A JULY DAY ON THE SPRING CREEKS OF PARADISE VALLEY
| Sysadmin Note |
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| Part four of a series Click here for Part 3 |
Lunch: Generally when I am fishing myself or guiding I will break for lunch between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM depending on the hatch. Then I recommend that you eat a decent lunch, you have now been on the stream since 7:00 AM, around seven hours. By this time breakfast, has faded and you need to eat, relax and recharge. Gobbling down a sandwich and rushing back to the stream, is not a good thing. As you tire, the first thing to suffer is your casting; the second will be your patience.
Trust me on this, you will fish better in the afternoon and evening if you eat a good lunch and relax. Remember, if you’re staying for the evening spinner fall you may not get any dinner until very late.
However, for those of you, who wish to gobble down that fast meal and return to the stream:
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM: During this period of the day you may still find PMD’s trickling off, if you find fish working these sparsely hatching dun. Work into position, observe to see what they are eating, then get to work presenting your imitation of choice. Sometimes you will one trout feeding on duns, another will take a spinner, and still another is feeding on emergers in the film. The point is that the trout may all be doing individual things.
If there is no hatch, nor any rising trout, you might try prospecting the water with a large beetle with an ant imitation on a short dropper. Or you may try a Cricket. You can also prospect with a Parachute Adams or even a Royal Wulff.
You can also, move to a riffle section and try various nymphs.
If you think something might work, give a try, the worst thing that can happen is that you won’t catch a trout, the best thing, well I should not have to explain that!
Now, for those of you who have relaxed, had nice lunch and are once again ready to challenge the spring creek trout of Paradise Valley, let us continue: 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM.
During this late afternoon time slot, there is a lot that can be happening on the spring creeks. First off, I generally move looking for fresh water and working fish. You might find a pocket of fish midging or you still may find some trout still feeding on PMD’s. Beetles, ants and cricket imitations may also produce a fish or two. You can also run into a Sulphur Hatch. The Sulphur hatches in 2008 were fairly predictable on Nelson’s, even though, the hatches, during early and mid-July were sparse. The trout still responded to the Sulphur insects. On Armstrong’s and DePuy’s the Sulphurs are more unpredictable.
However, if you encounter a Sulphur hatch you will notice that the takes appear to be close to the surface and very violent, almost like that of trout chasing emerging caddis. That is because the trout are chasing the swimming emerger Sulphur nymph. One of the most effective methods of taking trout consistently during this hatch is to use a Sulphur Para-Dun or Parachute Surface Emerger and fish a small PT nymph or Sulphur nymph behind the dry on a short dropper, sometimes as short as six inches. Also, don’t be afraid to twitch the imitation. The Sulphur nymph is not a dead drift insect, so subtle movements of the imitation are very effective. Most of the trout can be taken on the nymph, using the above mentioned method. Sure you can take a few fish on surface emergers, duns and even spent winged adults.
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM and sometimes later: Once again I have moved. My number one prime choice of water will be any place that there is riffle with a flat below. Why? Because these are my favorite waters to find and fish the spinner falls.
However, there is more action than just the spinners. Often during the evening hours, you may encounter pockets of trout feeding on the egg laying Caddis, and when you do a size 16 or 18 Parachute Caddis or Olive Elk Hair Caddis will work just fine. I prefer to trail a size 16 or 18 Olive Soft Hackle behind the adult caddis.
You may also encounter some midging trout. Here again, I prefer a size 18 or 20 Para Midge Adult, either black or gray and a similar sized Midge Pupa on a short dropper of ten to twelve inches.
Finally, I keep checking the air above the streamside vegetation to see if the PMD Spinners are dancing, if so great, as the PMD Spinner fall can be some of the finest and most exciting dry fly fishing you can have.
Now, let us talk about fishing Spinners. I have three spinner patterns that I like to use, all of them are a PMD Olive as you seldom see any Rusty PMD Spinners on the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks. The first and most favored pattern is the Parachute PMD Spinner, the second is a PMD Spinner, with wings made of dry fly hackle (Marinaro Style) and the third is PMD Spinner made with Clipped Dry Fly Hackle. On rare occasion I will use a standard Spent Winged Spinner with pale dun hackle tip wings and full standard light dun hackle. This pattern rides, cocked on the surface film and is easier to see, this pattern works very well in the riffles. On other occasions I will use a standard style, flush in the film spinner tied with antron or z-lon wings.
As I stated earlier in the methods section, as the light fades, get as close to your intended target as possible and cast up to the trout, dropping the rod tip and bringing in the slack line as the current allows. Look for the rising noses of the trout, if you think your fly is there, lift and tighten, sometimes the trout is there, if not recast and repeat.
By casting straight up to the fish, you will avoid any across stream drag. With the failing light, you need not be concerned with lining the trout.
On many July evenings, by the time this is over, your day is done and you now been on the creeks for fourteen or fifteen hours and it is time to pack in for the day and head for the motel and some food and rest You have earned it!!!
Now, that I have covered the perfect day in July on the spring creeks I will add a few notes on some special situations that you may also encounter throughout July!
Spinner Falls: During late July mornings you can encounter Trico Spinners, generally they are only found on one section of Armstrong’s (Above the Bridge) and on lower end of DePuy’s (From the Head of the House Pond and downstream). These spinner falls are important enough to be prepared for.
Also, please remember, that you can encounter a spinner fall any time throughout the day, when the clouds gather and darken the bright blue skies of a Montana Big Sky day.
During late July, you will also begin to encounter Grasshoppers. Be aware and be prepared.
Now, for those of you who enjoy tempting larger trout, or on days when the weather conditions conspire to mess up the regular methods of spring creek fishing you can try Mice Imitations. For this I like a six weight rod system, 3X leaders and pick a section of the creek and cover the water. Plopping the mouse imitation down as close to the bank as possible and twitching it back, this is a step and cast method, where you are constantly moving. It can result in some good trout in the early mornings, late evenings and on those bad weather days.
This method can also be used with Leech and Streamer imitations. During those same conditions as already mentioned.
Nymphing in the deep water is also another option when you encounter less than ideal conditions. The trout in the deep water rarely are bothered as most anglers on the spring creeks are looking for the hatches and the dry fly fishing.
FINAL THOUGHT ON THE CREEKS
There are a great many methods and patterns which will work on the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks; you are only limited by your own preconceived ideas of spring creek trout. One late July morning I arrived on the creek at 7:00 AM with a client, hoping to find a few trout feeding on midges and spinners. However, a rain storm during the night had dampened the grass and caused the air temperature to be a little cooler than normal. The client I had with me, refused to fish and nymphs! What to do! I choose a section of the creek with riffles and more broken water, I tied on a size 14 Royal Wulff, and my client looked at me like I had grown two heads with horns. His comment was “A Royal Wulff, and a 14, there is no self respecting spring creek trout that will eat that”. Well to shorten a long story, I told him to trust me, and to prospect the water, moving slowly and to covering the water. Well, he missed the first six trout, because he didn’t believe they would rise to that large Royal Wulff. He ended up with five landed trout in that section. Remember he had already missed six so I guess there were eleven trout in that section that had no self-respect!
These pages are nothing more than suggestions on what I would do on the spring creeks during July. I hope you can learn from this booklet and build upon the suggestions contained in its pages.
A note of Caution: The base elevation in Paradise Valley is 4250 feet, for those of you who are not from the Rocky Mountain West, please remember to carry water with you on the stream or take breaks and partake of liquid refreshment often. As it is very easy to become dehydrated while spending a summer’s day on the creeks!
Streamside Ethics and Manners: Most of the anglers and guides I have encountered while fishing the spring creeks are very nice and well mannered people.
However, I have run in to the other kind. If you think you are crowding someone back-off. Ask, before you set in front of another angler. In other words, employ common sense and the golden rule. Enough said.
Each angler must choice for themselves the type of fishing they enjoy and the length of day they wish to fish. My uncle, who was one my early fishing mentors once said “It is not how many hours you fish a day that is important, It is how many hours you fish effectively”. That my friend is a very true statement.
I am often asked, “If I come and fish the spring creeks, how many fish will I catch? Gee, I don’t know, I am a guide not a fortune teller. One fine day in July, I had spent the morning with a long time fishing client, working three rather large brown trout which located in nasty positions to get a good drift into. When we broke for lunch, a couple of other anglers asked how we had done. My client replied that he had landed a nice 21” brown trout and broken off another nice brown and had missed a third fish. The other anglers looked at us and gee, we each hooked 10 fish apiece during the PMD hatch. My client’s reply was classic, he said “Hey, that great, guys, but I was only working those three fish, by choice”. We all must decide what success means to us as individuals.
A word about wading: I have already encouraged you to be stealthy when wadding. However, I would like to caution you to, also look where you are wading. This will keep you from slipping a rock, or tripping over a log or rock, which could cause you to take a dip in the creek. The water is 51 degrees or so, and is less than ideal for bathing or swimming. So look before you step!
The story behind this booklet
In July of 2008, I was guiding a long client one of the spring creeks. She is a delightful lady, whom I occasionally guide, but fished on the creek fairly often. I promised to write for her a selection of tips on fishing the spring creek in July. As with many of my projects, I realized that others might also benefit from this information, so I expanded it to its present length. It will be given to Buzz Basini who owns and operates, that fine little fly shop on DePuy’s Spring Creek called Spring Creek Specialists. I know that Buzz will pass this out to many other anglers who can benefit from the information contained in this booklet.
Enjoy & Good Fishin’
Tom Travis
December 2008
I can be contacted at ttravis@mcn.net or a 1800-543-4665 which is the number for my guide service Montana’s Master Angler Fly Fishing Guide Service.
Those who have questions, or need further information on a method, fly patterns, or tell me what worked for you; please feel free to contact me. I look forward to the exchange.