Local Tailwater and Small Flies

[Fletchfishes 0]

I was fortunate enough to spend the day fishing yesterday on a local tailwater. Overall the fishing was tough but just productive enough. Figured I'd share some photos and then I have a request for tips.

 

Started the day with a dry and dropper, but any dry of a reasonable size was yielding this:

 

 

I figured I'd give the little guys a break, so as is usually the case on this water I went smaller. Here are the most productive flies of the day:

 

 

They were a #30 CDC midge dry and a #22 midge nymph. I'm always surprised how the bigger fish like the smaller flies! I'd guess it is because this water is so pressured and the fish get cautious around your typical #12-16 dry fly unless there is a hatch going on.

 

Here is the biggest I managed on the dry (which is my biggest on a #30 to date):

 

 

Gotta love the bright colors this time of year.

 

Also, here is the biggest of the day, which came on the #22 nymph:

 

 

So now for my request for tips. When fishing a #30 dry on 7x tippet, I'm always sensitive to getting the fish in as quickly as possible while still avoiding breaking them off. Overall, I am pretty efficient at getting them in and out, but many times they would make another run after seeing my net when I attempted to land them. Anyone have any tips for how to better net a fish when working with light tackle? I noticed the few other folks I saw catching fish didn't have the same trouble with the netting process and assume they were working with similar tackle. I put the net in the water early and guide the fish to the net... but I'm thinking maybe I should bring the fish in close with the net out of the water and then quickly "dip the net" into the water?

[McGnat 0]

I do it like you. For a fish of size, I prefer to be in crotch deep water. I hold the net about a foot under the water and lead the fish over it. When it gets a little over half the body length over the net, I drop the rod tip and raise the net.

[FlyTyer15 0]

For bigger fish i dont have the net in the water till the last possible moment so that they dont spook and make another run. i do this especially with big pike.

 

oh and nice fish. freaking small flies, i wouldn't be able to get the tippet through the eye. kudos to you!

[Cannonx4 0]

How do you see a dry fly that small? At times its hard for me to see a #12. Great looking fish.

[mikechell 0]

Nice fish and flies. I agree with all those who say a #30 is way too small for normal humans to attach a leader to.

 

I try to have the net in the water when bringing in a fish. The last "pull" which brings the fish to the net, I don't "play" with. I put just a little extra force to really get the fish sliding in the right direction and lift the net.

[troutguy 0]

Can you fish there at night?

[phg 0]

I don't know of any tailwaters that have brookies ... they can be very aggressive, though....

 

My own experience suggest that you get the net down as deep as you can. If they see the net, they'll panic, and if they see you reaching for them with a net, they'll panic. The best solution is to have a gillie, with a long handled net, to land the fish for you.

[McGnat 0]

They stock brookies in the tailwaters here in Tennessee.

[Fletchfishes 0]

I typed up a lengthy response last night. Apparently I forgot to hit "post" before shutting down the browser!

 

Thanks to all for the responses. All the discussion on netting is helpful. The comments around getting into deeper water made me realize I haven't considered that factor and that being in deeper water would certainly help. Seems like most like to get the net in the water before bringing the fish in closer. I might try both getting it in earlier as well as keeping it out until the last second and see how it compares.

 

When using stronger tipper (5x) I'm much more comfortable getting the fish up to the surface and then lifting the rod to keep their head out of the water so they can't turn and run. I've broken a few off when trying to skate them while using the fine tippet, which I think is the biggest cause for the "second run" while attempting to net them.

 

Some other quick responses:

 

The river isn't that big so most casts are within 30 feet - you'll be surprised how little white CDC is needed to keep an eye on the fly at these distances. I started out tying on a larger lead fly and then dropping the small dry off the back. After awhile, I realized I was still watching the smaller fly anyway and that removing the larger fly from the rig made casting much easier. Two flies with a big size mis-match make it hard to get the smaller fly to roll out and separate (might be different if it was the top fly, but tying a dropper on a #30 doesn't make much sense.)

 

The real challenge is keeping the small dries on the surface - the slightest drag will dunk the fly and they don't recover well once wet. I definitely end up switching flies more often with these little ones to allow a fly to dry out so it'll float again. Even using a shake drying agent and frog's fanny stops working after a few dunks. As I've gotten more practice with the small flies, I think I've managed to keep the same fly going longer - which I take as a positive sign concerning my ability to get a drag free drift.

 

Threading the hook isn't as bad as one might expect - especially since you are using fine tippet (7x mostly.) This is about the only upside to using fine tippet as virtually everything else is harder (knots, casting, landing, etc.) I also keep a few on a threader in my box which helps when you get to lower light situations.

 

You can fish at night here - evening hatches often go until well past sunset and it can be amazing with the rises occurring all around you. Clearly, the fish can see better in the dark than I as I have often found myself fishing a dry in the dark and setting the hook based more on sound than sight. The best part is that as the light fades, you can get away with a bigger and bigger fly and more reasonable tippet strength. That helps keeping the fly on the surface far easier! However, it is only worth fishing at dusk when there is a real hatch going on. Eventually when it gets really dark, switching to a streamer (black wooly bugger is my favorite) can be very effective. incidentally, casting a weighted wooly bugger on a 3 weight rod in the dark can really help you improve your casting as you are forced to focus upon feeling the rod load.

 

The tailwater is loaded with brookies - many parts of the season the water has a bunch of very small brook trout parr that have clearly been born in the water. Also, later in the fall there are some really big brook trout that come up to spawn. I'm always amazed to see them come out of nowhere for a brief period and then disappear again. As you might expect, many folks love to fish an egg for the non-spawning rainbows that sit behind the brookies who are on redds.

[troutguy 0]

Try fishing the tail water at night. Take you 5wt or bigger rod. Fish something big. I like a size 2 Muddler. Tail waters that require crazy dry fly technical approaches change after dark. Fish between 10 PM and as long as you care to stay out. If you don't like the dark get a red chemical light stick. Break it do it lights and pin to vest or boots. It will cast a red light that doesn't effect your night vision or scare trout. Use a 3x leader like 7.5ft. Mouse patterns, crawfish and BIG streamers. Bates has a great book that you can get used on ebay or Amazon.