Picky limestone brownies

[luke_m]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, and new to the area as well, having moved to the Lehigh Valley just this past August. The fly fishing here is great. I've had some excellent luck up in the Poconos, and you all have some fantastic wilderness.

This evening I was on one of the more publicized creeks in the LV, and about an hour or so before sunset a good amount of tannish caddis and little gnats (midges maybe I didn't really look closely) started popping off. I found a few rising browns, and by rising I mean the trout were leaping into the air trying to snag the caddis and slashing around aggressively.

Now I tried a bunch of flies... EHC, X-Caddis, little stimulators, adams and even some Griffith's Gnats in case the trout were really keyed in on the little stuff (not likely given my observations), and I could not get a fish to take my fly. I was using a 9 foot 5X leader with about 18" of 6X tippet, and I'm sure I didn't spook the fish. One of the little brownies even had the gusto to rise literally 6 inches behind my fly to swipe at a passing caddis.

I was wondering if anyone could share some tips on how to handle this situation. Lighter tippet? Size 24 midges? It seems that I've got a lot to learn (reminds me of sight fishing for stripers...).

- Luke

 

[troutbert]

Try a size 18 tan elk hair caddis.

And tie it with only a little bit of very short-fibered hackle up on the thorax, with no hackle on the rest of the body.

Tie the fly sparse, not a shaggy type of fly.

 

[SteveG]

Unweighted soft hackles can work wonders in situations like this.

 

[Maurice]

Sounds like migrating october caddis. Flying low to the water upstream. Grease the leader, throw it down stream and pop it in the air up stream float it around/hover it over the water. Its not effective but can be fun as hook ups are few. Give the fish a two count to set the hook until they hit the water.

 

[fisherboy3]

In my years of fly fishing, the fish that you actually see leap out of the water wont be the fish you catch. To me they sound like young, uneducated fish chasing small tan caddis. This time of year probably a size 18 tan caddis.

 

[redietz]

SteveG wrote:
Unweighted soft hackles can work wonders in situations like this.

Bingo! Exactly what I was going to suggest.

 

[govtmule]

+1 on that...dead drift and try swinging it

 

[troutbert]

Also try terrestrials: ants, beetles, inchworms.

 

[luke_m]

Thanks for all of the awesome responses! I wasn't sure how many I'd get.

I think they were definitely October Caddis given @Maurice's description. Seems like a fun hatch to fish, and I'm hoping they stick around until it gets too cold.

I'll definitely get myself some soft hackles! This pattern by Tim Flagler looks particularly deadly. I can see why they would work... I imagine the trout sees the swinging fly just beneath the surface and reacts like it would a caddis buzzing on top.

https://howtoflyfish.orvis.com/fly-tying-videos/dry-flies/785-october-caddis-soft-hackle

 

[pcray1231]

I have pretty decent luck in these situations. The key? It's not fly choice or tippet or anything like that. It's movement.

Now I know we're all taught to do drag free, dead drifts, which is appropriate for a lot of situations. But see a rise? Tie on a high floater. Traditional catskills, thorax ties, elk hairs work. Put floatant on it. Face angling upstream, with fish a little above you. Cast well above and beyond the fish. As soon as fly hits the water, slowly lift the rod tip and skitter the fly back towards you. Let it stop a foot or so above the rise, drift over it, and skitter again.

It's an effective technique. Often explosive takes. The hard part is keeping the fly floating high as many flies tend to sink when you lift the rod tip.

 

[Swattie87]

I do my best dry fly fishing in these situations where a sloppy presentation works best.

What pcray described is kind of my standard approach to most hatch dry fly fishing. Imitate movement until the fly gets relatively close to the fish's suspected position...Easiest achieved by casting upstream and beyond the fish and dragging the fly back into the fish's lane. Then cease all movement as the fly approaches and drifts over the fish.

If that doesn't work, repeat the first part, but keep the fly moving while over the fish this time...Easier to do with the fish across and slightly below you in my experience. (You may need to change your casting angle/position from the first technique to the second.)

If that doesn't work, pick a new fish to fish for.

 

[Millsertime]

From the OP's description of the trout leaping out of the air, it sounds like an emerging caddis.

+1 soft hackle.

 

[shakey]

sometimes you have to skate the fly for caddis.

any SH with no tail would be good.
a PTSH with no tailwould be my first choice, but P&O , GRHE , or just brown thread with a hen hackle will work.

 

[luke_m]

You all are awesome. Thanks for the great tips about skating dries. I'll give these techniques a shot and definitely swing some soft hackles too! I imagine one thing that might help with skating a caddis is putting some gel floatant on my leader/tippet.

Hopefully the hatches don't shut down too soon. My car temp read 37 this morning.

 

[DaveS]

October Caddis are pretty large. OAL >1 inch. They are also largely nocturnal. And they migrate to shorelines to emerge.

Smaller tan or Cinnamon Caddis emerges early evening. Try a Emergent Sparkle Pupa or fish a soft hackle with a Lisenring Lift. These can also be egg layers and skittering a Caddis can work.

Also, I’ve never fished the LH valley so I may be completely wrong.
; )