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3. Early morning fishing, behavioral drift?

Something I've read about and got me thinking-

The 'behavioral drift' of nymphs- when they cut loose and drift in the current to new environs- has me thinking about EARLY morning fishing, especially now that daytime temps are headed for the high 80's. Do any TN's have on-water experience or anecdotal information on more hook-ups during a drift?
I'm an early morning person and typically up and by 4-ish so being on the water at sunrise would be easy...
Anyway, I'm topping off my Hendrickson boxes and headed out to water less known and less frequented by the Holiday crowd, hoping for some peace and quiet to restore my sanity.

Tight lines, all,

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

Well, you'll have a hell of a lot less other fishermen to contend with at dawn! Or other disruptive activities. Many steelhead fishermen swear by fishing at first light, saying that the fish have been unmolested all night long and are at their calmest and least wary.

My favorite time has always been evening into dusk. Unless you're competing with other fishermen in the know, most of the competition is sitting around the campfire having a weeny roast while the fish are at peak feeding time. (Like the Hex hatch at Cooke Pond - all the other boats have gone home by that time!) But like I said, in the morning they haven't just finished being harasses and disturbed all day, they had all the hours of darkness to calm down. Give it a shot, compare notes, and get back to us here with your results (pics included!).

Jonathon

Jonathon-

AGREED on the yahoo's (not other FF's) like the kayaker who did her damnedest to run me down today...
'I don't want to hit you!'
"I don't want you to hit me, either!' so I moved aside...and she corrected and paddled straight at me again...so I obligingly moved and again she corrected and homed it..I sort of hope she forgot sunscreen, all things considered.

I was off the river within 90 minutes, too much traffic and it was getting HOT. And I'd lost a freshly tied Lt Hendrickson in a tug-of-war with a streamside willow, that really broke my heart.

Again, lots of Caddis out and about, dapping, and I saw the odd Mayfly which could have been E Subvaria. I raised a fish and that was the excitement for the day other than kamikaze kayakers.

Seriously, dawn and dusk used to work when I was chucking hardware at LM Bass and N Pike, and my wife and I talked it over on the short drive home today- so coming Monday we're planning a 6 am foray to test the waters, pun intended.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

Rogue, I'm usually a early morning guy, Tuesdays are my day off I can be found on one of two rivers. But this year I decided to sleep in and fish until dark. I have never had a problem fishing dries aka ekc on both these rivers and having some success. I'm also looking at fishing the s.b.of the ausable river this year once its gets a little more wader friendly. I was up last Tuesday on one of my favorites, and at about 8:30 pm the bugs suddenly came to life, hendricksons, and caddis, for as long as I could see my fly I had a pretty good time. The only down side is I didn't get home till 12:00. Well worth it though.
Mike.

I like the early morning to fish as well but find dry fly fishing tends to better in the evening for the most part; guess it depends on the river and type of hatch goin on

Adirman-

Agreed on fishing dries later in the day, pretty much every hatch chart for my waters note emergence in mid to late afternoon or evening, some BWO's and Caddis excepted. I think Hexes and the Drakes are in their own class, these guys are nighthawks...
I may be relegated to nymphs only if fishing at sunup with any expectation of success.
This could, or should be a whole new topic but how DOES one deal with river traffic and crowded conditions? My theory is 'go where they ain't' but that can be a real crapshoot as to catching anything.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

So we're already at an evening hatch, Mike? Geez, I haven't been out there yet so I guess I better do so soon! My boss did take me trolling last night off the mouth of the Au Sable, and another guy on the boat managed to wrestle in a 5 1/2 lb. Atlantic salmon on a gold spoon. But several days of field work and I still haven't seen much insect life, not terrestrial anyway...saw the very first tiger swallowtail of the year, only about the 4th or 5th butterfly I've seen on the wing this whole spring.

"My theory is 'go where they ain't' but that can be a real crapshoot as to catching anything."

Well, if you go were they ARE, you're not gonna catch anything anyways! And you're going to be a helluva lot more pissed off and enjoy your fishing experience much less. This weekend I would NOT hit the Rifle, but if I waded up to Klacking Creek I'd probably have the whole place to myself. But that would also entail wading through a river mile of drunken canoers just to reach the mouth...I'm probably going to lay low, or maybe go shooting, something else I haven't done lately.

But, tight lines to those that go!

Jonathon

'drunken canoers...'

Brings back a sad memory of hitting the Muskegon below Old Widow's Bend some 3-4 years back, later summer and hot so we were after SM bass on the rock piles and on the water before 7 am or so...at the DNR launch we encountered a mob of falling-down drunk tubers coming OFF the river. Chad and I just looked at each other, negotiated our way into his jet-sled mod-v and marveled that none of them drowned themselves since we guessed they'd been out overnight.
Yeah, Holidays and such are not a good time to be onstream unless its at times the yahoo's aren't.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

I think there are just so many variables for this question... like every other aspect of this sport! I usually see more hatches in the evenings during the first half of the season though... towards late summer and fall... less hatches in general and more often at sunrise/morning though. Maybe it's just coincidence for me based on the rivers and times that I've been able to make out over the years though.

I also did a lot of afternoon fishing on the upper reaches of the boardman over the last 2 years. I would see little 5-20 minute "hatches" often in the early afternoon throughout the summer. They were always a fun little event to keep you on your toes.

I think that's a good point made about the calm-down period trout may have at night though. The kayakers and canoers certainly aren't out and drinking at dusk too.

Debrief-

I was on the Muskegon below Croton by 7 am today, a small Rainbow and a small Brown for the effort. Both 'planters' since they were in the 8-10" range. Both taken on an egg-sac Caddis pattern since these bugs seem to be ever-present...

Of interest was the mating swarm taking place about 15-20' over the water; larger Mays, sz 12 at least (Hendricksons? grayish-tan, maybe March Browns?) and the mating couples that were here and there, dropping out of the swarm. I tried to catch specimens of the single flies or the maters (talk about Coitus Interruptus!) but they were too quick.

Then the river got busy with kayaks and guide boats, a guy bow-fishing for Suckers using a compound which blew the arrows right through the fish, and other oddities.

next time out I'll try a foray at dusk, just because.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe

Kinda late for Hendrickson’s isn’t it? Maybe March Brown

Yeah, I would agree they're Browns and not Hennies- too big, flies in the mating pairs were the same size, and color was wrong...it was neat to see the mating swarm AND see others breaking the surface of the water and fly away.

The Hedrickson hatch came and went pretty fast this 'spring', mid-90's today and I guess I'll be looking for Iso's soon.
I'm spending time at the vise tonight, AC is cranked up and there's a cold brew close at hand. March Brown emergers, Duns, Spinners, cripples, etc.

Roguerat

'Less is more...'

Ludwig Mies Vande Rohe