nymphs ??

[jlm]

i used pt nymphs yesterday for the first time and caught lots of bg. i usually fish some chenille creations with rubber legs or jitterbees and have good succcess with them too. when i get a strike with them there is at least a notable line twitch with the strike. using the pt yesterday i was not once able to detect a strike, they were just there and deep hooked every time. i just can't get over the difference in the manner that the same fish take the two different presentations??? anybody know what's up with that?

I use nymphs for BG (bream) most of the time. The way I do it is to use some form of strike indicator. If I am using a PT or other slow sinking nymph I make the cast, take out the slack in the leader and then just let it sink. If I see any sideways movement I raise the rod tip. What I have noticed is that they don't "hit" the nymph, they just come up to them and inhale and then back away with it. I get most in the upper mouth with a few inhaled deeper. Kind of hard to prevent that.

For bead heads I fish them sort of like a very very small jig. I let them sink to the bottom and then do small lift and strip retrieves. The BG usually hit these on the fall and just about the time you do the lift for the next strip you feel the strike (if you can call it that)so they tend to get hooked in the lip.

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Michael (Wooly) Woolum
State Certified Hunter Education Instructor
Hickory, MS

[Rick Z]

I am not sure that it is different presentations.
My feeling is that it is the cooler water right now and the fish are looking for smaller insects, ect that the PTN represents.
Later the water is warmer and the fish are more active and will go more the the other flies with harder hits.
As they fish are more active as the water warms I think there is more competion for the food so the fish hit harder as they don't take as uch time to look at the fly.

Rick

[lee s]

jlm,
Did you not ever have the same sort of take with your previously tried bugs? Did you try the other bugs the same day?
Like Rick says, maybe it was their mood, for whatever reason.
I know we are danged LAZY, so a #10 dark booger is our standard "start" bug....no thinking that way. Interesting how the fish require different presentation styles day to day....sometimes by the hour.
.....lee s.
PS - Being that lazy suits us.....we are always fishing. However, the "sometimes we're catching and sometimes we're watching" outcome needs to be graciously accepted or satisfaction and "feeling of accomplishment" may elude you.

[dixieangler]

I agree with Rick. Time of year and available food can be a major factor in the mood of the fish toward food sources. I don't use or need strike indicators. The takes are much lighter and taken deeper it seems with nymphs at certain times of the year than with other flies but I can still detect the takes through the movement of the fly line as long as I keep the fly line as straight as possible. I have also had times when the takes of my damselfly nymphs have been very agressive (almost as soon as it hits the water or on the drop). I tend to get more light takes on the retrieve in between line strips when the fly is at rest (or dropping again).


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Robert B. McCorquodale
Sebring, FL

"Flip a fly"

[This message has been edited by dixieangler (edited 04 April 2005).]

[OkieBass133]

Here's my take on this-
Chenille creations with lots of legs just look like something to check out, maybe a new kid on the block. Time for the bluegills to get agressive and go on the attack.
Flies that look like bugs don't pose a threat and are just another item on the menu. When you're eating a burger do you dive all over it and punch it a few times, or just pick it up and eat it?

[jlm]

sorry i did not make this clear, i caught fish on the chenille pattern until i got tired of catching them and all the strikes were very noticable. it was when i changed to the pt nymph that the strikes became undetectable, no wind, flat water, straight line...??

[Jim Hatch]

Hey Jlm,

Here is my take on your problem. Here in
SC when I fish buggy looking creations that
all of us gill fishers are forever creating,
the take is more timid. Like they just want
to taste the kritter.*G* But when I'm
fishing nymphs or scuds, they suck the little bugs right on down with no planning
or forethought.*G* Just open the hatch and
past the gills. It's something that they do
constantly day in and day out. The nymphs
are a major source of protein and they eat
a lot of them. Kind of a no brainer/auto
reflex type of action in my opinion. Warm
regards, Jim