Wait for hatch or nymph first?

[coyoterahn]

I was going to note that I've seen it on Penns too.

If I'm loafing on the bank waiting for a hatch, it's not to claim a pool or good hole. If I'm standing in a pool or good hole waiting for a hatch, I'd hope for some space from other anglers.

Yep same here. Sometimes I enjoy sitting on the bank just watching what’s going on for awhile.

 

[troutbert]

So is it kosher to arrive at a popular stream and "claim" a hole and sit on it for two hours during the busiest part of the fishing season?

It's commonly done on Penns Creek during the Green Drake hatch. Better get "your spot" by 6:30 pm or so.

 

[Prospector]

I never have sat and waited for a hatch to start. I equally like to fish dries, wets and streamers. So I’ll always select wets or streamers over waiting for the hatch. Nymphing is my least favorite way to fly fish.

With that said, I was fishing a crowded area on Spring Creek last Sat in a stretch I wasn’t familiar with and I worked my way into a vacant hole. I fished that one hole for 3 1/2 hours. I felt like I didn’t have any options upstream or downstream with so many people parked in that area. So I sat on the bank for the last hour waiting for a spinnerfall that never came.

 

[greywolf]

I normally have to travel an hour or more from where I live to fish decent trout water, so I tend to fish the entire time and not wait for a hatch. If I lived next to say Penns Creek I would probably do some hatch waiting.

 

[henrydavid]

Nothing wrong with sitting and watching a hatch develop. I recall many times with friends sitting and watching and if a fish began rising we would pick a guy to get after it while the rest of us became spectators. Some of the best times I've had streamside.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

(First of all. my below-surface technique is just dreadful, and I've never done anything to improve it.)
I prefer to see one take out of 100 dry fly casts over feeling ten takes out of 100 wet fly casts.
If I get to the water pre- or post-hatch, I'll tie on an ant, beetle, caddis, or Adams and hope for the best. If I don't see a hatch coming off but notice working fish, I'll try spinners and cripples to match the historic bug variety for the water. When I see consistent rises, I'll switch over to what I think the fish are eating - considering it a bonus if I already guessed at something close to the hatch when I first started.
My breaks are short, but I do take time to look around long enough to enjoy the surroundings.
My three boys on the other hand, will dredge the whole creek with nymphs and streamers if no fish are rising.
Living in MD, I'm on PA water only a handful of times/year so I'll fish most of the time I'm given the opportunity. I can relax after dark at camp, or when I get home.

 

[StreamBottom]

My question is if you were in the situation, do more of you nymph/wet/soft hackle until you start seeing rises or do you park and wait? I’m the latter 90% of the time.

Fish nymphs or soft hackles and drink a beer(IPA) until the risers start and then continue to fish nymphs or soft hackles and drink a beer(IPA)..

 

[DomR]

Patience is not a virtue I have, must have missed that day when they doled it out. I'll swing wets or fish soft hackles in the hatch appropriate patterns until flies start popping and heads start appearing.

 

[flyguyfishing]

Most often, I would tie on dry fly and fish it before the hatch.

I do wait other times.

I do go subsurface a bit.

If I fished to catch the most fish possible, 50-60% of the times I’d use a spinning rod. I never use a spinning rod anymore.

 

[JeffK]

It all depends. Most times I dry fly fish I go out in the evening for the hatch/spinner fall. In that case, I will just wait for the hatch and only bring a few of the flies I need to go as light as possible. In perfect conditions in May on small streams or limestoners in the summer the fish will be looking up so that is also dry fly fishing.

However, if I travel a ways and the hatch will only bring fish up part of the day I am definitely going subsurface. If I know the water I tend to nymph or wet fly; if it is larger water I'm not familiar with I may cast streamers to cover water and get a feel for a place. However, if I have caught enough fish recently I am perfectly happy sitting and watching.