Ok here’s the scenario, I have trout jumping out of the water during feeding. No duns on the wAter a few stray caddis in the air. Went though my fly boxes and techniques, couldn’t get one of these guys to bite. I’m figurin emergers. Tried swinging wets, dry dropper with caddis pupa, attractor patterns but they weren’t interested. Looked like there were some tiny midges flying around.
What would u try in this situation? I was out of patience and ideas. I know we all have been here before. How do u figure out what these fish are keying in on? What ever it was the fish were literally going air born after them
Shotgun? I have had that out here also, no luck also.
size 22 ostrich herl midge?
Sounds to me like trout chasing caddis. I’d try maybe a caddis pupae on a swing and/or with a Leisenring lift. Might also try a dry caddis, but skitter it across the surface of the water a little bit.
Can’t help you a lot here, but, I can welcome you to FAOL and look forward to more posts from you. A hardy Welcome from Tennessee.
Try varying your presentation. Go to a finer tippet first and see if that improves the results. Try twitching a dry fly which often works in a caddis hatch or egg laying. Sometimes making a cast right to the place were a fish is rising with no drift will work especially if caddis are laying eggs. Still, sometimes you may find that the action has ended before you solve the puzzle.
I would probably try a soft hackle, let it sink, then rise it. After trying midge patterns, maybe midge pupae on a light wire hook, etc, try pulling a streamer through. They might strike the competition. After that, a big rock. 
- Jeff
Unless you’re in a place where you’re limited to one fly, use two. The top one will be for bouncing on top of the water; an elk hair caddis might be a good choice, or some sort of wet. Use a bulk wet as the bottom fly. Put at least feet of tippet between the flies. Get above a rising fish, with just enough line out to reach it. When the fly reaches the fish, lift the rod tip and raise the top fly out of the water – the bottom fly acts as an anchor allowing you to do this. “Bounce” the fly by lowering and raising the rod tip.
I do this trick as a last resort in the situation you describe, and it almost always works.
Jumping out of the water?=caddis.
Just an EHK matching the size and color of the naturals. Walk the fly on the surface.
I know the situation and this worked OK.
Good luck.
R.
What I’ve found works best in this situation is a trace of #32 griffith gnats, lightly dressed, on a 14x leader. Never quite let the flies touch the surface. Just as three gnats are fluttering down and about an inch off the water, pick them up and recast, once again letting them slowly settle down to but not touching the water. This is best accomplished with a 16-18’ Tenkara rod with a Spiderweb leader. A killer set up in the situation you describe.
And seriously, lots of good advice I’m taking to heart above, but I’d still try the streamer and hope they’re not too focused to pass up a real meal deal.
Well … there’s always dynamite, three or four sticks taped together, short fuse … (maybe not) ~
And I’ve sure been there and done that business of throwing everything I had with the results being zero. Makes one want to bait a hook! But let me say that this year I have had outstanding results with a bead head tenkara (that I tied!) and I’m looking for another one of “those” opportunities armed now with my new discovery.
Thanks for the welcomes and advice. All good tips to try next time! I want a rematch with these trout. Hopefully I can do that before winter sets in!
I was thrown off by the lack of any thing really in the air. A few random bugs here and there but nothing major. So I get hung up…the trout are taking something emerging but I don’t see anything taking to the air.
I had the same experience on the Taylor River with fish clearing the water going after whatever it was. Turns out it was emergers and I had success with a two fly rig using a paradun trailed by a RS2. They ignored everything until I went to 7x and the crazy fish broke off several flies on the strike before I realized I needed to put more slack in the mend.
The first inclination when seeing jumping, lunging trout is caddis. By this time in the year, they have seen every caddis pattern known to man. Try something different like a large dangly legged crane fly and move it on the top. It’s worked for me many times in this situation.
What he said!!! Try a high-riding CDC caddis for a different look.
The first time I discovered and fished my favorite spring creek this was the exact scenario. After several fruitless hours, my brother-in-law finally got a take on a size 14 Renegade on the surface. I put on the same fly and hooked up with my first ever spring creek brown trout.
It is unnerving to have 20+ inch fish jump clear out of the water chasing who knows what and not being able to determine what it is they are taking. I’ve felt your pain…
First, I would seine the water and see what is hatching. You can get a good seine by buying a 5 gallon paint filter and place it over your landing net (http://www.ginkandgasoline.com/fly-fishing-tips-technique/diy-bug-sampling-net/). Then I would use a dry fly and nymph dropper system and make the dropper about 1 foot. When you have exhausted all your fly selections and adjusted the depth of the dropper, I would then switch over to a small Wooly Bugger and see if the fish will take that. Once you catch a fish, you could probably take a look in its mouth and see if you can determine what it may be eating (beside your Wooly Bugger). Or keep using the Wooly Bugger.
Vinny
Here’s another possibility --spawning female trout. They’ll sometimes leap from the water in what I’ve been told is an attempt to loosen their eggs. That happened one day when a son and I were fishing the Colorado river near Parshall. It was funny as heck as we got totally skunked while being surrounded all afternoon by leaping trout, some very large.
Typical answer would be some form of emerging caddis. Small/medium stream/river? Big water?
This. Seen this many times in the same location. Sometimes when they’re frisky, they’re just not going to feed.
I have been told in this situation, to put on the biggest, gaudiest, Liberace looking fly in the box.