Fussy Trout

Brought the new 9' 6 wt out tonight to one of my favourite rivers.
spent about 10 min throwing a few casts and fish started rising everywhere!!! there was a mayfly hatch i believe, or maybe some other insect but they looked like may flies... i forgot my dry flies at home!!! normally not a big deal because this river is usually filled with bass and i can catch them on just about anything. But it wasn't bass. it was filled, and i mean fillllllled with brook trout. the trout were feeding heavily on the may flies.

i watched fish rise non stop sometimes jumping right out of the water, Some good 14-16" fish, and had nothing to throw at them but nymphs, chironomid and leeches... once i had tossed every single type of fly i had in my fly box at those dang trout i decided to go home, wake up early tmrw and go make another attempt.:fish:...with the dry flies in the box this time!

the fuzz pulled me over on the way home and got a dang speeding ticket.

Hopefully the morning goes better! and if i land any i'll post some pictures!

what is your go to fly during a heavy may fly hatch???

J-Kill

depends on rough or slow water but try an Adams of approximate size ... FB

I tie a nice little mayfly pattern. I'll make you a deal- I'll tie you a dozen, you take me to your spot! No? Well worth a try! Seriously though, when the trout are eating like that, anything that even looks close to the hatch will entice them.
As a general rule though, always keep an Adams nearby!

thanks guys!

late start to the fishing, built a deck this morning.

got my dry flies ready to go and tied up a couple #14 and #16 Adams parachute last night, heading back to the river in a bit. hopefully with better news this time!!

J-Kill

Got back to the river last night about 3:30, and there was still fish rising.
felt a lot more confident this time knowing i had my dry flies with me. after about 25 minutes of casting different sized adams and a few other drys, i decided to up the leader from 9 ft up to 12 ft and dropped the tippet down to 3 lbs test and the fly down to a size #18....

5 min later had a really aggressive take and was hooked up!

i had to play the fish very gently due to the 3 lbs test and the hook being so small, but i short while later i had this beauty in the net!!!

thanks for the tips on the flies everyone!

My Personal best Native brook trout and the first good trout of the summer for me,

the fish was released back into the river in great condition after a short photo shoot.

J-Kill

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Beauty brookies. Congrats! That fish in such light tackle must have been a lot of fun! Tight lines man.

Brilliant, great day out.

Not trout but last year I rowed into a school of crappie that were feeding on an emerging insect. So frustrating when they won't look at your offering! Nice brookie!

Nice native brookie for sure. Isn't this the time of year for the massive mayfly hatch in north bay? I've heard they come off the lakes by the millions...

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Originally Posted by oldbill

Nice native brookie for sure. Isn't this the time of year for the massive mayfly hatch in north bay? I've heard they come off the lakes by the millions...

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the "shad fly" in north bay does come by the millions and fills the entire down town core plus more of north bay...

usually it lasts 2-3 weeks, they haven't hatched yet.

usually with warm humid weather comes the shads

That's a beauty creek speck.

Right on!

Beauty speck!!

One technique/trick I use when trout are acting like you described J-Kill is to swing an emerger pattern right below the surface and let it hang at the end of the drift. I cast down stream at a 45 degree angle and right at the end of the drift I shake my rod tip to look like a struggling/crippled insect. Has saved me from being skunked/throwing a temper tantrum a few times.

A guy like me could get very jealous looking at a fish like that! :) Well done, that's an exceptional brook trout, especially in a small stream.

Not familiar with the hatches out there (writing from AB), but carrying a small hatch reference book might help you out in the future. I'm thinking the eastern equivalent of Jim Schollmeyer's "Hatch Guide for Western Streams."

Thanks everyone!

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Originally Posted by allaroundhunter

Beauty speck!!

One technique/trick I use when trout are acting like you described J-Kill is to swing an emerger pattern right below the surface and let it hang at the end of the drift. I cast down stream at a 45 degree angle and right at the end of the drift I shake my rod tip to look like a struggling/crippled insect. Has saved me from being skunked/throwing a temper tantrum a few times.

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I often do the 45 downstream but haven't tried the shake at the end... thanks for the tip!!!

J-Kill

Well done!! that is certainly a fish to remember!!

so bass and brooks in same place thats odd but anyway dry fly would be its still a may fly but in flying stage or march brown is close,blue wing olive

awesome looking fish!!! congrats!