Steve Baker

Al don’t forget I have the mono rig that Matt made for me. That can be connected directly to the fly line and your fly line never comes off the real. When I used the euro rod a couple of weeks ago it work well. I think all it would take is a little practice and patience. I believe you could even use it for dry flies.

I’ve been a fan of using barb-less hooks for a couple of years and I feel like they are just as good for netting fish as a barbed hook. The only problem I’ve run into is when fishing a dropper off of the bend of a barb-less hook.  I’ve tried several different knots and none of them seem to work. I finally tried using a very small drop of cement on the knot at the bend. This has worked very good for me. It does require carrying a small bottle of cement in your vest, or what I’ve resorted to is tying up a number of rigs at home and wrapping them on a foam disc. It works but also violates the rule of tying on before checking out the stream.

Steve Baker

• This reply was modified 4 years ago by Steve Baker.

Ethos? A word I’ve heard many times yet never giving much thought to the meaning. Since retiring and not being corralled by the 40 hour work week I’ve learned that in order to really enjoy live there has to be more to it. While searching for that something I discovered volunteering for meals on wheels. It was great and was very fulfilling. But I wanted more. After being reacquainted with fly fishing and searching for ways to learn the sport I ran across a website called Fly Fishing at the Crossings. It was like killing two birds with one stone. This could be an avenue to learn the fly fishing game but more importantly provide the opportunity to be more involved in community service. Being a member of FATC is my road to building character, friendships, trust and enjoying life at a whole new level. Thank You to all my FATC brothers and especially to the foundation of a great organization.

I know that they do stock trout in the winter time in our area lakes, but do they stock all year long? I have fished Bush’s wild life lakes in winter without much luck, not sure if I’m using the wrong technique or what. Truth is I’m not having much luck no matter where I fish. I watch videos and read articles and still not much success. I keep thinking it will all fall in place someday so I’ll keep trying. Has there been anymore thoughts on the mentoring program that was mentioned in our last membership meeting?

Thanks and any suggestions would be great.
Steve Baker

Found a good article on that topic.

Have you ever pulled up to a stream after a heavy rain, ready to fish, but canceled your fishing plans because the water looked too high and dirty?
I’ll be the first to admit there are times when this is the case, but very often anglers scratch their fishing plans when they should instead, have Fished-ON. The fact is, trout can see a whole lot better than we think, and if you fish the right kinds of fly patterns, and target the right water, in many cases you can do pretty darn good fishing in these water conditions. Even better, your odds at catching a trophy fish are increased, because the dingy water will both mask your approach and keep big educated trout from being able to scrutinize your fly patterns. So go ahead, call those anglers you despise and tell them the waters blown out, and you’ll have a good chance of having the water to yourself and wailing on fish all day long.

Tip 1. Target the Right Kinds of Water

So you’ve decided to take my advice and fish on, good for you. The first thing you need to do when fishing high and dirty water is target high percentage water. I search out the slower moving seams close to the banks, long stretches of fast shallow water that are followed by buckets or deep water where the fish will stack up, and eddies behind boulders or lay downs. These are all safe havens that trout search out refuge in during high water. They all allow trout to save energy by staying out of the excessive current, while capitalizing on the large influx of food sources drifting. Increased flows and rising water increases the amount of food available for trout. Many aquatic insects get flushed off the bottom of the stream, while others emerge from the freshly submerged stream banks. Examples of this are big stoneflies that are normally found hiding away in clumps of debris and under rocks, and cranefly larva that get washed in from the high water flowing along the banks.

Tip 2. Choose Larger and Brighter Fly Patterns

The second thing an angler needs to do to increase their success rate while fishing high and dirty water is choose the right kinds of fly patterns to fish. This is the one time when I feel I don’t have to carry my entire arsenal of gear. I’ll gladly leave my fly boxes with all my tiny fly patterns and light tippet spools at the vehicle. I’ll rig up a 9′-12′ 3x-4x fluorocarbon leader and carry only my fly boxes with large nymphs, bright attractors (eggs and san juan worms), and streamers. What ever you do, don’t be afraid to go big with your fly selection. For instance, larger than average egg patterns work really well in dirty water. The larger profile and bright colors allow the fish to pick them up quickly in the low water clarity. I also like to use big bulky nymph patterns, like Kevin Howells, “Big Nasty”. Any rubberleg stonefly patterns in black or brown will work. If you want to try something a little different you can fish streamer patterns dead drifted under an indicator, like white zonkers, which can be deadly. Most anglers do not realize how well white shows up in dingy water. Your standard Grey woolly bugger work fantastic for imitating cranefly larva, or you can take a more realistic approach using, “Barr’s Cranefly Larva”.

Tip 3. Don’t Be Shy with Your Split-Shot, Fish Water Thoroughly, Try Streamers

One things for sure, make sure you pack plenty of split-shot and don’t be afraid to use it. The higher water is going to call for adding more weight to your nymph rig to get your flies down in the strike zone. Be sure to take more time to fish pieces of water more thoroughly before you move on. Your going to have to get the flies closer to the fish for them to see them, and they usually won’t get spooked from repeated casts. Overall, I find nymphing most productive for me during high water, but you can also catch some really nice fish with streamers as well. Try pounding the banks with streamers patterns that push a lot of water. Rubber legs, some flash here and there, and rattles incorporated into your streamers, can increase their effectiveness. Lastly, your retrieve speed should generally be slower rate than what you would normally retrieve in normal flows and water clarity.

So there you go, that’s my tips for fishing high and dirty water for trout. I hope it persuades the anglers out there to FishON that normally avoid fishing these water conditions.

Keep it Reel,

Kent Klewein
Gink & Gasoline
http://www.ginkandgasoline.com
[email protected]

More work it is for you and hopefully more fish for me. I’m in for a class as long as there is enough interest from others. The advanced nymphing class you did early this year was really good, but I don’t recall anything about building a leader.