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Baetis
Tiny Baetis mayflies are perhaps the most commonly encountered and imitated by anglers on all American trout streams due to their great abundance, widespread distribution, and trout-friendly emergence habits.
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Brassie211 on Feb 24, 2015February 24th, 2015, 12:27 pm EST
The opening day of trout in PA this year is April 18th. I want to take the fly rod out but I have no clue what to use. I have 4 wooly buggers, some hares ears, a rubber form of a san juan worm some brassies, pheasant tails and green weenies. I would like your opinions on what would be the best? I'm learning to tie but still fairly new at it so Im limited to what I can get.
Orvis Silver label 7ft 5w. Orvis HLS Graphite 8 1/2 ft 5w.
Praise be to The Lord my rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1.
Praise be to The Lord my rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1.
Troutnut on Feb 24, 2015February 24th, 2015, 2:01 pm EST
Members from Pennsylvania will be able to answer this better than me, but to help you they'll need to know where you plan to fish. The best fly will depend on the stream.
It's still a bit unpredictable, because it'll depend on what's happening with the fish and bugs on that particular piece of stream at that particular time of day. If there isn't major activity from one specific insect species, you'll most likely be fine with an old reliable nymph like a hare's ear or pheasant tail, presented well. But there may be reasons to prefer one or the other or something else on specific streams.
It's still a bit unpredictable, because it'll depend on what's happening with the fish and bugs on that particular piece of stream at that particular time of day. If there isn't major activity from one specific insect species, you'll most likely be fine with an old reliable nymph like a hare's ear or pheasant tail, presented well. But there may be reasons to prefer one or the other or something else on specific streams.
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D.
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
Troutnut and salmonid ecologist
PaulRoberts on Feb 24, 2015February 24th, 2015, 4:42 pm EST
Start reading up, and watching vids. There's TONS of info out there to get you started. It takes time to get comfortable, and effective, onstream.
Afishinado on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 3:21 am EST
The opening day of trout in PA this year is April 18th. I want to take the fly rod out but I have no clue what to use. I have 4 wooly buggers, some hares ears, a rubber form of a san juan worm some brassies, pheasant tails and green weenies. I would like your opinions on what would be the best? I'm learning to tie but still fairly new at it so Im limited to what I can get.
The flies you mentioned are all solid choices to fish. Most times location, reading the stream and presentation of the fly are more important than fly choice.
A wooly bugger will catch fish. It would be my first choice for fishing higher and/or cloudy water conditions. You can dead drift, swing or strip a bugger. Try fishing the other nymphs upstream with an strike indicator.
Close to Altoona, the Little Juniata would be a great choice to fish. Most of the fish will be wild brown trout.
Good luck!
RleeP on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 3:41 am EST
Hi Brassie..
I agree with all the fly suggestions that the other folks have made. I'd only add that you have a lot of water to choose from down that way. For example, if bigger water like the Little Juniata is too high, the Little Bald Eagle (the one that dumps into the Little J right in Tyrone) is a nice trout stream with a good mix of stocked and wild fish. Fish it anywhere you can get on it between Tyrone and Route 350. If the Little Bald Eagle is too high, try one of the smaller stocked runs that cross 220 going towards Tyrone from Altoona. Riggles Gap Run and Vanscoyoc Run are two that come to mind. both are worth fishing.
Good luck~!
I agree with all the fly suggestions that the other folks have made. I'd only add that you have a lot of water to choose from down that way. For example, if bigger water like the Little Juniata is too high, the Little Bald Eagle (the one that dumps into the Little J right in Tyrone) is a nice trout stream with a good mix of stocked and wild fish. Fish it anywhere you can get on it between Tyrone and Route 350. If the Little Bald Eagle is too high, try one of the smaller stocked runs that cross 220 going towards Tyrone from Altoona. Riggles Gap Run and Vanscoyoc Run are two that come to mind. both are worth fishing.
Good luck~!
Wbranch on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 6:16 am EST
A wooly bugger will catch fish. It would be my first choice for fishing higher and/or cloudy water conditions. You can dead drift, swing or strip a bugger.
I agree 100% but usually the streams and rivers are quite high and fast early on in the season and you want to be sure that woolly bugger you are casting is either weighted with lead wire on the shank or you add a couple of BB's about 18" above the fly to get it down where the trout are lying,
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Brassie211 on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 10:02 am EST
Thankyou for all your help guys! This is the first time I have used this site and so far you all have been very helpful!
Orvis Silver label 7ft 5w. Orvis HLS Graphite 8 1/2 ft 5w.
Praise be to The Lord my rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1.
Praise be to The Lord my rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle. Psalm 144:1.
Oldredbarn on Feb 25, 2015February 25th, 2015, 1:03 pm EST
Close to Altoona, the Little Juniata would be a great choice to fish. Most of the fish will be wild brown trout.
I've heard that no fish actually reside in the Little J...Right Bruce? :)
There are so few I've even watched as Bruce dove in and swam around looking for them...Like an otter.
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
Gus on Mar 10, 2015March 10th, 2015, 8:00 am EDT
A wooly bugger will catch fish. It would be my first choice for fishing higher and/or cloudy water conditions. You can dead drift, swing or strip a bugger.
I agree 100% but usually the streams and rivers are quite high and fast early on in the season and you want to be sure that woolly bugger you are casting is either weighted with lead wire on the shank or you add a couple of BB's about 18" above the fly to get it down where the trout are lying,
yep
"How do you help that son of a bitch?"
"By taking him fishing"
-A River Runs Through It
www.jsrods.com
"By taking him fishing"
-A River Runs Through It
www.jsrods.com
PaulRoberts on Mar 10, 2015March 10th, 2015, 4:34 pm EDT
You can also put the shot right on the nose of the fly.
Wbranch on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 5:48 am EDT
If I were you, unless you are an accomplished fly caster, I would not try casting a fly with BB's on the tippet in the conventional forward and backward manner. If your casting stroke is too swift you run the risk of not allowing the fly to straighten out and then on the forward cast the BB's could strike the rod blank and snap it cleanly in two pieces or worse impale that #6 Bugger somewhere into your head, ears, or neck.
I'd stick to either a nice roll cast or let the fly drift below you so it is fully downstream of you. Then raise your rod arm to lift the fly up to the surface, then with a quick motion just flip the rig back out into the flow.
I say this with experience and first hand knowledge. About thirty-five years ago I was casting a BB weighted leader and on the forward cast the BB slammed into the rod about 2" above the ferrule of my favorite Fenwick glass rod. It instantly broke in half! A few years earlier I buried a #4 Mickey Finn streamer into the very top of my thick skull. That was pretty embarrassing.
I'd stick to either a nice roll cast or let the fly drift below you so it is fully downstream of you. Then raise your rod arm to lift the fly up to the surface, then with a quick motion just flip the rig back out into the flow.
I say this with experience and first hand knowledge. About thirty-five years ago I was casting a BB weighted leader and on the forward cast the BB slammed into the rod about 2" above the ferrule of my favorite Fenwick glass rod. It instantly broke in half! A few years earlier I buried a #4 Mickey Finn streamer into the very top of my thick skull. That was pretty embarrassing.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Roguerat on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 6:18 am EDT
BB weights hitting the rod...the very reason I don't use weight.
I've used Fluorocarbon leaders (furled) and tippet with nymphs or wets for a while now, with a somewhat longer leader it can get a sunk fly down deeper.
my 2-cents,
Roguerat
I've used Fluorocarbon leaders (furled) and tippet with nymphs or wets for a while now, with a somewhat longer leader it can get a sunk fly down deeper.
my 2-cents,
Roguerat
MiltRPowell
Posts: 106
Posts: 106
MiltRPowell on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 7:29 am EDT
Yes sir, I hear what these man in last two posts are passing on ta ya.
As I also not big fan of weights. I have weight with me. may use now & then on a flip in off a bank into a deep pool. But never as a rule over head 10 ta 2 cast. Seen some crazy things guy's have done to wreak there day.
I run with the hand tie leader & if I need abit of sink. I 'll put on abit sink from Gink.
I didn't listen years back, I'd hear a ting, my teacher heard it to, he say now you gonna listen as he cking my nice rod out. Mad at me ta boot.
Be safe & have fun.
Milt.
As I also not big fan of weights. I have weight with me. may use now & then on a flip in off a bank into a deep pool. But never as a rule over head 10 ta 2 cast. Seen some crazy things guy's have done to wreak there day.
I run with the hand tie leader & if I need abit of sink. I 'll put on abit sink from Gink.
I didn't listen years back, I'd hear a ting, my teacher heard it to, he say now you gonna listen as he cking my nice rod out. Mad at me ta boot.
Be safe & have fun.
Milt.
flyfishingthecreekM.R.P.
Wbranch on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 11:00 am EDT
Roguerat,
I'm hearing you and that might be fine for slow to moderate flows but it isn't going to do very much for you when the water is swift enough to have white froth on it and it is 3' - 4' deep with the fish right on the bottom.
with a somewhat longer leader it can get a sunk fly down deeper.
I'm hearing you and that might be fine for slow to moderate flows but it isn't going to do very much for you when the water is swift enough to have white froth on it and it is 3' - 4' deep with the fish right on the bottom.
Catskill fly fisher for fifty-five years.
Roguerat on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 11:21 am EDT
Matt,
your'e absolutely correct- in any kind of faster flow the fly will ride up in the current, even bob on the surface. This is a real dilemma, add weight or skip likely productive water...I need to work on my roll-casts. They're sort-of good but in the situations you describe- and which I encounter often enough- this is a preferable solution to getting a weighted, sunk fly down on the bottom.
Thanks for the reminder, I needed it.
BTW, I haven't been seriously hooked with a fly (yet) but I got clocked good and hard with a spinner-bait a long time ago...my then fishing buddy got a little crazy with his cast and my noggin was the victim. When my hair went the scar showed.
Roguerat
your'e absolutely correct- in any kind of faster flow the fly will ride up in the current, even bob on the surface. This is a real dilemma, add weight or skip likely productive water...I need to work on my roll-casts. They're sort-of good but in the situations you describe- and which I encounter often enough- this is a preferable solution to getting a weighted, sunk fly down on the bottom.
Thanks for the reminder, I needed it.
BTW, I haven't been seriously hooked with a fly (yet) but I got clocked good and hard with a spinner-bait a long time ago...my then fishing buddy got a little crazy with his cast and my noggin was the victim. When my hair went the scar showed.
Roguerat
Lastchance on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 1:29 pm EDT
I've been down deep in the rocks like Spence says. I've seen 'em and battled them in hand-to-fin combat.
Brassie211, I think you'll be fine with those flies for the first day. Like I did when I began the sport, I looked up a TU chapter. There is a good one in Blair County with some very nice guys that will be glad to teach you. Check this link and tell them, Bruce, sent you.
http://www.tu.org/connect/groups/045-john-kennedy
Brassie211, I think you'll be fine with those flies for the first day. Like I did when I began the sport, I looked up a TU chapter. There is a good one in Blair County with some very nice guys that will be glad to teach you. Check this link and tell them, Bruce, sent you.
http://www.tu.org/connect/groups/045-john-kennedy
Oldredbarn on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 1:39 pm EDT
BTW, I haven't been seriously hooked with a fly (yet) but I got clocked good and hard with a spinner-bait a long time ago...my then fishing buddy got a little crazy with his cast and my noggin was the victim. When my hair went the scar showed.
Ha! I have one of those scars that sticks out now that the hairs gone...I was working on an above ground pool years ago under the deck. I forgot where I was and lifted my head. Right in to a corner piece...Had blood dripping down and I was wandering around in my backyard unsure of where I was for a moment or two.
I had a weighted streamer pop me good in the back of my head last May when I was fishing for small mouth at the tip of the thumb. I was lucky that it didn't poke me, but I was in pain for a few moments.
They don't call it "Chuck-N-Duck" for nothing. :)
Spence
"Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
"Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood
PaulRoberts on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 4:45 pm EDT
Learn to chuck and there is no duck. Man... never heard a bigger buncha wooses (sp??). :)
Roguerat on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 5:09 pm EDT
Wussies?!
I think I have to spend some time on a shoulder-to-shoulder, packed Steelhead stream- a couple days of that and I'll be a Chuck/duck specialist...
Hard-hats optional.
I think I have to spend some time on a shoulder-to-shoulder, packed Steelhead stream- a couple days of that and I'll be a Chuck/duck specialist...
Hard-hats optional.
Gutcutter on Mar 11, 2015March 11th, 2015, 5:39 pm EDT
Man... never heard a bigger buncha wooses (sp??). :)
In Pennsylvania, wooses is spelled Michigander
;)
All men who fish may in turn be divided into two parts: those who fish for trout and those who don't. Trout fishermen are a race apart: they are a dedicated crew- indolent, improvident, and quietly mad.
-Robert Traver, Trout Madness
-Robert Traver, Trout Madness
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