Are You Gonna Eat That?
I hate that question. It's a hog's way of saying, "I'm still hungry." My kids aren't old enough to know any better, but even they don't ask that question. When it comes to trout fishing, I toss the table manners aside and go digging through their fridge. I want to get in there and search every nook and cranny to see what they are stocking the shelves with. You're probably wondering, "what is he talking about?" Well, good thing I'm here to tell you.... We're talking about stream sampling. Before I even wet a line I'm doing two things. First, I'm getting atmospheric readings - water temp, air temp, etc. And the second thing I'm doing is taking direct invertebrate samples from the stream. This is part of the P.A.U.S.E. Method coined by Peter Stitcher at Ascent Fly Fishing. Peter is a fishy dude with the academic street cred to back up his stuff. Anyway, we digress. Part of PAUSE is looking underwater to determine the invertebrates present at the current time. You can't catch them with magic. Therefore, you need to bust out a little stream wizardry and use a stream seine. Essentially, it's a small mesh net that catches all the garbage (or treasure) floating by. Those crystal clear streams in the Black Hills are a goldmine of invertebrate life. Watch the video below to find out how it works and to see what we located.
Consulting the video, you'll see that we found pretty much what our current "hatch chart" says there is going to be - mostly midges (chironimids). There were some smaller scuds and worms in the mix, too. Most of the sample we found held insects that were between a size 20 and 26 for flies. Now that you have an idea as to what is flowing through the water, you can choose your flies. You'll want to look at size, color, and abundance. In our case, we looking at mostly midges and emergers. There you have it - we can fish WD-40s, Zebra midges, or RS2s. They'd all be effective.
Old Man Winter - Showed His Face
Alright, the day started off really well! We bagged 3 fish in the first hour or so. However, that took a turn very quickly. The day began with balmy 44 degree temps and the water at about 36 degrees. I was aware of a winter weather advisory, and it proved to be true. Within a couple hours, the air temperature dropped over 15 degrees, and the precipitation started coming down. At first, it was rain. Then, it was freezing rain. Finally, we were getting pounded by snowflakes that would make any free-skier jealous. LAWD! A drastic change in barometric pressure obviously impacted the fishing. Fish were somewhat difficult to catch in the morning, but by the afternoon - the bite was simply miserable. I was miserable, too.
Did the Net Get Wet?
Sure, it did! The net usually gets wet when I'm out fishing. I'm not boasting when I say that. Consistently catching fish takes time, research, and a little intuition. Listen, if you're expecting to be reenacting scenes from "A River Runs Through It" your first day on the water - think again. You have to put in the work. That can be done in a myriad of ways - including reading blogs like this one. You'll find little nuggets of information that you can apply when you're fishing. Ask questions, be studious, and get your time in on the stream. Off the soapbox and on to the net gains for the day. In all, we put 3 fish in the net. A couple others were spit the hook. I'll take that on a day where I had to really work for the fish I did catch.
Here's a short clip to satisfy you until I get back on the water again. During the week, I plan to do a couple updates. The first will be on beginner rigs, and we'll follow that up with a post on european nymphing.
Keep 'em wet,
MB
great blog
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