Frequently refused patterns

[purplewoolly]

I have noticed that I get a lot of refusals on beetle patterns. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s foam, deer hair, hi viz, no viz, black or brown they aren’t shy about giving it a good swat. I catch fish on all of the above mentioned patterns but a disproportionate number of rejections as well. Are there any patterns you notice that get refused frequently?

 

[jifigz]

Nope, no specific pattern stands out. It depends on time of year, what I'm throwing, water temp, etc, but I've seen refusals on various dries and streamers and I'm sure an equal or more amount of nymphs that I couldn't see. So yeah, no one pattern has ever gotten more than others for me..

 

[LetortAngler]

During the low flows of summer trout can be notoriously picky/selective when surface feeding. Whether your fishing Tricos or Terrestrials (and not to sound repetitive) a good presentation is critical. I also get a ton of refusals on ants and beetles. But then again, I also catch more trout on terrestrials (ants, beetles, hoppers) than any other dry fly during this time of year.

 

[ryansheehan]

I relate most of my refusals to drag or fly size but rarely the pattern. If you told me that 90% of my refusals where drag related I would believe you. I've never really noticed any specific pattern getting more than another but it's an interesting topic. I'm assuming you've tried a variety of sizes to along with the different patterns?

 

[afishinado]

purplewoolly wrote:
I have noticed that I get a lot of refusals on beetle patterns. It doesn’t seem to matter if it’s foam, deer hair, hi viz, no viz, black or brown they aren’t shy about giving it a good swat. I catch fish on all of the above mentioned patterns but a disproportionate number of rejections as well. Are there any patterns you notice that get refused frequently?

Back a few years ago, I noticed my trusty tried-and-true beetle patterns were getting ignored by the trout quite frequently. This happened to be the year of the stinkbug invasion in my area. It was really bad in SEPA. I theorize that the fish would have nothing to do with the foul tasting (I assume) stinkbug and anything floating on the water resembling them was ignored by the trout. Since that summer, my beetle patterns have fished well as they have in the past.

 

[wildtrout2]

ryansheehan wrote:
I relate most of my refusals to drag or fly size but rarely the pattern.

I agree. I think fly size and drift is usually the difference. I find trout not to be too picky about pattern (within reason) during the summer.

 

[dryflyguy]

Since the fish are slapping at your flies, that suggests that they are interested. But something just isn't quite right.

As others have mentioned, it could be drag.

Another possibility - are you fishing in heavily pressured sections of streams? I've seen fish do this when they've been fished to, and caught a lot. They definitely wise up.

I also wouldn't rule out the pattern either.
The lower and clearer the water gets, makes me lower my flies a size or two.
I catch lots of fish on #12 beetles. But there are also times when I drop down to #14, #16, and even #18 at times to turn the trick

 

[moon1284]

I find a way bigger correlation to stream conditions. I have way more refusals when the water is low and clear.

 

[purplewoolly]

I get and agree with the drag concern, but I don’t think I am more careless with a beetle than an EHC or BWO. There is just a more pronounced occurrence of refusals. I do occasionally intentionally “plop” a beetle down. Maybe they are expecting something other then a beetle when they hear the plop?

 

[dryflyguy]

I try to land my beetles with a little plop.
Don't want them to splash down though.

Getting back to patterns, I use a beetle tied with deer hair almost exclusively. And have lots of confidence in them

Most people seem to use foam patterns now, for several good reasons. And I understand that

However I've been on streams with friends using foam beetles - while I fished my hair patterns. And mine always seem to work better - by a large margin.

 

[Dave_W]

dryflyguy wrote:
Most people seem to use foam patterns now, for several good reasons. And I understand that

However I've been on streams with friends using foam beetles - while I fished my hair patterns. And mine always seem to work better - by a large margin.

I think a lot of foam beetle patterns folks are using now are too big, bulky, and float too high. The old deer hair "crowe" style beetles are sparser, lower profile, and just float lower in the surface, more like naturals. This could explain their better results.
(This from a fan of foam flies.)

 

[LetortAngler]

“Most people seem to use foam patterns now, for several good reasons. And I understand that

However I've been on streams with friends using foam beetles - while I fished my hair patterns. And mine always seem to work better - by a large margin.”

+1

I’ve fished a ton of foam beetles, and the Crowe Beetle still outfishes them 2-1. Just got to carry a few extras with you when they finally get completely mangled - plus they only take a minute to tie.

 

[Dave_W]

Back in the 80s/90s when I fished terrestrials a lot harder on pressured water than I do now, it seemed to me that - by about mid July - trout were really jaded toward ants. This was especially true on the reg water on Breeches. Everybody was throwing ants ("McMurry style was popular then) and the fish just seemed to get really cautious and would often refuse ants. I made it a habit to switch to other patterns by mid summer.

Perhaps today so many folks are throwing beetles and this combined with the fact that Japanese beetles are less prevalent along streams now may suggest that fish are cautious when they see beetles(?).

 

[Wild_Trouter]

Couple thoughts here...I used to fish Central PA limestoners quite heavily, and the fish do see a lot of the same stuff. When it came to beetles, I noticed what you are all saying. At times, I'd switch to a Jassid and went to lighter tippet to fool fussy trout. With ants, I saw the same thing, and then I'd switch to a sunken hardbody pattern. This usually worked well. Point is, at times, going to a sparser pattern with lighter tippet might do the trick. Other times, you may have the right fly on, but you may need to fish it differently than everyone else to have success i.e. sunken ant. One thing I always do with beetles is to plop them behind visible fish. Often times the fish will turn around, charge the fly and inhale it without too much thought or inspection.

 

[troutpout]

I honestly have never caught a fish on a wooly bugger. I don't know what it is, four states later, never ever a fish on one. Drop in a size 16 PT and it's fish everywhere, bass, panfish, trout etc.

For me everything else has produced. I know it's an anomaly and likely operator error, but think it's funny that's everyone's go-to.

 

[sarce]

troutpout:

Not catching fish on woolly buggers is something I can't quite wrap my head around because I've used them with good success for years now, but you are not the first one to say that here, so maybe the below will be helpful.

IDK that it would necessarily be operator error to not catch a fish on a woolly bugger - some anglers simply have a style of casting and presenting a fly that just doesn't mesh with streamer fishing. Or there's just been something off in terms of the water/weather conditions or the fish at the times you've tried them. Also the amount of weight tied into the fly and how the rest of it is tied (color/amount of flash/profile) have a big impact on its effectiveness.

For example I catch most of my trout on a woolly bugger with a tungsten cone head, but I catch more bass (largemouths) and sunfish with an unweighted woolly bugger.

I don't think there's any one specific woolly bugger that fits all scenarios, but I promise that if you have a couple styles and colors on hand to match a range of conditions and fish, you will be able to find one that works 95% of the time. There have been many days where I didn't even give a second thought to trying anything besides a size 8 olive conehead woolly bugger - if you are looking to break that streak, I'd start there. Especially around stocked rainbows, or wild brown trout streams in high water.

 

[troutbert]

For success with fishing Wooly Buggers, and other streamers, fish when the water is high and/or somewhat off color.

Also, they work best when the light levels are low, i.e. cloudy days, when it's raining, in early morning, or near dusk.

Another streamer tip: Never use lighter than 3x tippet. Because when the conditions are right for streamers, big fish will hit them hard. They will readily break 4x. But not 3x.

 

[Acristickid]

Emerger with shuck > Catskill dry