stocks lakes....are fish harder to catch on fly?

I've been fly fishing now for about 3 years, and I must say I have way better luck catching those pesky bluegills and pirch than a nice trout. I know they're out there because the places that I fish for them are stocked yearly with rainbow and brown.
I was speaking to one of the old timers who have been fishing this lake in particular now for 15 years, (he's one of them bait fisherman http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif and he uses a chunk of powerbait that he shapes into a square pellet. He says that since the trout are farm raised, they're fed only pellets and don't know to eat anything else. I must say that he does have success with this method.
My question is this...is he right? Will a farm raised trout not take a fly simply because it never had to before? Could this be why the bluegills will bite but not trout?

Harry,

Nice idea, but the trout, even those raised in captivity, will still take a fly.

It has to do with genetics. Trout are genetically programed to eat insects, minnows, etc.. This isn't 'learned' behavior, but something coded into their make up. Just being raised in captivity won't degrade millions of years of genetic encoding.

In fact, it's usually much easier to take stocker trout on flies than 'native' fish. And, flies always seem more effective for stocked fish than even powerbait or other such enticements. It's pretty common for a couple of fly fishrmen to catch and release fifty to a hundred stocked trout in the same time it takes a bait fisherman to catch and kill a limit.

If you are struggling to catch them, there are a couple of likely 'reasons'. First, are you fishing at the same depth that the fish are using? Most bait fishermen are fishing near the bottom, while the majority of fly fishermen tend to wotk the upper few feet of the water column.

Location can be important. Can you cast to reach where the fish are? Are they holding on some type of structure that is too far for you to cast to, but within reach of a spin fisherman?

Try varying your fly sizes and depths. Stocked trout aren't usually 'pattern picky' but size can be a factor. To get there more quickly, try a two fly rig. A wooly bugger with a small nymph behind it, a large dry with dropper and a nymph under it, etc.. This lets you offer two options to the fish, so that they can tell you what they prefer.

Varying the retrieve will let you find what the fish prefer for that day. Start fast, and then work slower until you find what the fish want.

Just keep varying and changing things until you start getting bit. You may have already tried all this, but, if not, maybe it will help.

Good Luck!

Buddy

p.s; AND just for me, I'd much rather catch 'pesky' bluegills any day than trout. They are the 'perfect' fish for a fly rod angler.

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[This message has been edited by Buddy Sanders (edited 13 April 2005).]

Harry,
Buddy's right. The "old timer" is wrong. I catch loads of stocker trout on flys. That's the only way I fish for them. Buddy has given you really good advice. I might add that stocker trout almost immediately start feeding on whatever is available in the water they are stocked in. It doesn't take them long to adjust and begin to act a lot like a wild trout. One thing I've found very effective on stockers many times is a soft hackle stripped very fast especially if you see some surface activity. I like partridge and orange or partridge and green.

I thought the same thing for the past wo seasons. I would bring a box full of streamers and work the whole lake; sinking, floating, or what ever other method I could come up with. I haven't got as much as a snag using flies until this year. I stoppped and paid attention to what the fish were doing. The lake that I fish for stockers receives a lot of pressure particuarly on opening day. All the doughball guys take their share. This year I had the same results the first day but for awhile I just sat there watching what was going on. I noticed a lot of finning fish on the surface. That night I broke out the trusty literature and read that finning fish are usually feeding on nymphs just under the surface and not on dry flies or streamers. I tied up a bunch of wet flies and fished them the next day and outfished everyone else around. I had to go chasing fish finning fish but it paid off.

The most important thing as buddy said is to pay attention to what is going on and you will be rewarded.