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Chironimide Fishing: Breaking it Down for "Dummies"

8K views 71 replies 25 participants last post by  Jay Burman 
#1 ·
(Assuming one is using a floating line with..... and wanting to chironimide fish....)

When I was out on Martha yesterday, I got the rod ready, slip indicator on, and flies tied. Went out on the water, fastened the hemostats to the bottom fly and lowered it down to get the depth. Now.... the depth took all of my leader and some of my fly line. When this happens, what do you do? Where do you set up the indicator? Not on the fly line itself??? What would you do if this happened? Add more tippet? Move to a shallower part of the lake?
 
#36 ·
Over 12 ft I go to intermediate ( clear mono) or full sinking. Use a depth finder. After some practice can get proficient on how much to let out ( trolling) and speed combo to reach desired depth. Have fished to 35 ft this way with success. You can can stick with your "bobber fishing":rofl:
 
#37 ·
I deep chirono fish two ways. 1. With floating line, straight 6# or 8# flouro and a slip indicator/bobber/float/corkie/florescent orange foam ball with a hole in the center for a plastic peg 90% of the time. Call it what you want, but it does the same thing. Catches me fish.
I fish it like Joni does, up to 30' deep. Can't cast it, so I drop it down and kick away about 20'+/- a few and watch the paint dry (it's usually very quick drying paint). Using a sonar for that area, I measure out the length I need and bring it off the bottom 18" or so with the bottom fly. I use a Gamakatzu dropper bead for the top fly, and a split shot to get it down and keep it down- 6" above the bottom fly.
http://www.gamakatsu.com/new_products/new_dropperbead.htm

#2- I also use the Type V or VII sinking line method. 6' flouro leader, find my depth and measure off that much line. Cast it out and let it sink until it's straight down. Slow figure 8 retrieve. This is one method I get savage strikes.
 
#48 ·
I tend to fish a tandem rig. I generally run the San Juan as the top fly and the chronie as the bottom fly. If ya get lucky, they will hit both flies. I'm with Blue this, experiment. Different combos of chronies / bloods until you find the ticket. You will also have to experiment with depth. Once you get it right, there ain't much staring time. I tend ot like working in transistion areas, like drop offs.

MB
 
#50 ·
One lake I fish is also filled with snails....."Renegades" are the imitation. Even Henry's Lake, full of snails and one of my favorite flies there is the Henry's Lake Renegade.

I agree totally on Pumping the stomach, but sometimes you also have to take into account that the colors might not be the same as before the insect was ingested. One had allot of light orange scuds. Orange of course didn't work, but Burgundy did. Just something I found out. Others may have different experiences.
 
#52 ·
Blue: You and alan mentioned that when dealing with long leaders, you dont try to cast them but rather drop them off where you want to fish and paddle backwards. My question, when you catch a fish, you gotta paddle back to that spot and "cast" again?
 
#54 ·
Generally there are more fish right where the one that was landed is so, we land the fish then drop straight down again. On several occasions, we get hits again on the way down. Almost lost a rod that way. Landed the fish, while it was in net, I took the fly out and dropped it in the water. Getting ready to release the fish in net, and the rod laying in my lap flipped.
I have caught a bunch of doubles which just means they are stacked up. That is fun stuff that there.
 
#53 ·
Rick Todd, You bet on the sinking line. It is a powerful nymph/wet fly. I like the variations of maybe longer streamer hooks. Maybe Furnace hackle front and rear. Red Crystal flash for rib. I have even wrapped the hook with lead substitute although I rarely weight hooks. Also, the Mity Mouse is basically a Renegade except the Furnace hackle is wrapped though the fly like a bugger. One of my favorite flies.
 
#55 ·
when I do the throat pump, I do my best to not get the entire stomach contents. Keep it shallow and just a little water in the bulb. It works better on fish 15" and larger than the little guys. I've found some interesting stuff. Many live midges and nymphs, big and tiny leeches, snails, water boatmen, terrestrials (spiders, beetles, and ants, mostly), zooplankton, and bits of wood and aquatic plants. Seeing what the fish are keying on has turned my day around on many occasions, especially when water temps are optimal and every food source in the lake is active.

When fish are gobbling snails you can't help but notice the shells in their stomach. Crunchy to the touch!
 
#56 ·
This discussion on snails has my attention. There have been times when the hold-over trout in some of the lakes I fish are loaded with snails only. They are olive brown in color and about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in diameter. Blue... I was just wondering if the snails down your way are similar, or something different looking all together? The Renegade patterns I am familiar with wouldn't seem to match very well.
 
#58 ·
I know few fisherman around here who think the snail "hatch" is the greatest. A few times a year the snails float to the surface en masse, and the trout gorge themselves. I found one fish this fall that was completely loaded with them(you could feel them through it's body), but I was pre-occupied with a pod of risers and never got to try any snail patterns.
With chrinomids I will put two different colors on to start out with. When I've figured out which color and size the fish are keying in on, I just go with one fly for better castability. Sometimes I will use an indicator, mostly in eddies with tricky currents. I prefer to use a floating line and 12-15' of tippet. Like someone mentioned earlier, super slow retrieve. Just enough to keep slack out of the line, though I will throw in pauses. When I pause I point my rod tip out further over my line to create just enough slack to make a slight S in the line. If the S straightens even slightly, it's a strike. I think that you can detect more subtle stikes this way over an indicator.
 
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