Wissahickon Hatches???

[anwhite80]

Hello,

This is my first post on this site and I'm also fairly new to trout fly fishing. Anyway, I live in Philly close to the Wissahickon and try as I might I'm unable to match the hatch and figure out what the rainbows and browns are eating! So far I've only been successful with BH black stonefly nymph #14 but I see lots of trout taking something off the top of water every night. I've tried BWO #20, Griffiths Gnat #20, Elk hair caddis dry #12/14, ant #18..attractor fly # 16....can't figure it out! I do see tiny little gnat/mosquito looking insects flying around from stream side hatches (i have nothing that small) as well fairly large yellowish insects that come out around 7-8 o'clock. caddis? The worst part is watching spin casters with lures (or worms, even worse) come out and pull in 5 trout within an hour's time while I'm out there for 3 hours with nothing. Should also mention I've been using a 4 weight rod/line with 6X leader/tippet Someone plese help! Any advice would be great! Thanks,

Andrew :-(

 

[mute]

Put on a PT, Brassie, Zebra midge, Hares Ear anywhere around 12-18. Then set the right depth for the water your fishing and put on a pinch on foam indicator and youll be showing the spinfishermen how its done.

 

[govtmule]

we've all been there..still am!!..but it seems like you're trying a lot of stuff....The yellow fly may be sulphurs, doubt it's caddis. Caddis have the tent type wings and fly very awkwardly. Try a caddis pupae. i'm getting more into using the pupa...check this link...

http://www.flyfishusa.com/flies/cadlarva-7.htm#Emergent%20Sparkle%20Pupa,%20Green

easy to tie to..Perhaps try using a #24 griffith's gnat or an "i can see it" midge will solve the "mosquitoes" or midges you are seeing. Try a caddis with the midge behind it if you cant see it. Also make sure you get that dead drift....no need for 6x on all those flies you are using too. (my opinion anyways). If all else fails throw em' the white bugger and hold on....

jeff

 

[CaptMatt]

The Yellow Flies you see are Sulphurs, the mosquito looking things are midges and Caddis fly just like moths. Thats an easy way to tell the difference in the 3 major insect types. Pick a handful of flies that imitate these and you should start catching fish.

 

[Wulff-Man]

Andrew, it sounds like you've tried a pretty good assortment of flies that often will work. Those tiny little gnat/mosquito type flies are most likely midges. A Griffith Gnat will often work, but you might want to try some #22 or even #24 midge imitations, either dry or nymph (pupa). You can try the zebra midge that Mute suggested, or some other midge pupa/larva imitation. You can drop these off of a dry if you want, or fish them like a nymph. Since they're sipping off the top, try a midge dry too. The yellow flies are probably sulphurs, which come off in the evening. Definitely try a sulphur imitation. A comparadun is excellent, but a standard dry or parachute will be good too.

I was at the Wissahickon for the first time in a couple years last week. After some searching I found a nice hole that wasn't occupied by all the other anglers that were around, and caught 3 large rainbows in about 20 minutes with a pink San Juan Worm. They ignored my GRHE before that. Rainbows love red/pink!

P.S. Try a small parachute Adams for those surface feeding fish too. And, like CaptMatt said, Caddis flutter around like moths. Mayflies (like Sulphurs) just kind of gracefully glide.

 

[ian_brown]

A week or two there was a pretty good olive bodied caddis hatch on the Wissahickon, but I haven't seen them since.

 

[afishinado]

It's not the flies, most of the flies you fished should work, IT'S THE PRESENTAION. As soon as you learn to fish a dry or nymph with a drag free drift, the fish will begin coming. Check out this primer on mending. Good luck.

http://www.midcurrent.com/articles/techniques/monahan_mending.aspx

 

[Wulff-Man]

afishinado wrote:
It's not the flies...... IT'S THE PRESENTAION.

Maybe I should have paid more attention to my own signature line. :-D

 

[Philly]

I was up there Sunday morning. I was the only one fishing the stretch from Wises Mill up to Rex Ave. More interested in the bass and sunfish. There were caddis hatching sporadically, and the usual midges. Haven't seen any mayflies this year. There were a few risers, but they weren't coming up on a regular basis. The week before I hit some steady risers, I tied on a size 22 black midge, and preceded to catch 3 sunfish, before hooking a trout which LDR'd itself. Generally I stick to home grown caddis and midge patterns for top water. PTN and Hare's Ear beadhead soft hackles size 16 to 22. Larger sizes seem to attract the sunfish. From now till the end of June should be prime time for fly fishing the creek for trout. There may be one more stocking, I'm not sure, but it doesn't take long to convince most people the trout are dead or all of them have been caught.

 

[Wulff-Man]

It doesn't get stocked again until October, according to the PFBC web site stocking schedule.

 

[Coughlin]

I'm a Whissahickon regular. Like Philly, I haven't seen any mayflies this year and have heard the same from guys I've talked to along the stream. Brown Wollybuggers (size 8&10) work well in the fast water. Drys with a hare's ear body work well as caddis imitations. I mean, the only "hatch" I run across are #32 grey midges that are a constant around the Valley Green area. If you're feeling really patient, a #24 with grey thread and a slight bump of a thorax will sometimes take trout in the long pool below the Valley green falls.

But Afisinado is right, on a stream like the Whissahickon it really is more about presentation than fly selection.
Coughlin

 

[Hooligan]

Try a black ant, size 12 to 18.

John