What To Throw When Nothing Is Biting

[mknaak]

I've been a converted worm dipper for about 15 years now. I am by no means an expert, but was wondering what you guys throw when nothing is bitting. It seems to me the best times of the day to fish are early morning and sunset. I can walk for mile and pick up one fish between these times, but the sun starts to set and bam. I often theorised that it is because the stock trout are fed by timers 2x a day, mornign and evening. Anyway any suggestions on what to use would be helpful.

 

[tomgamber]

I like to throw buggers when nothing is showing...hare's ears for nymphs and caddis dries or Adams when I see rises but have no Idea what for. Thats just me. You'll have your favorites after a while and thats what you'll use.

 

[Bruno]

Zoo Cougars are my new favorite.

 

[shipnfish2006]

Up until last year I was a dedicated streamer fisherman when drys wouldnt work. Now I use nymphs as much as I use streamers. My favorite/ easiest to tie nymph is a beadhead about size 14-16 with pheasant tail for a tail, brown rabbit hair for the body and then wrapped with copper wire to for the segmentation. I call it my when I'm just looking for a strike from anything fly. On monday I fished a hole with about 8 fish in it and they wouldnt chase the streamer, I tied that on and landed 7 of the 8.

But other then that I'd say when things are slow and your know there are or should be fish in a particular whole just start nymphing and youll be pretty suprised at how many more fish youll pick up.

 

[thedude1534]

I've started to use streamers from 12-4 if no fish are rising. So far I have yet to have any luck, but I've only tried it the last two times I've gone out. The logic behind it is that trout (especially browns) are territorial, and their first reaction to a little guy invating their area is to eat it. The way I figure, they may not always be actively feeding, but they will always protect their turf. I've been throwing these streamers around logs, trees, shady areas, big rocks, anywhere that looks like a trouts home.

I'll let you know if this theory of mine ever ends up working.

 

[ryanh]

I was a nymph man for years and converted to the buggar this spring. A black cone head buggar is my go to fly. After that it is the hare's ear.

 

[trubski]

An Adams, a Sofa Pillow in the fall, a Royal Coachman on a stream with stockers. At least they give you something to watch

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

beadhead crystal olive buggers. i find almost any fish will at least chase it. kinda twitch it as u slowly pull the line. the only problem is if it is a big fish, if he strikes hard it may break your line if it is 6x or less. the little guys wont do that to ya.
other than that....prince nymph, hares ear, eggs and san juan worms. :-D

 

[Padraic]

A great book to read on this topic is Prospecting for Trout The link is to Amazon.com but you may have it in your local library.

Anyway, there are various strategies and theories for what to do when the trout are sluggish between hatches.

I've found that trout will feed through the day. What they feed on, and where changes though. Around this time of year, the hatches should be coming off in the middle of the afternoon and the spinners should return in the evening. That'll shift to evening hatches and the mid-day will be "dead" for hatches. At that time nymphs and wets of the expected hatches can be effective. So can ants & other terrestrials under the limbs of trees. I never had much luck with streamers midday, especially if the water is clear. I save them for high water or late evening (when it's too dark to see a rusty spinner any more).

 

[bede]

The fact that morning and evening are prime times to fish has nothing whatsoever to do with the feeding times of stocked trout.

Brown trout are very light sensitive, they are more active in low light with the larger trout feeding actively in the middle of the night depending on temps.

Most hatches occur in the morning and evening, and in periods of low light depending on temps.

That is not to say one cannot have success midday. Prospecting for trout is a good book on the topic, I'll second that reccomendation.
It depends on the stream. On Spring (Centre Co) for instance, fish will raise to caddis throught the day and will take them even if there are not any coming off depending on the time of year.
Last summer there was a billioin flying ants on Spring, fish fed on them all day. The same is true of other terrestrials and green weenies. Scuds and small nymphs like hares ears and pt will catch fish midday.

Deeper holes and shade can help.

 

[PaulG]

Mknaak

This time of year try using Ant's and beetles for a search fly, when nothing is hatching. They always work well for me! Fish a stream yesterday with no hatches and did pretty good with a size 12 crowe beetle!

PaulG

 

[Wulff-Man]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
beadhead crystal olive buggers. i find almost any fish will at least chase it. kinda twitch it as u slowly pull the line. the only problem is if it is a big fish, if he strikes hard it may break your line if it is 6x or less. the little guys wont do that to ya.

Sal, I wouldn't use 6X with a bugger. Even 5X is a bit light. In addition to losing a fish on a hard strike, which often happens with streamers, you can snap the fly off just from casting it. And there isn't any advantage to light tippet for a large weighted fly like a bugger.

As far as a searching fly, for dries I agree with all the folks who recommended ants and beetles. Skittering a caddis can get their attention too.

 

[Padraic]

As far as a searching fly, for dries I agree with all the folks who recommended ants and beetles. Skittering a caddis can get their attention too.

I think WHERE you fish the flies is more important than what, really.

In the sunniest part of the day, I tended to throw my flies into the deepest cover. I believe it was Bede who pointed out that browns don't like the sun. Any new fly fisher should write that on the back of his casting hand. So many people fish the middle of the pool, no matter the time of day or whether there is a hatch. You gotta fish the banks and especially under overhanging trees and bushes on sunny days. I guess that's why I like terrestrials and caddis at those times. That's where they are most likely to be.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

i agree wullf but some stream require 6x.i can name a dozen where anything heavier and the fish wont bite nearly as often. come to think of it i pretty much only use 6x anymore. unless im in a backwoods brookie stream that is very brushy. those fish dont mind heavy leader either!

 

[shipnfish2006]

I fish the falling spring quite often and when I throw streamers I normally don't tie down under 4X, too many trout in there that will bust that 6x right off. Maybe if you're fishing size 12 streamers or something I could see 6x being ok, but the weight that most size 8-10 streamers have is normally almost to great for the tippet to hold. I used to use 5x, when I first started fishing the stream, until I got snapped off 3 times in one day. I think when it comes to streamers the fish aren't looking at the line quite as much because they need to have a quicker reaction when the streamers moving, whereas say a nymph or dry they can take more time to inspect it, because its not gonna go swimming away from them... Just my 2 cents.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

yep size 10 and 12. i use a superfine always if that makes a differnce. im a slow caster which i think makes a differnce in NOT snapping of a 10 streamer. all those big fish i caught recently where on 6x flourocarbon. its all i use and it works very well.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I have to second Padraic's comment; fishing the prime real istate is key. Don't neglect the the broken water as well. Lots of oxegen, food, and good overhead cover makes for prime lies. An ant behind a beadhead caddis pupa, is usually my top producer. Also a wet ant behind a caddis dry is also money from Sulpher time on. I enjoy hot, breezy days when everyone quits in the middle of the day, as long as there is plenty of reasonably cool water. Don't forget the wide brimmed hat!

 

[Wulff-Man]

Good stuff, guys.

Hey Sal, I'm not being judgemental at all, but if you are talking about those very big fish you recently posted in the photo section, "coventional wisdom" is that 6X is too light, even for fluorocarbon, to bring them in fast enough so as not to wear them out to the point of risking their health. Maybe the circumstances and your technique were such that you were able to get them in quickly, but it's something you should think about. In any event, they are some nice looking fish.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

i hear ya bud. i did get them in pretty quick though. all swam away hard. :-D
on second thought after sitting here thinking about it. i think i will step up to 5x. thats wulff.

 

[trubski]

You gotta fish the banks and especially under overhanging trees and bushes on sunny days.

That's true, except for fast riffles and broken water. Until the water really warms up in a few weeks, I often find browns in shallow broken water even in the middle of bright, sunny days.