Bob Martin
Member
Last Wednesday, my fishing partner and I fished the lower canyon. It was bright and sunny. We started with a double nymph rig but about noon an incredible baetis hatch began and big trout started rising around us. We switched over to #18 dries (Griffith Gnat, Adams, CDC emerger, comparadun, etc.)
I caught a few nice-sized trout during the first couple hours, but as the hatch progressed and the number of naturals on the water increased, the fish seemed to totally ignore my offerings. Interesting note: Even though there were large numbers of flies drifting past me in the surface film, there were very few airborne.
I continued to flail away but my hook ups became few and far between even though large trout were in a surface feeding frenzy all around me. I tried both double and single fly set ups and 6X tippets, and almost every small fly in my box. It became frustrating.
A #18 Griffith Gnat worked fairly well during the first part of the rise but later produced nothing.
Question
oes anyone know of a fly that will consistently fool the trout during such strong baetis hatches? Or, is it better during such times to sit on the bank and watch the big show?
I caught a few nice-sized trout during the first couple hours, but as the hatch progressed and the number of naturals on the water increased, the fish seemed to totally ignore my offerings. Interesting note: Even though there were large numbers of flies drifting past me in the surface film, there were very few airborne.
I continued to flail away but my hook ups became few and far between even though large trout were in a surface feeding frenzy all around me. I tried both double and single fly set ups and 6X tippets, and almost every small fly in my box. It became frustrating.
A #18 Griffith Gnat worked fairly well during the first part of the rise but later produced nothing.
Question
