Hi Blue, I am trying to figure out your m.o. You say that you fish straight down....I guess that means you are fishing vertically off an indicator...right? or are you mostly using a sinking line and fishing vertically? Are you always fishing deeper water? And you say that you don't need n anchor to stay in one spot... what no wind in Idaho? ....... you must mean stay in one general area, no?..... And yes the main reason to use a barrel is for weight ....and a convenient tippet connection...and fyi ...one #10 barrel weighs about the same a standard bead head chronnie....so it's like having on two flies .... for weight...I do use a #7 sometimes when its more windy... Paul
Paul, yes I fish vertically and yes with a long leader, indicator, and floating line or I will use a Type VII and vertically fish with that if the bottom changes a lot. I will use the floating set up in 5' to 30' of water, as I said, I stand on shore a lot (specially if it is windy). Out on the water, if I am in my pontoon, I put my back against the wind and either kick or turn my minn kota on just enough to hold position. I do however, use the anchor on my 14' aluminum boat, but prefer wind soxs. A little movement can be a good thing. Glass smooth mornings, I find I have to twitch my line to spark interest. Sounds crazy, but I have caught my biggest fish with 2' to 3' waves bouncing that indicator.
I put the indicator rod away when I lose sight of the bobber between waves (12-18"). I do like a good chop, though . . . and waiting for the bobber to "stick" in the wave.
Paul, yes I fish out of 10' pram that I love dearly. As for two flies, well I think it goes back to confidence. I fish with more confidence with two flies and I've out fished enough one fliers that I don't plan on changing anytime soon. I know that fish even in a thick hatch move up or down a few feet, I've seen it and having two flies puts a fly more probably in the zone. With that though I do hook more fish with my bottom fly. When a true hatch starts though I'll start to notice at some point more fish hitting my upper fly. That's when I know the bus are moving up and I can start moving my bugs up as well. I've also noticed that at times when the top fly is being bit more that if I switch flies around I'll even catch more. I'll often also put two completely different patterns on to really see if they are keying in on something. Now for a real cluster in some lakes here, I can fish two rods and I'll fish both with two flies at different depths. As I said before, I am willing to go there to catch fish. Now for the swivel, I've used a simple balance scale to weigh flies against each other and standard beads flail in comparison to tungsten. I think now though I'll use both tungsten and a swivel, maybe even some extra lead wrap as well Ira
Hi Ira, Good to read your comments... of course it makes sense to fish at two levels at a time in deeper water, if you want to do so...My home waters in Central Oregon I don't have to fish deep and in BC two fly rigs are illegal. I am not sure why ....... they may consider it unsportsmanlike or maybe they are concerned about foul hooking fish (if flies tied are not spread apart enough.) It is legal up there however (if you are alone) to use with two rods... That can be problematic though, just last year alone while we were up there ten days, I personally know of three rods lost and I nearly lost one just setting it down for one second.... but it was one of those days when fishing was red hot......btw all three of those rods were later found... On cloudy, calm spring mornings.... in BC , we sometimes see fish rising even out in twenty feet of water....more often than not they are picking off scuds out in open water.... as you can spot the little crustaceans out and about during those low light times..... that is a good time to fish a scud down only 7-8 feet...or go naked... Paul
troutpocket, agree fishing with chop/waves has worked well for me also. if you safely do it. use a full floater wind at my back, slop cast down wind and let the motion of the water do the work. have found that with wind/waves are a good turn on for the fish. and if has been warm for many days, wind comes with clouds & barometer drops this will spur the fish to move shallow and pick off food that is dislodged by wind/waves. love it most in spring cause you can put on big dragons and go a little deeper to pick the big boys. for me the hardest days are the 80 degree no wind spring days. clear sky and the fish can see everything from a mile away.
There is nothing more productive than when you have wind that gives you the Chironomid chop. Anchor into the wind, then as best you can, cast at a 90 degree angle to the wind. Let the fly wind drift, and sink to it's intended depth out the back of the boat and hang there for a while. Some years I'll get most fish in the drift, while others on the slow retrieve back to the boat.
Yakima, I'll find that wind drifting works great because it potentially moves your fly where fish are working, so you can cover more water. I've wind drifted and picked up fish in the same general area, moved the boat for a down wind presentation to the general location where I'm picking up fish and tried wind drifting again with no success until the bug works directly into the area straight down wind. I don't believe that fish are looking for a chironomid to be moving with the wind, besides, I doubt that at deeper depths the wind is creating any kind of current for the bugs to be moving in. The bugs do move up and down a bit in the water column though so location is key. I believe I end up with the same effect by casting with the wind and then slowly retrieving. There are plenty of times where I'll make long casts and then not get a take until the bug is right under the boat. I'll then stupidly make another long cast only to get a take at the boat again. It usually takes me a couple of fish to figure it out. I do use the wind drift but I approach it in a systematic way to essentially allow myself to fish an entire half circle around my boat to try to figure out if there is a specific location they are holding in. Then I'll just focus on that area most likely with a down wind cast so I can keep it in the zone versus sweeping through with a wind drift. This of course is not 100% of the time I will admit that on the odd occassion the fish just want it sweeping. Ira..
No it is not....I posted that pic just so some on this board could see a typical spring BC scenario.....pretty minimalistic, but nearly everyone in hard boats anchored and standing..... Paul
It gave me a good flashback. Fished Sheridan, Tunkwah, and a lot of other hidden lakes for just under 30 years, give or take a few years off now and then. With sadness, I had to leave the N.W. to find good work, but the countless memories and lessons (and the spankings) Sheridan taught me will never leave. Never found that free drifting a chirnomid worked for me. Seemed I was chasing the fish, not knowing which way the turned, or just too far in front of them. Instead I chose staying put in a known path and letting them come to me. Eagles nest, the rock pile, back side of the big island, Bear and Moose island to name a few.
