brown trout help?

[fishaholic69]

am new to the brownies and am trying to get my buddy to hit up this river with stock browns. the river is the cleanest in ohio. its called clear fork. they say to use.
Sulfurs 18 to 22.
The Light Cahill 14 to 16.
Tricos 20 to 24.
Caddis 14 to 18. The black caddises should be fished in
sizes 16 to 18, and they hatch from late March to mid-May.
The major stonefly on the lower Clear Fork River is the small Black Stone, and they
can start hatching in late February and continue to early May. Sizes range from 12 to 16.
The midge 20 to 32
I can make all these just need smaller hooks. any tips on browns? I take it they like smaller bugs than most fish? I never fished this small of size before. what tippet should we use? where do browns like to hide? boulders, and trees and undercut banks? says they are in the river all year? I really want to get on into some brown trout. sounds like a once in a lifetime experience for a fly fisher. my cousin wants findley instead but thats a lake and hard to fly fish on.. I am trying to persuade him. heres the site i found this on http://www.mohicanflyfishersofohio.com/fishing_cfr.html

[Wild One]

It's not that browns only like smaller insects/flies...it's more likely that the typical size of insects at this time of year on the Fork are smaller. The fork is definitely a clear river (by Ohio standards) so use the lightest tippet you can. If you're fising with the flies you listed stick 5x and 6x. I'm betting you won't find anything in there that is going to really test that tippet unless you swith over to swining and stripping streamers. There is a good population of smallies in the fork too and an orange over brown clouser will do well.

I'll also say that if you're fishing through the campground there is a HUGE population of crawfish and I mean huge. They're everywhere and are mostly olive, brown and maybe a touch or orange. I've been told by others that olive buggers are pretty killer there as well, but I haven't done crazy with them. There are also some good populations of carp in the fork (surprise, surprise). Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[ohiotuber]

FA,
To be honest, I've not found the browns on the Clearfork to be real particular. In addition to the flies you have mentioned, take some bwo's, klinkhamers (usually the first fly I try there), adams, & terrestrials in sizes 12 to 18. When I first went, a friend told me not to bother with dries, but I have had them rise to take dries into November. Find 'em & you'll catch 'em.
I fish either my 2wt or 3wt with 6X tippet. Last year, Wirebender & I each got into browns around 15"...Keith landed his, I lost mine after a nice fight on the 2wt. Like other fish, they relate to "edges"....that is drops, grass & current edges, current breaks around rocks, & eddies off the current. Don't overlook mid-stream deep cuts & shaded banks either.

PM me & I'll put you onto a very nice spot on the Clearfork.
Mike

[JohnScott]

FA69 -

Brown trout like meat. If you want to fish dry flies, sounds like you are pretty well tuned in to what will work on the stream you are headed to.

If you really want to catch brown trout, add a few baitfish style streamers to your fly box and strip them through the middle of the best hatch you can find. As Wild One points out, use a heavier tippet when stripping streamers.

I have a very simple pine squirrel streamer that browns, and other trout, love. If you want information on it, send me a PM.

John

[Bobinmich]

If this fishery has resident big fish as opposed to hatchery trout, go after them at night. Big frogs and mice - nothing smaller than #6 and many bigger. *8 mono for a leader and tippet. Slap them down on the water hard maybe 15 feet in front of you. When a big brown hits, it's like someone threw a big rock in the water. They will bust your fly like a bomb went off.

Only picture at night I have is of a small one. Expect fish to 24" in a stable river that doesn't get too warm in the summer.



Godspeed,

Bob

[Night Angler1]

this is Bobs fault..LOL

He just had to post night picture of a brown..


here are a few tips..
first....
you want a nice brown.. go fishing at night (if legal in your state).. yes you can sight fish from them in the day.. but when they hit a big streamer at night..WOW..

here in about another month...everyone will start seeing grasshoppers (there are already here!).... ad your walking in or out watch the water.. when you see that big brown and he sees you and darts away.. go back there a couple of days later with a big hopper....
Note: make sure he doesnt see you!!

these big browns will lay in areas like this few weeks.. either it being a "eatting" or "resting" zones....


Big browns eats sculpins!!!!! PERIOD
and other bait fish..

here are a few pictures.

[MAC in NEOhio]

FA69

Take Mike's (ohiotuber) advice and PM him. He won't steer you wrong. Depending on some other things this weekend, I might be headed that way this weekend.

Take care and good luck,

Mike

[MrFishingToughGuy]

Don't photograph them on a muddy bank or the FAOL vigilante committee will come for you!

Sorry, hard to resist.

[hutjensmpg]

I never fished this small of size before. what tippet should we use? where do browns like to hide? [/url]

The general rule on tippet is divide the fly size by 3 and then round down. So if you're fishing a size 16 dividing by 3 gives you 5.33. Rounding down gives 5x. However, when getting into the really small stuff like 22s, I generally don't go any smaller than 6x and seem to do fine. Others even stay with 5x or 4x and also seem to do well. If the fish there aren't picky, as stated by someone earlier, I might even just stay at 4x.