Outfished by baiters

[loneflyman]

Can't figure what I am doing wrong. Can't seem to hook a Trout Used all the top ten flies and woolly buggers, stilll no luck on the Manatawny Creek. I did however practice casting, roll cast and rod loading. When I was in the cold water which I find enjoying when frustrated. Any suggestions?

 

[polky]

Did you try any egg patterns? I had good luck with a cream/peach egg over the weekend. Make sure you are ticking bottom as well. Where were you at? I noticed a lot of crawfish around as well too. Keep that in mind as temps warm.

 

[loneflyman]

I'm in Stowe, use to line in town. I was ff in Memorial Park behind the baseball fields and by Montco College. I fish in that area a lot. Thank for the tip want to hit the waters together?

 

[polky]

head up to Pine forge around where the ironstone comes in or over by Manatawny Creek Winery . I'll be there later on this evening.

 

[Fishidiot]

Lonefly,
Do you know if your flies were getting deep - down to the bottom of the stream?
Usually you can tell this because your flies get snagged on the bottom. This time of year in cold water trout are usually right on the bottom and you have to get your flies down. Split shot sinkers are helpful. A strike indicator really helps too.

 

[loneflyman]

I guess I didnt think to hit the bottom with split shots or understand that trouts are on the bottom now. All a learning curve for me thanks guys!

 

[pcray1231]

And for what it's worth, good baitfishermen sometimes outfish good fly fishermen. Sometimes vice versa. It all depends on the situation.

I will say that I think averaged out, I do better with fly gear than I did with bait gear. But cold water and early season shifts that balance towards bait. As does fresh stockers.

 

[MKern]

Tis the season for bait and stockies. Give it a week or two and bait will stop working.

But like others mentioned you have to get the fly near the bottom and have little drag. These are hard things for new fly fishers. Sometimes it takes years to master these to where they become second nature.

 

[polky]

Lonefly- PM me what your schedule is like and I'll take you around. I usually stay below rt. 562 but there is plenty of good fishing above. One of the great thing about the Manatawny is that once you get in you can wade for miles and never see a soul. You will be surprised how far the stockers end up from where they were put in. The glo bug and hares ear worked well today. I also saw the first caddis of the year.

 

[loneflyman]

Thank you guys! This forum rocks. Sorry, about today Polky. I got caught up in house duty and dozed off by noon.

 

[marcq]

right now I have to say the best fly is a black wooly bugger with a gold cone. find a nice deep hole and cast it out let it sink of five seconds and strip it in. that my golden ticket.

I am not sure if it evens out. personally I think once the fish are in there a week they switch over to bugs. I go with my buddies all spring and till we stop catching in mid summer and they spin fish. I cant count how many time I have out fished them. I even give them flies to use on their spinning rods.

 

[PAgeologist]

Woolybuggers are a good fly to start out with early season. Presentation doesnt have to be exact and you get some aggressive strikes that are easy to detect. Olive and black are probably the most popular colors.

 

[somersetian]

I didn't catch a trout on a fly for a very long time when I started fly fishing. Probably 15 to 20 trips out. After I caught the first one however it was rare I ever went out and didn't catch a fish. If you are just starting out without anyone to really teach you, get a friend to start out with you. You will both do your own research, like asking questions on here then can share all your new knowledge with each other. Main thing is don't get excited, you will catch a fish.

 

[Millsertime]

The only reason I started fly fishing is because fly fisherman were completely out fishing me in the same sections of stream. It made me so mad. One of the fly fisherman told me that the trout will ignore my minnow all day long when there's a hatch going on. I had no clue what a hatch was so I started researching. I grabbed my Dad's never used 5 weight and caught a brown on a march brown nymph the next weekend. Game on since!

 

[krayfish]

Under certain conditions, a real good spin fisherman will bury 5 fly anglers. Once the flows drop a bit and the bugs start stirring, you will have the upper hand. You'll also want to be patient because there is a bit of a learning curve when switching over from spin fishing.

 

[PhilllyFlyGuy]

I'm in agreement with pray and krayfish. I'm a big fly fisherman but there's times where spin fishing is the ticket. Example i was out yesterday on my local stream and as much as I wanted to break out the fly pole I knew what kinda day I was gonna have with the spinning equipment, considering the stream was just starting to become fishable. Had a 60+ day and then went out for a few hours again this morning and was over 30. Not to say I wouldn't have caught fish with flies but no where near the numbers I had with spinning equipment. On the flip side I've had it happen the other way around where I had my fly gear and was catching almost 5-1 against the spin guys. Depends all on conditions. Right now with high flows and colder, murky water you'll most likely do better spinning.

 

[Chaz]

Did you try a crane fly? If not you should, I fished it a couple of times last year with crane flies, and out fished the baiters.
BTW flies aren't always the best choice, during the early going on stocked streams.

 

[marcq]

I think the best way for someone who has been spin fishing their whole life to switch to fly is to use streamers. its like using a rooster tail. once they get hooked to the fly they will then go into learning the hatches and what stages of the life cycle a bug is in. proper nymphing and how much weight is needed. identifying flies and the best time to target the hatch.

 

[pcray1231]

The only reason I started fly fishing is because fly fisherman were completely out fishing me in the same sections of stream. It made me so mad. One of the fly fisherman told me that the trout will ignore my minnow all day long when there's a hatch going on. I had no clue what a hatch was so I started researching. I grabbed my Dad's never used 5 weight and caught a brown on a march brown nymph the next weekend. Game on since!

That's pretty much how I started. It's true that there are situations where a good minnow guy will bury any fly fishermen. But that fly fisherman didn't lie. There are times when the trout will ignore it. One such time happened repeatedly on Oil Creek. I took my dad's seldom used fly rod and switched. I did catch one, but musta had 100 hits. I wasn't so good at managing line!!! But that started the obsession.

For a while I continued as mainly a bait guy, as there are more times when the bait will outfish the fly on any given stream. And that's true, on any given stream. But when you hit it right, fly fishing was more fun, and more successful. And at some point I figured out that you could fairly accurately predict when and where it was gonna be right. Fly fishing makes you start tailoring your fishing schedule to fish's schedule, and that step led me to a much greater understanding of fish and their ecosystems and cemented an obsession.

 

[PAgeologist]

Trout will also vary along a stream. I fished Spring Creek for several weeks when I was just starting into fly fishing. If a hatch was going on - I skipped that hole. They would still take minnows in the faster water though. I also did fairly well on flies a couple of evenings after I figured out what flies to use.