mikechell 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2019 Here's another observation remembered, goaded by Silver's post about large vs. small fish. Big swirls and splashes do NOT mean big fish. Sunfish of all species, in schools, are very competitive. Small sunfish make the largest commotions near the surface. On top water bugs, the larger the splash, many times, the smaller the fish. I believe this is because the little ones are trying to "get a bite" before a larger fish cruises in and eats the whole thing. Shiners, chubs and other schooling fish act/react the same way. Unless you're seeing the fish making the commotion, don't assume it's as big as the swirls make it seem. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chugbug27 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2019 Soft hackle yellow, green, peacock and purple, done those,... I've got orange but I don't think I tried it. (It's Uni floss, which gives me a hard time...) Tried the cripples, tried drift & swing, didn't try rs2's. But tried lots of different emergers and emerging nymphs and parachutes and dries... I've thought about spinner falls, too, not sure I tried enough of that... But I thought drifting the soft hackles would have had it covered... Could also be that at the end of the day I'm tired and my casting gets sloppy, and maybe my leader & tippet are short (as someone mentioned), hard to put my finger on it, thanks to everyone for chiming in. I really do think it's something quick that's in the film. But my caddis emergers don't do it. Maybe its something in my presentation that's different for caddis emergers that I'm not doing right, that's as good a guess as any I suppose.... Maybe drifting down and then swinging up an orange soft hackle.... My head's spinning. Thanks again Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redietz 0 Report post Posted October 25, 2019 Big swirls and splashes do NOT mean big fish. Sunfish of all species, in schools, are very competitive. Small sunfish make the largest commotions near the surface. On top water bugs, the larger the splash, many times, the smaller the fish. That's true with trout as well. If there's any relationship between size and the appearance of the rise, it's got to do with the size of the food item rather than the size of the fish. A large fish can't afford to spend a lot of energy chasing a tiny bug. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NohackleHS 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2019 The following address points to an article on the Mercer's Missing Link fly: https://www.flyfisherman.com/editorial/mercers-missing-link/152210. In the article Mike Mercer describes how he has been frustrated for many years by the late night rises on the Lower Sacramento river. The Missing Link fly was the result of his experimentation. Hope this helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chugbug27 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2019 The upper Sac is one of the places it's happened to me, so missing link sounds like it might be the ticket... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tjm 0 Report post Posted October 27, 2019 Sac is a river in Mo. named after the Sauk tribe and pronounced variously "sock" or "sack" depending on who you are and where you are. At one time two adjacent hiway bridges were posted "Sac River" and "Sauk River" but that was long ago; so, your comment made me think you had been nearby til I scrolled up and saw the previous post. That Link looks like a skating caddis to me. I may tie some in #16. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
two legged terrestrial 0 Report post Posted December 5, 2019 I've been wrestling with this same problem. Though I haven't had the opportunity to prove it yet, I'm pretty certain that it's a hatch of size 24 or 26 cream colored midges. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
