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A little help please
Ok..I am pretty new to fly fishing and I need some late season pointers. I live up in Massachusetts and we have been having some mild weather for this time of year so I have been trying to hit the rivers when I can to work on fishing.
From what I can tell there isn't much "bug" activity so I have been trying to use wooley buggers. I am not sure what to call most of the water I fish but I think it is "pocket water". The water is a fairly fast flow 1-3' ft deep. There are decent size rocks breaking the current dispersed through the area.
The only real success I have had fly fishing is dead drifting a nymph. I tried to used this technique targeting the "seams" on either side of the rocks...The fish should be using these correct? I hear a lot about fishing a bugger down and across...I get the gist of that but I am not sure how to apply to the type of water I am fishing...Any help will be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Mike
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Mike,
You will get a lot better advice than mine, but I would say that if you cast straight across or down and across, you need to MEND your line while your fishing. This is without a strike indicator.
With a strike indicator, you really pay attention to when the indicator stops. Use a slow action rod.
In my opinion, if your fishing with a split shot or weighted Woolybugger, you need to use a short cast and short leader in order to maintain control.
Fishing the seams is the right thing to do, but work your way to the seams, don't just jump to them. Sometimes fish don't hold where their supposed to.
Have Fun!
Doug :D
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Mike,
If you can post some of the names of the streams you are fishing we should be able to help figure out what is hatching. I am going to guess that you may have midges hatching. Perhaps some 18 and smaller blue winged olives too.
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I am fishing the Qunipoxet River and Stillwater river..in central mass.
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I know that there are folks on this board that live and fish in your area. They are better qualified to help than I am. Check with any local fly shops in the area of the waters you are fishing.
Come on, folks. Lets help this fly fisher out please.
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Stop in at "The Lower Forty", a fly shop in Worcester. They should be able to help. Don't be discouraged if you are not catching a lot of fish...trout fishing is tough this time of year in our neck of the woods.
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Flyfisher7...I figured things would be tough at this time of year..Thanks for confirming that it is not all me :)
I did check in with the guys at thelowerforty...what a nice group of guys...They are got me setup to fish buggers. I guess still just need time working on fishing them and gaining confidence.
Mike
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Hi coltrnem,
i live 10 minutes from the stillwater river. i fish the stillwater mainly in the fall for salmon and browns coming up from the res. starting in oct. when we get some rain to bring the water level up.
the quinni did get a fall stocking of rainbows and they seem to love buggers and nymphs. it is best this time of year to fish the warmest part of the day. the quinni also has some cold water srings to keep it cooler in the summer months with a good number of native brookies to keep the fun going. both rivers get fished rather heavy, but i find the quinni is a little quieter most days.
also, i am a member of the New England Fly Tyers club that meets on monday nights at the eight point sportsman club in Sterling. there will be a booth at both the fly show in marlborough and the sportsman show at the centrum coming up after the holidays. then there is an open house the monday following the worcester show with a tying class starting shortly after that, if you are interested. or just stop in and say hi some evening at the club.
hope to see you around
Don
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Let me offer just a little bit of help here. You are right on about the seam and the down and across thing. Now how about tying on a nymph, casting it down and across and into the seam? Or 3/4 upstream and down that seam? A wooly bugger is probably more of an aquatic animal imatation. All aquatic animals, fish included, are moving a little slow this time of year. Where as the nymphs don't really have a blood supply to cool down so they move the same, summer or winter. You will find that this time of year you will have to hit the fish in the head with your fly to get them to grab it. Use a nymph or two or three. Up, down or side to side it's all good to the fish. I have also found that downsizing when it cools down helps. Tye some up in a 18 or 20. You don't really need to much of a tail or wingcasing. thread and bead and a tiny amount of fur.
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Woolly buggers will work. I like to do a combination of things, dead drift them (like a nymph) through the seam, pocket water, or run, and then very slowly strip them back after the swing at the end of the drift. I have caught fish in cold water using this technique over the past month in cold water. Actually this afternoon I caught a few fish (all rainbows) just drifting the bugger through a run and didn't have any hits on the swing or strip. The fish should be looking for an easy meal (and a drifted bugger is also a big meal for them) since their metabolism is a bit slower now. I like to use a smaller bugger in cold water...size 12 - 16 (mostly 12 or 14) and fairly well weighted. I tie my own flies so getting small buggers is easy....none of the local shops carry buggers this small.
Using this same technique with a nymph (personal choices being a bead head pheasant tail or a bead head hares ear)will also work. As mentioned, a bugger with a nymph trailer is a good combination as well. Being able to mend helps a lot also...something I need work on.
I find that browns have been a bit more aggressive at taking fish on the swing and strip than the rainbows have. Even though I am not from your area...trout in cold water tend to behave similarly if the food source is similar (and a bugger works almost anywhere for trout). Hope this helps you out a little bit.