Matching the Hatch - Part 2

[JohnScott]

My original thread on fishing streamers in the middle of a hatch was to credit Art Lee with writing on the subject years ago, and to get a feel for how popular, or unpopular, this tactic might be.

With a large number of views on the first thread and only a couple replies indicating at least some people have used or are familiar with the tactic, I thought I would relate my own experience.

In September '06, I came across a really good hatch on the South Fork. Lots of fish up. Unfortunately, the distance from wadable water to where the activity was taking place was beyond my casting distance, at least the distance I could cast and hope to control the drift of a dry / emerger combination reasonably well. So I changed out to a class II sinking line and tied on a black over olive over white thunder creek minnow pattern.

Unbelievable. In the first hour or so I landed 12-15 medium sized cutts and browns, and had an equal number of hits that didn't hook up. The poor guy bait fishing a really nice hole right across from me was decimated. I used the same tactic in the same place for the same hatch several more times that month, with similar results.

In March '07, I headed out on another trip to my favorite small central Idaho tailwater. It is a midge and baetis factory and fishes well all winter. Rainbows up to 21" ( although I did lose one last year that I think was closer to 23" ). Before I left home, I commited to a streamer day, no matter what was actually happening. It was really difficult to walk the half mile upstream from where I parked past dozens of rising fish, without tying on a dry / emerger combo, but I managed to resist the urge. Caught more trout, and consistently bigger trout that day fishing a baitfish style streamer in that mixed hatch than I ever have matching the hatch, and I've had some really good days on that water.

In September '07, I finally got back to fishing after leaving the fish alone over our very long, hot, dry summer. I again commited to a day of streamer fishing on a mountain stream that holds some of the most gorgeous cutthroat in our area, and puts out a great western green drake hatch almost every afternoon from late August into September. My fishing partner fished dries and did well - something like 15 smaller to medium cutts in about an hour and a half. Fishing a baitfish style streamer through that hatch, I landed around 15 cutts, with one at 17" and one pushing 18", the biggest fish I've taken on that stream. And in one of the prettiest places to fish in Southeast Idaho in the Fall !!

Anyway, on one of those days when your local fish aren't going for the nymph, emerger, duns or spinner patterns you have along, or you just want a change of pace, tie on a baitfish style streamer that rides high in the water column and have at it.

John

[namekagon]

How many times have I read that prospecting with streamers tends to take a water's top end trout.

What do you do when there isn't a hatch?
Besides the obvious streamer, a WI native, Rich Osthoff gives several other techniques
in his neat little book...No Hatch to Match...that even a trout dumb angler like me can understand.
He also writes about ignoring the Hatch.
"This may strike dry-fly enthusiast as heresy, but during many hatches on many waters,
you can catch bigger trout by ignoring the hatch and probing deep with a sizable nymph or streamer."

[pspaint]

I've had similar experiences, as well, John. Last year, me and a few friends were fishing a spring creek, in July. The usual hatch of little yellow mayflies and midge, too small to see, were coming off. Me and a couple of the guys tried tiny midge, scuds etc., and we picked up fish, just not many of them. My buddy (Flyguy5910) put on a big 'ol streamer and caught more and bigger fish than any of us.