Fishing The Fly Scotland Forum

Chad

March Brown hatch today
« on: 18/04/2009 at 21:22 »
I am curious if you Don trout gurus can help me out with something.  I had a great weekend at Monymusk last week and got several fish up to over 2 lb, which I had not had before.  These were taken during a March Brown hatch on a big Humpy fly that they seemed to love.  So, I was back out today waiting for the hatch, hoping to have some more success.

A nice hatch of March Brown's came on today and lasted the better part of 45 minutes, but the rise was different.  Last weekend, it seemed all the fish in the pool were rising and taking as many of the MB as they could.  I could watch single trout rise consistently and frequently.  However, today, the rises were much more sporadic.  I would watch as many MB would drift over a certain spot for a few minutes where a trout had risen previously, but they did not seem to be interested.   I did not have my Humpy with me, b/c it got destroyed by the fish last weekend, and I don't know where to get any more of those around here.  I tried a number of other patterns of dry flies, but my fortunes were not very good today. 

I did have one reasonable fish on the line, but he jumped a few times and threw the hook on me.  He took a parachute olive type of fly.  I had seen some olives hatching a bit before the MB hatch started. 

Is there any explanation for the trout letting so many MB drift by without taking them?  Could they have been feeding selectively on another fly during the hatch, like an olive?  Or, were they doing more feeding below the surface?

Any ideas/help based on your experience would be great.  Also, since I don't have my magic humpy fly and I won't be getting one before Monday, any suggestions for a good pattern during a big March Brown hatch would be good. 

Ben Dixon

Re: March Brown hatch today
« Reply #1 on: 18/04/2009 at 23:03 »
Hi Chad,


Did you notice anything different about they way in which the trout were rising, I dont mean just the frequency but the way they were breaking the surface?  If the olive hatch began before the March Brown hatch then the fish could well have been feeding on Olive nymphs and emergers during the March Brown hatch.  Did the rise form change during the period of activity and were all the "olives" the same "olives"??  If I get refusals to dries during a hatch I usually stop and look hard to see what is present on the water then change colour & size accordingly.  If this fails I will change to a different type of fly such as from a paracute to a klink in what I perceive to be the most likely colour & size.  If this failed I would try spiders fished upstream, just as I would fish a dry then I would probably try a NZ set up with a short link to the nymph.  After that I would probably throw big Klinks at them and, if that failed the toys would come out of the pram & I would go home  :z4

It is very possible  that the fish or at least some of them could have been keyed in to one particular point in the life cycle of one particular insect, take rainbows as an example, they are often keyed onto Caenis despite a dense hatch of orange blobs  :z4

At least one of the flies worked, suprised the DHEs did not get you anything :roll

If you are having problems getting humpies, PM me the size & colour and I will knock a couple up for you next week.


Cheers

Ben

Peter McCallum

Re: March Brown hatch today
« Reply #2 on: 18/04/2009 at 23:40 »
Funnily enough the only fish I caught on wednesday on the Tummel came to an olive parachute when the fish seemed to be on March browns Ben. During the real rise the fish were only 'onceing' or maybe 'twicing'.

Richard Tong

March Brown hatch today
« Reply #3 on: 19/04/2009 at 11:08 »
Chad,

When are you up till at Monymusk? Try a size 12 Hares Ear- I have caught a few Trout on the Don feeding on March Browns with a Hares Ear body and either a cdc wing or poly yarn. You can add a gold rib anhd a tail if you wish..aslong as you are in the ball park it is presentation that is more important. Failing that anything size 12 in an emergency with amid brownish body should suffice,

Richard

Richard

Chad

Re: March Brown hatch today
« Reply #4 on: 21/04/2009 at 20:54 »
I had a bit better action on Monday, but the fish still got the best of me.  The hatch was a bit earlier, and a lot shorter.  I had a few takes on my Adams Irresistible (fished NZ style with dropper below it in case they were more interested in feeding below the surface).  Unfortunately, I lost a good fish after he pulled me around the pool a bit.  He managed to shake the hook loose even though I kept him tight the whole time.  Shit happens.  Then, I was watching my fly drift when I saw a massive head come out of the water and take it.  I came tight and pop!  Leader broke and I lost both my flies.  Shit happened again!

Spent the rest of the day prospecting and watching for rises.  Didn't see much and called it a day a few hours later.  I met Richard and Paul while signing the log book.  They managed to show up after the hatch and still score several fish up to 4 lbs.  Always a humbling experience to compare results!

Richard Tong

Re: March Brown hatch today
« Reply #5 on: 24/04/2009 at 12:29 »
Hi Chad,

Good to meet you. The effort you are putting in has been considerable by our conversation. It is a shame that you lost that big fish when your leader popped. However this was probably avoidable as you had just lost a good fish after a fight so it is always worth retying your leader or at the very least testing the knot by giving a few sharp pulls and subjecting it to perhaps a bit more pressure than you could expect from a Trout and if it stands that you should then be okay. We have all lost fish this way and learn the hard way. It is a lot more hard to take when it is the possible fish of a lifetime and therefore extra vigilance is needed!

We have lost fish on the Don, and some very good ones at that but never through the knot failing!

A lot of anglers we speak to are using 3lb tippets. They are braver than we are. At this time of the year we use 4.98lbs minimum (5X Froghair/Orvis Super Strong) and unless you get wrapped round a rock/branch by a biggie(happened to my mate Briggsy) then you should be okay.

Richard

 




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