Author Topic: Beat Strat When the fish\cond are super tough (Read 227 times)

Kevin Lowe · « **on:** March 12, 2010, 11:48:23 AM »

Team Nc fished a two fly this past weekend. The fishing was brutal. The weather had been cold but comp day it was nice. Lots of snow melt with a water temp of 35F.
Josh and I fish some gorgeous water, the fish were few and far between. My question is when the conditions are tough and your fishing a spot you know theres gotta be fish how much time do you spend on those spots? These beats were long, half mile. Do you change rigs multiple times in the same spot or fish it thru and start over with new rig? What flies(type not specific) do you guys go for tough fishing or cold cold water? THANKS

Torrey Collins · « **Reply #1 on:** March 12, 2010, 09:37:19 PM »

I don't fish competitively, but like many of us, I've fished quite a bit under "tough" conditions, with many, many days where the water temps were very cold. Here's the way I look at it:

On days when the fishing is good, it means the trout are active & willing to move for food or your flies, their "strike zone" is large- they may move a foot or two to either side to eat your nymph, and they are willing to lift up from the stream bottom too. When the trout are sluggish (as is typical in water temps barely above freezing), the strike zone is quite small and the fish will move little or even not at all for your flies. On the toughest of days, you only get bites when your fly literally is going to hit them in the mouth, and they have to choose between moving out of the way or opening their mouth and eating, almost a defensive reaction. Your target area of drift might actually be the diameter of a quarter.

Under the conditions your describe- cold water with a water temp drop due to snowmelt, it can make for some really slow fishing and extremely sluggish fish with a tiny strike zone. I like to cherry pick the absolute best water and saturate it with a lot of casts, hoping to put a couple of drifts literally on the trout's nose. Stick with your go-to flies that you have a lot of confidence in for the particular water fished, because confidence is very important when the fishing is slow, and if you don't have flies on that you feel really good about, you will second-guess your fly choice and not fish as well as you could. If you are sure you are fishing over a bunch of trout, do change your flies if you stay in the same spot for a long time- that way they don't get overexposed & turned off by too many drifts in the same area with the same flies. Once you've thoroughly fished that spot, move on to the next.

Also remember that because the fish probably aren't actively feeding, they will most likely be in "holding" lies, not in feeding lies that expose them to heavier current or possible predation. I look for water with decent depth, and a nice medium-slow current, and ideally some sort of structure (rocks, logs, drop-offs, undercut banks, etc.). The ideal current speed is typically what I would describe as a slow walk.

Some of my confidence flies in really cold water would be egg patterns (esp. sucker spawn and other translucent patterns when dealing with pressured fish & clear water), good sized stones (typically #8-10 Goldens), caddis (both cased & uncased), midges (on waters where they are a prevalent food form, they hatch all year, even in the Winter), San Juan worms/Vladi's, and scuds & sow bugs (if they are present, they are active in cold water, unlike most bugs). I also like patterns with hot spots of some sort, they get the trout's attention & I think they can sometimes trigger an otherwise lethargic fish to feed. I would recommend nymphing with a 2 or possibly even a 3 fly rig, this gives them choices and increase the chances of one of your flies hitting the target zone. Streamers with lots of built in motion can work too, just dead-drift or swing them with maybe some subtle twitches, and let hang at the end of the drift, esp. if they are still in good water or near structure. Any streamer with marabou or zonker strips can work- Zonkers, Buggers, Slumpbusters, Marabous, etc. Sometimes a big bite can appeal to a turned off fish that isn't interested in the smaller stuff. Sometimes not.

More than anything though, presentation is super important- get that fly right in the trout's face, and then detect the subtle take and set the hook before they eject it. Pattern choice is secondary, but the other stuff isn't- confidence, reading the water correctly & presenting properly are all paramount.

Dejon Hamann · « **Reply #2 on:** March 12, 2010, 10:01:34 PM »

Good reply Torrey. That really covers that bases.

My only 2 other points would be:

1) Half Mile Beats?

HOLY CRAP! Why? That's at least, what, 6 to 8 times the length of a normal fips-mouche beat? I would ask why are they making the beats so long? Are there only a few fish? Heavily picked stockies? Or maybe slim wild water? Or maybe there's only so much suitable holding water? I think we'd need to hear a little bit more about the system, the stream layout, stocking, and all that jazz to assess.

2) Time on flies. I don't have an answer to this one yet. At least not one that I'm adequately putting into my actual fishing to supply as a solution. I once heard that GeorgeDaniels switches his flies religiously every 12 minutes - that could be urban legend though. This is something I grapple with and need to make a break through sometime soon: how often to switch flies when it's tough? When it's easy... well, it's easy. But when it's tough I am apt to stay with a single pair of flies and work them harder... which I think is probably a mistake, but it's my natural way of doing things, so I have to "break" it.

Todd Oishi · « **Reply #3 on:** March 12, 2010, 11:50:32 PM »

Torrey gives some stellar advice and insight on this subject!

In regards to the beat length... There is very little chance that you are going to effectively cover that much water within a three hour session. In this case I would "high grade" and prioritize the beat during the allotted time for preparation before the session commences. This is why it is critical to be organized and ready to fish as soon as you arrive, rather than wasting valuable time setting up your gear...

I had a similar scenario when I fished the 2008WFFC in New Zealand. My beat on the Whanganui River was absolutely enormous. As soon as I arrived at my beat, I realized that there was no way to fish the entire beat. So I quickly set-up my rods and ran the entire length of my beat in order to determine where the best water was and how to effectively cover and approach my beat...

I started at the best stretch of water and managed to pull over a dozen trout from a relatively short stretch of water. I worked through it with several patterns and techniques, and once I felt that I had thoroughly covered it... I ran as fast as I could to the next best location, which unfortunately was at the furthest end of my beat.

I worked the second stretch of water with the patterns and techniques that had proved to be most effective, and was rewarded with instant success! The first half of my beat provided me with valuable insight as to the most effective patterns and presentations, which worked equally as well and produced an equal number of fish. My only regret was that I ran out of time just as I found a "honey hole" that produced three fish in the final five minutes.

Now, if I had to fish this same beat nearer to the final sessions of the competition, I would have definitely approached and worked it quite differently, as the best water would most certainly have received the greatest amount of pressure. At times such as this, it is a bit of a gamble trying to decide which is the best strategy to employ...

Loren Williams · « **Reply #4 on:** March 13, 2010, 08:59:27 AM »

Great advice guys!

In the end, you do your best to make the best decisions you can and as one of my teammates once told me: "Loren, never doubt yourself." That little tidbit of advice has been invaluable to me I grow as a competitor.

There are definitely aspects aside from pure angling skill that matter in competition. Decision-making and athleticism are perhaps the two major ones. Both will improve with each competition. Just remember--sometimes things just don't go your way and there is no way you'll rank highly at every competition.

Little story many guys here can relate to 'cause they were there:

Provo River in 2008. The PM session on the river during the first day. Weather was nice and zillions of fish were hooked (and lost

during session 1. On my PM beat I learned that the vast majority of the fish were taken at the top end-last pool- of my beat. By the layout of the beat I assumed the controller stayed with the angler and that most of those fish were released back to the same pool. I made the decision to let that pool rest until 1-hour was left in the session. I started at the bottom and was measuring fish with happy regularity. As I got closer to the pool my catching increased (many were short) and I was getting excited. But, with an hour left, as I got to the pool, the water level rose a foot or more and turned brown with leaves and grass in suspension. Someone opened a canal upstream. Oh well.

What would have happened if I went straight to the pool? We will never know and I do not doubt my decision.

I think it is GREAT that you guys are training under difficult conditions. Even if the condition are not what you might face at the world level--tough fishing trains your mental stamina. I think a measure of a great comp angler is performing well in a session after a blank. Blanks will happen--what you do with them can be defining.

Kevin Lowe · « **Reply #5 on:** March 13, 2010, 10:12:51 PM »

This 2 fly was on the tellico river in east tn. Classified a delayed harvest. Not that you could tell! The tourny was run by some local fly shops. Their first, So they had their growing pains. Hince the long long beats! It was during the dh season so catch and release artificial only had been in affect for several months. The locals said not only a few weeks before they were catching alot of fish!!! This lead me to believe the fish were still there. There were several falls and drops along with pools riffles and runs over and over. Beat time only 2.0 hours. And time started as soon as you left the parking area. Our controller was a cool guy but x military so he started a watch soon as we were in the truck. Beat marking was rough only a few signs and a mix of letters and numbers. So the morning we was only on the water for 74 minutes!WOW We were on the ball for our second beat and had a full 2 hours. Only 1 fish was caught in the morning session. TEAM NC took 1st thru 4th with only 9 fish scored between us. Many angler fished 2 beats and never hooked a fish! ALL IN ALL a good tourny just leaving me thirsty for answers!

Kevin Lowe · « **Reply #6 on:** March 13, 2010, 10:25:23 PM »

THANK TO ALL for the replies so far. I learn so much each time I compete.

Loren, I fished a beat just down stream from you in Newago one year, I remember looking up seeing you fishing when I realized you were getting washed down stream. I remember thinking dang that guy is crazy. I learned alot that week. The main thing was I didnt like walking up all those steps after that beat! lol

Loren Williams · « **Reply #7 on:** March 13, 2010, 11:32:16 PM »

Kevin,

Yeah, High Rollaway after a session is like the bleachers after a 3-hour football practice under the July sun!!!! The Muskegon and I have a special relationship for sure. Doesn't look like they'll have that competition this year...maybe next year. Just as well--I am still recovering form 6300 cfs!