will need to be adapted if fishing regulations prevent you from fishing multiple flies simultaneously.

Fishing an Adult and an Emerger

Pools and Back Eddies

When fishing a pool or back eddy where trout are sitting near the surface, fishing a tandem rig of an adult pattern and an emerging pattern can be deadly. The emerging pattern is sometimes invisible on the water’s surface due to broken water or high surface glare, so the adult pattern works double duty as both an adult midge and a strike indicator. Fish the combination dead drift in the current, or let it sit motionless along the edge of a pool when trout are cruising and feeding. If you see a rise near your adult, wait briefly to see if your adult disappears. If it does, set the hook!

I often fish the Griffith’s Gnat as my adult pattern. It is a good floating fly, even in small sizes, and represents a cluster of midges on the water’s surface. For a midge emerger, I recommend Scott Sanchez’s Parachute Midge Emerger or a CDC Loop Tuft Emerger. Both patterns hang vertically in the water, yet are quite visible to the angler because of the tuft that sits above the water’s surface. The CDC Loop Tuft Emerger is especially good in slightly broken water or swirling back eddies. The CDC is very buoyant and can bring the pattern back to the surface if it is swamped by a wavelet or pulled under by the tippet. I highly recommend using a product like Frog’s Fanny desiccant to dry out the CDC tuft after catching a fish, or after the fly has started to sink.

To assemble the rig, first attach the dry fly to your 5x or smaller tippet. Then, attach an 18” to 24” strand of 5x or smaller tippet to the bend of the dry fly hook using an improved clinch knot. Attach the emerger pattern to the end of this tippet.

Fishing an Adult and a Shallow Nymph

Pools, Back Eddies, and Shallow Riffles

Fishing an adult pattern with a midge nymph pattern as a dropper is the most effective way I’ve found to fish to active trout feeding on midges. It is also one of the most exciting. The adult pattern catches the occasional fish, but more often than not the midge nymph will be the top producer. When fishing this rig, cast the flies ahead of rising trout or fish feeding in a back eddy or shallow riffle. Watch the dry fly intently – it will often disappear when the flies drift over a feeding trout. When it happens, set the hook!

With this tactic, trout are often partially or wholly visible to the angler during the entire presentation. In slower water, trout have time to take in your nymph pattern, taste it, and spit it back out without your dry fly ever moving. As your skills progress with this technique, begin setting the hook when you see your targeted trout’s mouth open, or you see the fish move to the side a few inches. These activities are signs that the fish has just taken your nymph. Quickly and fluidly set the hook; if the fish isn’t on, false cast to the side and re-present your patterns to the fish. Catching a trout based solely on seeing it react to your fly, but never seeing an indication from your strike indicator or dry fly, is as good as it gets for me in fly fishing.

Even when a pod of trout are feeding actively on the surface, they are usually very receptive to a sunken midge pupa pattern. I attach a tag of 5x or 6x tippet to the bend of the dry fly hook, then attach the midge nymph to end of the tag. The water depth, fish depth and water current speed dictate the length of the tippet tag. If trout are holding just under the surface in a pool, I will place the dropper 6” to 12” from the adult. If trout are 1’ to 2’ deep in the pool, or are sitting in a shallow back eddy, I will use a dropper length of 12” to 24”. Occasionally, if the fish are suspended in a slow, deep riffle, I will use a dropper of up to 36”. Anything deeper than that and I will switch tactics since it’s unlikely that the adult midge pattern will be of any use.

My favorite midge larva/pupa pattern is the zebra midge. It is as simple a pattern as any, consisting of a bead head, thread body, and fine wire ribbing. On my local rivers, the predominant color of midge is black or dark olive, so I fish a black zebra midge at least 75% of the time. It is very successful.

An alternative way to fish a shallow midge larva or pupa pattern is to not use a dry fly at all, instead fishing one sunken fly and using a pinch-on float or strike putty on the leader to control the fly depth and determine strikes. It is easier to add a tiny splitshot to the tippet with this method to help sink the nymph, since the float will not sink with the added weight.

Fishing Two Shallow Midge Nymphs

Pools, Back Eddies, and Riffles

When fish aren’t feeding at the surface or just underneath it, fishing a tandem midge nymph rig is an effective way to cover deeper water and catch active fish. This is an effective technique for covering riffles where fish can’t be spotted, fishing to spotted fish that are sitting deep in a back eddy or pool, or blindly nymphing likely fish-holding water. One of the benefits of this method of fishing is being able to vary pattern size and color to find a trout’s preference.

When rigging for this setup, I attach the first fly to the tippet, then attach a tag end of tippet to the eye of the first fly. I attach a second midge nymph 18” to 24” from the first fly. A pinch-on float attached to the leader above the first fly acts as both a strike indicator and a water depth regulator. I vary the location of the float based on the water depth, fish depth, and water current speed. When trout are actively feeding on midge pupa, I find that trout don’t necessarily hold to the bottom of the river, so fishing the flies at or near the bottom isn’t the best bet. I try to suspend the flies in the water column. If the current is fast enough, I’ll add small splitshot to the leader 6” to 8” above the first fly. If I’m snagging the bottom or the indicator keeps twitching because the nymphs are bouncing along the bottom, I’ll move the float closer to the first fly to keep the nymphs suspended.

I use zebra midges and disco zebra midgelings for most of my tandem midge nymphing. The disco zebra midgeling is more of an attractor midge pattern compared to the more-realistic zebra midge, and it can be deadly. I have fished zebra midges to spotted, actively-feeding fish before that have snubbed multiple quality drifts. After changing flies to a disco zebra midgeling, the trout have moved a foot-plus out of their feeding lanes to aggressively take the pattern! It doesn’t work all the time, but it’s a pattern I wouldn’t go fishing without. Black and red are my standard colors for the pattern, but surprisingly a light blue disco zebra midgeling has proven very effective on multiple occasions.

Deep Nymphing

Deep Back Eddies, Faster Riffles

Deep nymphing with a midge nymph can be a useful fishing tactic. It is not one of my favorite tactics to employ when midge fishing simply because fish cannot be spotted and fished to individually. However, it can be more effective than the other tactics early or late in the day or when midges aren’t hatching or active. For rivers with good stonefly populations, the large stonefly nymphs will be a trout staple during the winter and spring months when mayfly and caddis nymphs are either still eggs or microscopic in size. Try fishing a small zebra midge or disco zebra midgeling as a dropper 12” to 18” off a large stonefly nymph.

Midge Fishing Tips and Tricks

Adult midge patterns don’t always float all that well. Nymph patterns used as a dropper off the adult can sink the adult, and swirling microcurrents in pools and back eddies can swamp the adult by pulling the leader under. I often attach a pinch-on float a couple feet up the leader from the adult. The float acts as an indicator for spotting your tiny dry fly as it floats in foam or riffles, and also keeps the leader from sinking and pulling the adult under.

When trout are rising under foam mats, two problems present significant obstacles to catching fish: presenting a fly that the fish can see, and presenting a fly that the angler can see. I often fish midge emerger patterns in these situations, like the parachute midge emerger or CDC loop-tuft emerger. Because these patterns ride vertically in the water, they will hang down below the surface of the water and foam, making an easy target to fish. One key is to cast your fly into breaks in the foam – if the fly lands on top of the foam, it will likely not be visible at all to the trout. Do not cast until you can present your fly on a patch of open water. The second obstacle is that once you’ve cast, it’s nearly impossible to see your fly amid all of the foam and floating debris. I solve this by adding a small ball of strike putty a short distance up from the emerger pattern. The strike putty sticks out nicely against the mess, and provides a strike indicator if the fish takes the emerger without me seeing it.

Midge Patterns

I use the following patterns with regular success on my local tailwaters and freestone streams that feature good midge hatches in the winter and spring months. Modify the pattern colors to match local hatches. The light blue Disco Zebra Midgeling is a surprisingly effective attractor pattern at times. Tying instructions for the Disco Zebra Midgeling can be found here.

River Midge Fishing Tactics - Part 1

This blog is the first of two articles written on fishing river midge hatches during the winter and spring. The second article, focusing on midge patterns, setup, and fishing techniques can be found here.

When I first started winter fly fishing on rivers, I had a preconceived notion that the rivers lacked winter hatches, so any fishing would have to be done with nymphs or streamers presented down deep to lethargic trout. The thought of insects hatching and trout actively feeding at the surface seemed like a distant memory. Surely no self-respecting insect would hatch when it was 20 degrees outside and the wind was howling. Snowy river banks, iced-up rod eyelets, numb fingers and frozen feet were the name of the game now.

I was surprised when I was introduced to midges and winter midge fishing on rivers for trout. In the middle of winter, trout would be rising to tiny bugs on the surface, even when the wind was ripping across the surface. I found that once good holding spots for trout were located, they could consistently be found feeding subsurface on midge pupa and rising to midge adults on a daily basis. On days when the sun was out, the temperature was in the 30s, and the wind was dormant, fishing could be very good indeed.

The spring season only seemed to amplify the good things from the winter: fish were more active due to warmer water temperature; the midge hatches were stronger; and the warmer air temperature made it a little easier to be outside all day. All I needed were successful tactics for catching these active trout.

Midge Lifecycle in Rivers

The first step in successful midge fishing is understanding basic entomology regarding the insect. Midges in rivers and lakes belong to the family Chironomidae and are also known as “Chironomids,” especially to stillwater anglers. The adults look like an adult mosquito, but lack the mosquito’s proboscis; thus, midges cannot bite. Midges undergo a complete metamorphosis, meaning they grow from an egg, to a larva, to a pupa, and finally to an adult.

Midge larvae are worm-like in appearance with no visible legs. While the slender, segmented larvae can be nearly any color, common colors are red, black, olive, and gray. The larvae are bottom-dwelling insects, often either living in tubes they build in silt and mud or living in silk-lined cases they attach to the river bottom. Midge larvae are important to trout (and subsequently anglers) because of what is known as behavioral drift. On a daily basis, the larvae abandon their protective cases and drift with the river’s currents to a new location to find food. It is during this time that they are vulnerable to trout. For midge larvae, behavioral drift is highest at dawn and dusk.

Midge pupae retain the slender, segmented abdomen of their larval stage, but have large thoraxes and white gills at both their head and their bottom. They are fully-formed adult midges inside of their pupal shucks. Once ready to hatch, the midge pupae slowly swim and float to the water’s surface, and are subject to predation the entire journey. The common pupae colors are similar to the common larvae colors: red, black, olive, and gray.

Once at the surface, midge pupae struggle to break through the water’s rubbery meniscus. The surface tension traps the pupae momentarily. Once through, the adults hatch onto the water’s surface. During a hatch, trout key in on this stage of the emerging midge because of its vulnerability.

The adult midge has two wings, long legs, and a long, slender abdomen. Adults can form mating clusters on the water’s surface.

Finding Fish

In the winter, river flows are typically low and slow. Trout congregate in areas where they can minimize expended energy, find safety from predators, and still opportunistically feed. Two ideal places that meet these requirements are pools and deep back eddies. Shallow riffles will also hold trout; the broken water surface affords trout protection and the currents supply trout with food. With each of these water types, the lower water flows allow (and sometimes require) sight fishing to individual fish. Stealthy approaches and presentations may be necessary to successfully fool trout under these conditions.

Pools

Pools will likely hold the majority of trout in the winter time. The slow, deep water keeps the lethargic trout safe. A slight current through the pool can act as a conveyor belt of food to the trout, allowing them to feed while expending minimal energy. When trout are feeding on emerging midges and midge adults, they can hold very close to the surface, even in full sun.

Back Eddies

Back eddies are places along the river bank where the current flows back upstream along the bank. Trout will sit close to the bank and actually face downstream into the current. The back eddy will collect midge adults, crippled midges, or emerging midges on the surface; trout will sip these casually or swim side to side eating midge larvae and pupae in the water column. Not all back eddies will hold trout, however. If the back eddy is shallow, it needs to be connected to a deeper main channel to provide trout with an escape route should a predator appear. Optimal back eddies are those that are at least 2 feet deep and have a deep trough towards the middle of the river for the trout to retreat to.

Foam

With both pools and back eddies, a layer of foam floating on the water can provide trout with an added sense of security from aerial attackers. If you find a pool with foam collecting on top, watch the pool and wait for breaks or shifts in the foam to reveal any feeding trout sitting just under the water’s surface. The foam will also capture midge adults and emerging midges, affording trout an easy, inescapable meal. Look for little dimples or trout noses poking through the foam as a sign of feeding trout.

Shallow Riffles

Shallow, slow riffles offer trout an excellent feeding location for ascending midge pupae and emerging midge adults. The rippled water surface allows trout to sit in surprisingly shallow water while remaining relatively hidden. Optimum shallow riffles are those that feed into a deeper pool or run, or those that have a deeper main channel where trout can flee to when scared. When feeding, trout will not necessarily hold to the bottom of the river in these riffles because the current is not that strong. To spot fish, look to likely areas and stare at the river bottom for some time. Use polarized glasses to reduce the surface glare, focus on the bottom of the river, and wait for the active trout’s movements to reveal the fish’s location. The white of an open mouth, a dark silhouette parallel to the water current, or the silver flash of the fish’s side are all signs of a fish.

In Part 2: Midge Fishing Tactics, Tips, and Patterns

Hand Tying Fly Leaders

The fly leader is the connection between your fly rod-and-line, and the fly. On a typical 40 foot cast the leader represents 25% of the distance between you and the fish. Having the right leader can help increase your fishing success. Tying your own leaders will help you cast your fly farther and with more accuracy, resulting in catching more fish!

Many people like to use "store-bought" leaders with a smooth continuous taper. Unfortunately these leaders aren't as effective at transmitting the energy from the fly line to the fly and the result is often casts that don’t turn over the fly very well. A properly constructed leader can be matched to the weight of your fly rod and will help turn over big flies such as grasshoppers as well as little tiny flies such as PMDs and midges. Hand tied leaders are also easier to repair and add new tippet. I find that I can use the same leader all year with a few repairs during the season. I also like nymphing with the hand-tied leader; snugging the strike indicator up to a knot, and putting split shot above a knot so it doesn’t slip.

Leaders are constructed of 3 sections: the butt, taper and tippet. The butt section should be made from stiff monofilament in order to transfer energy well. The butt section is 60% of the total length. The tippet is the section that presents the fly to the fish. It should be supple for good presentation. The taper is the section between the butt and the tippet, and it should be short. Whenever possible, do not connect monofilament pieces differing in diameter of more than 2/100ths of an inch (.02") as they will not transfer energy well and the knots are not as strong. Also, larger differences can cause a hinging effect when you cast. The diameter of the butt section of the leader should match the fly line weight (the butt section should be about 2/3rds the diameter of the fly line). Most leaders you buy in the store only match a 5 or 6 weight line. They don’t work well on a lighter line or a heavier line. A 3wt line should have a butt section of .018-.020; a 4wt .019-.021; a 5wt .020-.022; a 6wt .021-.023; a 7wt .022-.024; a 8wt. .023-.026 and a 9 wt .024-.027. For example the butt section of both the Orvis "SuperStrong" and Rio "Classic Hand Tied" 9’ 5x leader is .021. This works well for a 5wt, but not well for a 3wt.

The blood or barrel knot is typically used for the butt and taper sections. It takes some practice to tie well, but it is good because the line comes out evenly on each side of the knot. One tip for tying the blood knot is to use 3 wraps with heavier mono in the butt section and 4-5 wraps in the taper. The double surgeons knot is used for the tippet sections as it has greater strength. If you are tying 2 different brands of materials together (including fluorocarbon) use a triple surgeons knot for extra slip protection. And always wet the knots before drawing them tight to ensure the knots are tight and don’t heat up and weaken as they are tightened. This is especially important for fluorocarbon!! Pull the knots very-tight (you may want to wear work-gloves) and then trim the knots close. If you are concerned about the knots catching moss, you can put a thin coat of Loon KnotSense over them to help smooth them out.

There are 2 popular options for attaching the leader to the fly line. The first is to attach a section of butt material to the fly line using a nail knot. Then whenever a new leader is needed you attach it to the butt material using a blood knot. This way you don’t have to keep cutting pieces of fly line, and you don’t have to tie a nail knot out on the river! The second option is to use a loop-to-loop connection. Some fly lines have a loop on them. You can also tie a loop in the end of the piece of butt section that is attached to the fly line. Keep the loops small and use a perfection loop as it ties in a straight line (keep the loops small so they go through the guides easily). There are some braided loops you can buy and slip over the end of the fly line (but I don’t like them). Some people think the loops cause a hinging effect. I’m sure they aren’t as efficient as a straight knot, but they are convenient when you want to change to a new leader. One thing to keep in mind with the butt section attached to your fly line is to make sure that it is the right diameter and a stiff material. I’ve had fly shops put on a butt section that is too wimpy for my 8wt line and put on a butt section that is way too big on my 3wt line.

Tips to get the most out of your fly leader:

1. Make sure to match the butt size of the leader to you fly line. A 3wt line should have a butt section of .018-.020; a 4wt .019-.021; a 5wt .020-.022; a 6wt .021-.023; a 7wt .022-.024; a 8wt. .023-.026 and a 9 wt .024-.027.
2. Make sure to match your tippet size to the fly size. Don’t try to turn over a #4 steelhead fly with 4x tippet! Here’s a general rule of thumb for fly sizes. Keep in mind that if you weight your flies you may need to use a heavier tippet.
   

   1x -- #2 - #8	2x -- #4 - # 10
   3x -- #8 - #14	4x -- #12 - #16
   5x -- #14 - #18	6x -- #16 - #22

3. Watch for wind knots in your leader. A wind knot reduces the breaking strength of your leader by 50%!
4. Replace the tippet section after landing a large fish. Fine tippets get stretched out and abraded during the fight and will break much easier.
5. If fish are refusing your fly, try reducing the tippet size.
6. If the fly isn’t turning over then try reducing the tippet length and/or tippet size.
7. If the tippet is breaking too easily then try moistening the knots more as you pull them tight. You also might consider replacing your spool of tippet material. I recommend replacing your 4x-8x tippet material every year or two as it looses strength. I like to write the purchase date on the spool to make sure it doesn’t get too old on me. Heavier leader spools don’t need to be replaced as often.
8. Practice tying knots at home so you can tie a good, quick knot on the river.

Below are 4 formulas for leaders. The first is a general one for trout. It is about 10 feet and tapers to 4X, which is good for fly sizes 12 to 16. If you want to tie on a 18 or 20 you should add some 5X tippet. When doing this I like to cut back the 4x section to be 8 to 12 inches or so, and then add 18-24 inches of the 5X. The second leader is a 6X leader for a 3 or 4 weight line and is good for fishing smaller flies. The third leader is a stouter leader that is good for throwing hoppers and stoneflies. (If you want you can also cut back the general trout leader and add some 2X tippet since you know the taper!). The fourth leader is a steelhead leader which is good at turning over big flies and in windy conditions. The trout leader formulas are out of the Dennison Leader Making Kit and are considered the "Orvis" leader formula. The Steelhead leader formula is a Kauffman formula out of a Scott Richmond book on fishing the Deschutes river. Note that sometimes the tippet sizes you can find don’t match the sizes in the leader formulas. For example, some leaders call for the leader to start with a .021 butt section but Maxima Clear isn’t available in .021. So use the .022 instead. For more leader formulas, and more info on tying leaders, try the LeaderCalc spreadsheet available at http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/leadercalc/.

For the butt and taper sections I like to use Maxima Chameleon or Maxima Clear. They are stiff and tough. You can use Maxima Ultragreen if you like a slightly limper leader. For the tippet I like Rio PowerFlex mono. It is limp and strong. Orvis Super Strong is also good. A typical store-bought leader is about four dollars. A spool of Maxima leader material typically runs around $2.75. Tippet material runs about $3.75 a spool. Landing "The Big One"… PRICELESS!

General Trout Leader: 10’ 4X for 5/6 weight line.

Material	Leader Diameter	Section Length	Strength
Clear	.022"	36”	30lb
Clear	.020"	16”	25lb
Clear	.017"	12”	20lb
Clear	.015"	6”	15lb
Clear	.012"	6”	10lb
Rio	.010" 1X	6”	13lb
Rio	.008" 3X	12”	8.2lb
Rio	.007" 4X	24”	6.4lb

Light line leader: 6X for 3/4 weight line.

Material	Leader Diameter	Section Length	Strength
Clear	.020"	29”	30lb
Clear	.017"	19”	25lb
Clear	.015"	12”	20lb
Clear	.012"	10”	15lb
Rio	.010" 1X	6”	13lb
Rio	.008" 3X	6”	8.2lb
Rio	.007" 4X	6”	6.4lb
Rio	.006" 5X	8”	5.0lb
Rio	.006" 6X	22”	3.4lb

Hopper Leader: 2X for 5/6 weight line.

Material	Leader Diameter	Section Length	Strength
Clear	.022"	36”	30lb
Clear	.020"	16”	25lb
Clear	.017"	12”	20lb
Clear	.015"	6”	15lb
Clear	.012"	6”	10lb
Rio	.010" 1X	8”	13lb
Rio	.009" 2X	20”	10lb

Steelhead leader for 8/9/10 weight line.

Material	Leader Diameter	Section Length	Strength
Clear	.024"	28”	40lb
Clear	.022"	22”	30lb
Clear	.020"	8”	25lb
Clear	.017"	8”	20lb
Clear	.015"	8”	15lb
Ultragreen	.013"	8”	12lb
Ultragreen	.012"	30”	10lb

General Trout Leader: 10’ 4X for 5/6 line.

Assemble from butt section to tippet. Then add optional perfection loop if desired.

Puget Sound Fishing at Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Indeed.

Thanksgiving weekend 2007 not only afforded me a few days to visit Mom in Washington state on the shores of Puget Sound, but also allowed for some time spent fly fishing for SRCs (Sea Run Cutthroats) and chum salmon in the cold, clear, saltwater of the Sound. Being from Idaho I don't get a chance to fish saltwater or salmon too often, so I flew out to Washington not only looking forward to spending the holiday with family, but also in anticipation of a new fishing experience and the challenge of coaxing some saltwater species into my net.

Fortunately I had come across Jon Aqui's Fishing Blog earlier in the year and had followed along with his fly fishing exploits on the Sound over the months leading up to Thanksgiving. Once in Washington I contacted Jon, asking him if he had any tips for a newbie to the area like myself. He graciously responded with info that only a local experienced angler could provide.

Day 1 began on the shores of Narrows Park just prior to sunrise. I flogged about with a pink streamer for an hour or so as a pack of seals cruised by 100 yards out from shore and the sun rose over Mt. Rainier. It was one of those times where you are grateful just to be on the water. As I walked along the shore wondering about my choice of fly and if there were even any fish along this stretch of water, I was approached by the only other fisherman on the beach who had arrived just shortly after I. We got to talking and it turned out that he (Paul C.) was acquainted with Jon. Paul confirmed that we were indeed in a good fishing spot and that my pink streamer was a solid choice, but there just wasn't much action that morning. He was also kind enough to provide the saltwater rookie with a couple of his Clouser patterns. We talked for awhile as his Golden Retriever swam in the water and ran around the rocky beach, and then both decided to move on to other areas. I don't know where Paul headed off to but I got in my car and drove to Kopachuck Park.

It was windy on Kopachuck beach but the sky was mostly clear and the sun was shining through the trees. Maybe half a mile or so off the beach is a small island where the state record SRC had been caught. This might be a good place. I switched from my streamer to "Paul's Clouser #1" and waded into the water. On my second retrieve I felt a tug on the line and landed my first ever SRC shortly thereafter. At just under 12" the young cutt was not spectacular but was a memorable fish nonetheless. You never forget your first time, right? Several more casts yielded 3 more SRCs, although 2 of them got off before being landed. I fished for another half hour without any luck and decided I was cold and hungry, so it was back to Mom's for hot coffee and lunch.

The morning of day 2 was spent along the Purdy Spit. I casted about for maybe 1/2 hour at low tide before I noticed the chum salmon jumping and rolling across the bay. As I gathered up my things and prepared to drive to the salmon side of the bay I realized that I had left my waders back at Mom's. Ugh. Okay, there are other options. I decided to drive over to Minter Creek and see if any salmon had begun moving up the creek yet. I arrived to find plenty of chums in the creek and nearly as many fishermen lining the banks. Rather than join the fray I just watched for awhile from a bridge up above. Now Minter Creek is only about 10 feet wide and a couple feet deep, and the "fishing" that I saw consisted mostly of snagging salmon and dragging them onto the shore. I watched the carnage for a few minutes along with another gentleman who sarcastically quipped "These are some real sportsmen" as he turned to leave. So that was it for the rather disappointing morning of Day 2. But the evening of Day 2 was yet to come.

After dinner it was back up to the Purdy Spit, this time with waders in tow. The tide was in and one could see the occasional splash of a salmon as one gazed down the shoreline. Encouraged that there were still chums in the area I made my way down to where the action was and, after stopping to chat for a bit with another local, began casting about with "Paul's Clouser #2". After an hour or so of casting to various depths and varied retrieve speeds I finally felt a tug, followed immediately by a violent pull. Within 2 seconds a chum had taken the line to the backing as he jumped and sped off into the sunset and deeper water. As I struggled to haul him back to the shore my exhiliration turned to disappointment as it became obvious that he wasn't fair hooked - he was instead snagged just in front of the dorsal fin. I finally got him in the net, removed the hook from his backside and returned him to the water. The salmon had become quite active by this point, and as a full moon took over for the now-absent sun the serenity of a windless night on the Sound was disturbed only by the salmon which now roiled the water all around me. Within half an hour "Clouser #2" had hooked salmon #2. This time the hook set and ensuing struggle felt right and resulted in a fair hooked 32" chum.

That seemed like a pretty good way to end both the day and my inaugural Puget Sound fishing experience. I look forward to fishing here again when I come back for another visit.

Fly of the Year For 2007

The 2007 year was the second consecutive year that I have recorded all of my fishing trips into Fish Swami. One of the benefits of keeping a fishing log for all of my outings is being able to view catch statistics for previous years. Fish Swami has a very powerful statistical analysis tool that lets you query your fishing log for almost any statistic you would like to know. I used that tool to compile the following table for my top 10 fish-producing flies for 2007.

Number Caught	Pattern
68	CDC Biot Thorax Dun
61	Zebra Midge
50	Pheasant Tail BH
49	Disco Zebra Midgeling
40	CDC Parachute
35	Elk Hair Caddis
29	Halfback
27	X-Caddis
26	Trigger Nymph (Mercer)
24	Parachute Midge Emerger

I must make an immediate disclaimer: my fish catch numbers are influenced by a few important factors: I fish for rainbow and brown trout almost exclusively; I fish tailwater rivers the majority of the time; and I live in the Pacific Northwest. If any of these factors were different for 2007, my list of top 10 flies would change significantly. The fact that my top 10 list is dominated by mayfly and chironomid/midge patterns underscores the types of waters I fish and the species of fish I target.

CDC Biot Thorax Dun

The top pattern for me in 2007 was a CDC (from the French term cul-de-canard, meaning “duck butt”) derivation of a classic mayfly adult pattern, the Thorax Dun. I had not fished the CDC Biot Thorax Dun pattern much previous to 2007, catching only 3 fish on it the prior year. The difference in catch rates between the two years can be mainly attributed to my developing skills in matching mayfly hatches. These skills are in turn directly tied to me fishing more on tailwater rivers with good hatches and selective rainbow and brown trout, versus years past when I fished freestone rivers with poor hatches and less selective cutthroat trout. Because of the pattern’s visibility and good floatation in faster water, I often used the Thorax Dun as my point fly. From the bend of the hook, I attached related mayfly patterns like a CDC Parachute for a flush-floating adult or cripple, a Halfback for a shallow emerging nymph, or a Trigger Nymph for a deeper emerging nymph. Doing this allowed me to fish multiple stages of a mayfly hatch at once. I could trigger various fish that were feeding on different mayfly stages without having to retie on a new fly each time.

Pattern Usage Basis

Using Fish Swami’s statistical analysis tool once more, I am able to break down the fish catch numbers based on colors of the CDC Biot Thorax Dun that I used.

Number Caught	Pattern	Pattern Color
10	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	Olive
38	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	Pale Yellow
8	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	Pink
12	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	Yellow

I focused on three different mayfly hatches in 2007: Pale Morning Duns (PMDs) throughout the summer and early fall, Pink Alberts in the early fall, and Blue-Winged Olives in the fall and early winter. Most of my success came with the pale yellow or yellow Thorax Duns, which is due to the longer duration PMD hatch I fished during the summer. To validate this statement, I can perform another query to determine how many fish I caught each month on the CDC Biot Thorax Dun.

Number Caught	Pattern	Month
29	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	June
14	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	July
4	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	August
16	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	September
1	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	October
4	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	November

Indeed, 47 of the 68 fish caught on the Thorax Dun were caught during the summer months of June, July, and August, when PMDs are most prevalent.

Fish Species

I can also break down the number of fish caught on the CDC Biot Thorax Dun according to fish species.

Number Caught	Fish Species
50	Brown Trout
18	Rainbow Trout

Normally selective brown trout found the Thorax Dun to be an effective mayfly adult imitation.

Time of Day

To show the power of Fish Swami’s statistical analysis tool, I have run several more queries. The following table shows me what time of day I caught fish using the CDC Biot Thorax Dun.

Number Caught	Time of Day
68	2:52 PM to 9:11 PM

It seems that I only used the pattern in the afternoon and evening, which corresponded to most of the mayfly hatches I fished during the summer.

I can also run a query to determine what the skies were like when I caught fish on the Thorax Dun:

Number Caught	Skies - Morning	Skies - Afternoon	Skies - Evening
2	null	null	null
9	null	null	Sunny
21	null	Sunny	Sunny
8	null	Mostly Cloudy	Cloudy
10	null	Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy
13	null	Cloudy	Cloudy
1	Cloudy	Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy
4	Cloudy	Cloudy	Cloudy

The results of this query are a bit harder to understand initially. In summary, I caught 30 fish on the pattern when the day was Sunny and I caught 36 fish on the pattern when the day was cloudy. Interestingly, the numbers are pretty even for my sample set – the Thorax Dun worked well in both sunny and cloudy conditions.

Next, I can run a query to determine what wind conditions were like:

Number Caught	Wind - Morning	Wind - Afternoon	Wind - Evening
2	null	null	null
2	null	null	None
3	null	null	None, Very Light - <5 knots
4	null	null	None, Light - 5 to 10 knots
10	null	None, Very Light - <5 knots	None
3	null	Light - 5 to 10 knots	Very Light - <5 knots, Light - 5 to 10 knots
13	null	Light - 5 to 10 knots, Medium - 10 to 15 knots	None, Very Light - <5 knots
13	null	Light - 5 to 10 knots, Medium - 10 to 15 knots	Light - 5 to 10 knots
3	null	Medium - 10 to 15 knots	Light - 5 to 10 knots
2	null	Medium - 10 to 15 knots, Heavy - 15+ knots	Light - 5 to 10 knots
8	null	Medium - 10 to 15 knots, Heavy - 15+ knots	Light - 5 to 10 knots, Medium - 10 to 15 knots
1	None	None, Very Light - <5 knots	None
3	Very Light - <5 knots	Very Light - <5 knots	Very Light - <5 knots
1	Very Light - <5 knots	Light - 5 to 10 knots, Medium - 10 to 15 knots	Medium - 10 to 15 knots

This query needs significant consolidation to glean out the important information. If I group the information into four categories based on overall wind activity for the day, I get:

None-Very Light: 23
Light or less: 3
Medium or less: 32
Heavy or less: 10

The pattern seemed to fish well in very light wind or medium wind. It’s harder to make a solid statement about this, since often on the days where the wind blew medium or heavy speeds, the wind was gusty and there were periods of calm where fish rose consistently to adults. This can be seen by the number of rows where both “Light” and “Medium” values were checked for wind speeds during the same day segment. It’s likely I caught more fish on the surface during the “light” periods versus the “medium” periods.

2007 Vs. 2006

It is interesting to compare my top 10 flies from 2007 with 2006:

2007		2006
Number Caught	Pattern	Number Caught	Pattern
68	CDC Biot Thorax Dun	95	Pheasant Tail BH
61	Zebra Midge	75	Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear
50	Pheasant Tail BH	44	Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear BH
49	Disco Zebra Midgeling	42	Foamy
40	CDC Parachute	42	Stimulator
35	Elk Hair Caddis	35	Pheasant Tail
29	Halfback	27	Green Rockworm
27	X-Caddis	21	Clear Wing Spinner
26	Trigger Nymph (Mercer)	20	Copper John
24	Parachute Midge Emerger	19	Elk Hair Caddis

While 2007 was dominated with mayfly adult and midge larvae/pupae patterns, 2006 was the year of the nymph. The Pheasant Tail and Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear patterns comprised 4 of my top 10 patterns. The Pheasant Tail alone contributed to 21% of my catch totals for 2006. It was a different story in 2007. The CDC Biot Thorax Dun only constituted 9% of my catch totals, and I caught double-digit numbers of fish on 22 different patterns.

Conclusion

The 2007 year was tremendous for me in being able to fish often and somewhat consistently throughout the months of the year. One major benefit of fishing the same waters throughout the course of a year is being able to watch how the seasons unfold, how hatches come and go, and how fish react to their environment. Documenting my outings in Fish Swami has helped me develop a more accurate feel for the varying conditions that affect angling success on my local waters. In time, my personal logs will tell a story of how I developed as an angler, and how I enjoyed the times I was able to spend outdoors. For now, I can at least use my fishing logs to count how many fish I caught on a CDC Biot Thorax Dun.

Spotting Steelhead

As winter turns to spring, steelhead resume migrating to their spawning grounds. River freshettes (where the water rises) and warmer water temperatures draw fish upstream and into smaller tributary streams. As steelhead get closer to their spawning grounds it becomes easier to spot them, both because of the smaller size of the river, and because they move into more predictable locations. Sight fishing for steelhead is an exciting experience. Instead of blindly fishing mile after mile of water you can actually see your quarry and how it reacts to your fly. Chances of success are greatly improved when you know the fish are present, and you can direct your cast to them. Team fishing, where one partner spots from a vantage point while the second partner fishes will help you hook-up. However, spotting steelhead takes practice and some stealth. Here are some tips on locating migrating steelhead in the river.

Sunlight

It is easiest to spot fish when the sun is out on the water and behind you. Find river banks where the sun is at your back. If possible, cross the river to get the sun behind you. Overhead sun is also good. Cloudy or no-sun situation makes it much more difficult to spot steelhead, unless you know exactly where to look. I like to cup my hands on each side of my eyes as side-shields while I look for fish--to keep out all light. Focus your viewing on the bottom of the river. Wait for windows of visibility to drift over the spot you are looking at. Make sure you are wearing polarized sunglasses--if you don't have them--THEN GO BUY SOME!! Attempting to spot steelhead without polarized glasses is very difficult. Photo-chromatic sunglasses, such as the copper Action Optics, are a good choice. These sunglasses are lightly tinted in low light conditions, such as are present in the morning/evening, and get darker in brighter daylight.

Structure

One of the keys to spotting steelhead in the spring is to identify the bottom gravel and structure where they like to hold. Once you find good holding locations, you will continue to find fish there--so keep good track of the spots where you find fish. Remember that in the spring steelhead are looking for spawning gravel. They will stop and hold at many different spots with spawning gravel, as they travel upstream. This is actually the key item in what makes it possible to spot steelhead in the spring. Spawning gravel is golf-ball or smaller sized gravel that is in one to four feet of water. It is typically located out of the main flow-- often near the shoreline. One thing I look for is gravel that has been "rubbed clean" by fish. This happens as the females rub their sides on the gravel. I don't know if they are building a redd, loosening their eggs, or just going through the early motions of spawning. But it creates a very distinctive change in gravel coloration that is a flashing neon sign that steelhead have been there. You may also spot fish in holding water, such as in front or behind a boulder. Steelhead prefer to swim upstream along the river shore, so boulders along the edge that breakup the river flow are a good place to look, so are tail-outs just above a rapid. Fish will rest in these areas after swimming up through the rapid. Spots above deep holding-water will fish well first thing in the morning, and again in the evening. Migrating steelhead will hold in the deeper water and then move out when the light is low on the water. Some spots that fish well in the mid-day will not fish well in the early morning because they aren't adjacent to holding water. Keep this in mind when you choose your first morning fishing spot.

Fish Shapes

Don't look specifically for fish--but instead look for fishy-looking shapes. Watch for dark shapes, two to three feet long, which are parallel to the current. In the spring two or three steelhead will often travel together, so be looking for a pair of steelhead. Sometimes they will be side by side, but often the males will be holding just to the side and below the female. If a second male is present he will be holding below the female. You may see these males swim back and forth, jockeying for position with the female. Look for "fish parts", and not the whole fish. Some of the key shapes to look for are the fish's tail, the fish's head, the lateral red stripe, or the fish's red gill plate. Look for movement, such as the fish's tail moving slightly in the current, or the flash of a female rubbing on the bottom gravel. Movement can be a key, as it will catch your eye. If there is bright sun out, look for shadows in the river and then find what is casting the shadow. Sometimes you can see the fish shadow easier than the actual fish.

Stalking Fish

Once you've found a fish you have to be careful not to spook it. The fish are wary, and are often easily spooked because they are exposed to predators when in shallow water. Fish may spook if you cast your fly line over them-- shadows make them very nervous. Don't walk up to them from the side or from the front. If you are nymphing, stay behind them and to the side. If you are swinging your fly to them, be careful not to get too close, and stay as low as you can. If you do spook the fish you are casting to--don't give up! There are usually other fish holding very near, sometimes right below them in deeper water. Take a few minutes and look around, and even if you don't see more fish, make a few casts below the area where you spotted the first fish anyway. If you spot multiple fish then try and cast to the male first. The female will stay put while you hook and fight the male. But when you hook the female the male will follow her, and you will then have less chance of catching him.

Be Responsible

Casting to visible steelhead is an exciting way to fish. But don't forget that these fish are preparing to spawn, or later in the season, are spawning. Be a responsible angler¡ªwade carefully and avoid walking through gravel that has been rubbed clean. Play and release the fish quickly, being especially careful with wild fish. Some anglers disapprove of fishing for steelhead as they near time to spawn. You may choose to fish to just the males (which are darker colored), or fish the water below the gravel spawning areas.

Fall Fishing

Fall is an amazing time to be outdoors - the oppressive heat from summer is gone, the hillsides turn gold and crimson in radiant splendor as trees present their annual parting gifts, and fishing picks up as fall hatches commence and fish gorge before the winter. Fishing isn't always great, however, but luckily when it's not, nature affords a multitude of opportunities to take photographs or simply relax and enjoy the season's diminishing warmth. The photographs that follow are from my autumn adventures thusfar. Enjoy.

Fall colors brighten the edges of the South Fork Boise River.

South Fork Boise River rainbow trout.

Unknown species fry in a shallow pool connected to the Boise River; foam collecting with leaves along shore.

Snow can chill a nice fall day in a hurry.

Fishing a PMD Hatch

On many rivers, Pale Morning Duns (PMDs) are a relief to both anglers and fish alike. In the West, the hatch of the medium-sized mayfly can occur both in numbers and duration during the summer months. After a winter and spring of fishing miniscule midge patterns or trying to time sporadic drake emergences, PMDs can ease anglers and fish into a fairly consistent daily schedule of hatch and spinner fall. This allows an angler to spend time not only on honing patterns for each stage of the Pale Morning Dun's lifecycle, but also on focusing on specific water types to fish certain patterns.

PMD nymphs inhabit riffles, runs, and flats of rivers. As they mature, nymphs develop dark wing pads. Despite being feeble swimmers, they are generally not available to trout until a few hours before their emergence. Once ready to hatch, the nymphs slowly rise to the water’s surface, buoyed by internal gases and their wriggling swimming motion. The water’s meniscus traps the mayfly nymphs temporarily. Their thorax then splits, allowing the duns to climb through the hole to perch atop the rubbery water surface while their wings dry for flight. Weather conditions and wind affect how long the PMD duns ride the surface before flying to streamside vegetation. The duns normally molt into true mayfly adults, or spinners, within 24 hours. Once they molt, male Pale Morning Dun spinners form mating swarms over riffles to attract female partners. This usually occurs during windless periods in either the morning or evening. Mating occurs in-flight, and once completed the male PMD adults fall spent to the water’s surface while the females lay their eggs by dipping their abdomen into the water’s surface.

To maximize the angler’s results when fishing a Pale Morning Dun hatch, he or she must know the general time periods during the day that the hatch occurs. The PMD hatch can be quite regular, and trout will quickly pick up the daily schedule of when the hatch and its associated stages occur. The nymphs become restless a few hours before emergence and subsequently become increasingly available to trout in the drift. It is at this time that an impressionist nymph fished deep will start taking fish. An appropriately-sized Bead Head Pheasant Tail works well during this time.

As the mayfly hatch builds up steam, a substantial number of nymphs will be in the middle of the water column at any given time. A prime location to fish during this period is shallow- to medium-depth riffles. Often, fish will become quite active and can be spotted moving vertically and laterally to intercept drifting nymphs. A very effective fly at this time is Mike Mercer’s PMD Trigger Nymph. The fly features a ball of sparkly yellow dubbing on top its thorax to imitate a PMD nymph that has started its emergence sub-surface. As the hatch progresses, trout will begin to focus in on this aspect; it is a highly effective triggering characteristic.

Once the hatch is underway and an abundant number of duns are riding the surface, trout will shift their focus to include taking duns off the surface. Several important factors determine how selective trout become with respect to feeding on mayfly adults. If it is a windy day the PMD duns will skate across the surface, leaving tiny wakes. From a trout’s perspective this is unnatural, and the trout will feed on subsurface nymphs at a higher percentage. If it is a cool, cloudy day, it will take longer for the PMD duns’ wings to dry and ready for flight; thus, they will ride the surface for longer periods of time and trout will key more selectively on the duns than the emerging nymphs.

One of the most visually-stimulating methods for fishing the Pale Morning Dun hatch during the early emergence period may not be what you think. While fishing dry flies to spotted trout can be considered the pinnacle of trout fly fishing, trout may rise for only a short time during the hatch. And if it’s windy, trout may not rise at all. But the PMD nymphs will almost surely be active, and fishing nymph patterns to active trout in shallow riffles can be just as enthralling.

A favorite tactic of mine is to find shallow riffles where the sun allows good visibility into the water. Without casting, I watch the riffles where I expect trout to be, and more often than not, within a short time I see the silvery flashes of a fish rising up to take a suspended nymph. A nymph pattern tied as a shallow dropper off an adult PMD pattern can prove to be deadly. I usually fish Mercer’s PMD trigger nymph as the dropper 18-30 inches off a CDC Thorax adult. The nymph isn’t heavy enough to sink the adult pattern for short to medium-length drifts, and the yellow ball triggers plenty of strikes.

The visually-stimulating part of this method of fishing is seeing the trout move in the water column to take the nymph. A feel can be developed that drastically increases hook-ups. The dry fly acts as an indicator, but it also lets the angler know the general vicinity of the nymph. If the dry fly dips under for any reason, set the hook because a fish may have taken the nymph. But just as importantly, if any flash or fish movement is seen under the dry fly, set the hook because a fish more than likely just ate the nymph. I have caught countless fish on the nymph dropper with this method where I never saw the dry fly move, but I did see a fish move in the water underneath it. I have also had plenty of instances where I saw a fish move underneath my dry fly but I did not set the hook. An instant later, the dry fly dipped under, accompanied by a late hook set and a very brief battle with a barely-hooked fish.

A good place to fish during the main part of a PMD emergence is the tail of a long run or pool, where the water shallows and concentrates nymphs in the water column. Fish will stack up in this area to feed not only on the drifting duns but also the drowned adults, emerging nymphs, and cripples. A recommended tactic for this time is to use an adult PMD pattern such as a CDC Thorax Dun or a Parachute, and tie a dropper 12-18 inches to a Halfback pattern tied with yellow Antron dubbing for the front half of the fly. The yellow dubbing acts as a triggering characteristic for the fly, similar to the yellow dubbing ball on the PMD Trigger Nymph. The Halfback is a buoyant pattern that can be fished in the surface film or within the top few inches of the surface. Fishing the adult/emerger combination allows the angler to fish multiple stages of the hatch at once. During a heavy hatch, individual fish will key in on certain stages of emergence; fishing with this combination will catch more fish with fewer fly changes.

The PMD spinner fall can happen in the morning, the evening, or both. During this time, fish will rise but with a different rise form than the one seen when fish are taking duns off the surface. Instead of hearing an audible gulp sound and seeing the trout’s nose poke above the surface, only a surface swirl will be seen, or only the trout’s dorsal fin will break the surface. It is important to distinguish between the rise form of the trout for mayfly duns and mayfly spinners, as trout will key in on one stage or the other. The water type where fish are rising will also help isolate which stage fish are feeding on. Typically, trout will feed on spinners in the back eddies of riffles, the edges along broken banks, and flats. A good fly for this type of water is Gary LaFontaine’s Clear Wing Spinner.

The aforementioned tactics will help anglers decide on where to fish during each stage of the Pale Morning Dun’s emergence. During the early emergence period when the mayfly nymphs are becoming active in the water column, try fishing nymphs in shallow riffles to visible, active trout. Once the hatch is underway, try moving up to the head of riffles where the upstream pool or run concentrates nymphs in the water column. Here, use an adult PMD pattern with a buoyant nymph dropper. Don’t be surprised if you catch more fish on the dropper than the adult, despite all of the rises you see. In the evening or morning when PMD spinners are mating and dropping to the water’s surface, fish a flush-floating spinner fly in calmer water for sipping trout. Most importantly, enjoy fishing the Pale Morning Dun hatch in its impressive size and duration, and practice catch and release.

Fish Swami Presents: Fish Videos

Fish Swami is proud to introduce its newest section of the site - Fish Videos. It can be intriguing and entertaining to watch fish when they are active, and one can learn lessons when fishing by spending more time watching fish before he or she actually wets a line. Odds can be tilted in the angler’s favor by discerning if a fish is feeding, how it is taking its food, whether it seems curious or if it is simply lethargically biding its time until the next major hatch to feed. My goal is to take videos of fish in varying situations, sometimes showing a lesson to help the angler succeed and sometimes simply to enjoy watching fish interact with their environment.

Fish Swami's Fish Videos