Bass vs. Boo

I love Bass fishing. Never get enough of it. I generally fish marginal fisheries for these, but whatever. This fish took a Chamois Muddler. The 4wt Boo tames it quick. Small fish I guess. ;)

Short Bass vid.

Short Vid

Just a bit of vid pulled from footage shot over the last while. Still have to sort out a solution for compiling footage.

Camping and Fishing on the Grand.

Forced Break.

This mornings outing was the last for a week or so. No transport till then. Unfortunately the rain skewed the hatches a bit. It started out with some sippers which I started taking on BWO's. Pretty much a no brainer. They wouldn't take the MC20's, so given that it was great BWO weather ( overcast and shitty ), it wasn't a hard call.

The caddis never really got going. Some started popping when the sun made its appearance, and for a while it looked like it was going to get good, but it petered out before it really happened. Still managed enough fish ( on MC20's ) to make the day a success, but it certainly wasn't the lights out action from the previous outings.

While the iron is hot.

Yup. I can be a real whore when it comes to milking a hatch for all its worth. So with yesterdays successes under the belt.............where do you think I was this morning?

You got it. Hey, can you blame me? Hours after hours sitting on the shore, watching water as it ambles past, wiating, watching, hoping for the surface activity to start. Many times it never does.....and I leave the water without my line ever casting a shadow or causing a ripple. So when I have a good idea that trout will be coming up? Yeah man.........no brainer, I'm there.

The day before probably had more risers, with a bigger window of opportunity, but the morning still provided some excellent surface fishing on Cranes and Caddis. Would be out again tomorrow but its the dreaded weekend.

Lordy, I needed that.

After taking it hard Monday and Tuesday, playing Heron, watching water that was devoid of rising fish, it was nice to have an great outing this morning.

For two days I watched, and waited, for fish to hit the surface but to no avail. HAtches I was waiting on and looking for just never happened. It was tough. It happens. I wasn't anticipating much more this morning.

As soon as I hit the river I saw more bugs in the first minute than I had on Monday and Tuesday......so my hopes were bouyed. As I moved up the river beyond the access point, I saw a couple of sporadic rises............which again trumped the other 2 days immediately. I had moved up a fair distance to check on some big fish water............but absolutely nothing was moving there........so I headed back down to where the sporadic's had been.

Initially I was able to move them with a #20 Crane. As soon as the fish started hitting the surface with some regularity, the crane stopped getting looks. Onto the MC #20...........and that produced very well for the rest of the morning..........landing a good number of fish, and stinging many more. Best fish of the day was in the mid to high teens was broken of at the knot..........may have to rethink the Turtle if that happens again. That was a first.

A little late to the ball...........

I captured a number of these last night where I work. Its about a 1/2km from both the Lower Credit and Silver Creek ( here in G'town. ). I was surprised as they should be done a while ago. If there down here, I would think the should be thick on the UC ( I have yet to fish my beloved river this season ). Oddly, taking macro shots without a macro capable lens makes this a sketchy affair.

Upper Credit River Hatch Chart

I compiled this chart a long time ago. It covers the Mayflies and Stonefly's of the Upper Credit. It is the result of harassing someone/s who knew the deal. Any charts I saw previously, ranged from sadly lacking to criminally misinformed. That was evident to any neophyte who ever bothered to check the bugs. The impetus to this, was when I couldn't identify a certain hatch ( the mollis it turned out ), and ran into a brick wall with the shops I frequented. It wasn't until I had the fortune of talking with Roy DeGuisti, that I finally found someone who knew the river and hatches intimately. This chart was compiled after many many emails and conversations with Roy. I noted Henry Frania's assistance as well. Henry is an entomologist very familiar with the upper credit and its insects. I can't remember what Henry's input was, but it was likely through his and Roy's own discussions on the subject.

Many years later, I have still to see a better chart. I have lost this chart a few times due to server or hard drive crashes. Fortunatley, others have been able to help me get it back ( thanks to Ken Paterson for this one! ).

I recently learned from a guide that this chart may have appeared in print. If so, I can remember giving that permission only once, and I'm not sure the group followed throw with its publication ( either a local chapter of TU or Isaac Walton, can't remember.). If you have seen it elsewhere, it was likely printed without permission. Hopefully, if it was printed, it was properly accredited. In the case it was not ( and without permission ), a big fuck you too the lazy buggers responsible.

Flybox Fox Trot.

I love taking fish off the top. This was something that came with me from spin fishing. I was a topwater junkie by 6. Watching bass smash a Hula Popper was one of my favourite sights. With trout.........the sight of rising fish is just glorious. Its a beautiful sight, watching the trout take thier dinner from the surface. Sometimes, the fish have manners. Lightly picking their dinner fare from the surface. At other times, they are like Homer Simpson at a doughnut eating contest...........smashing the surface to inhale their favoured fare of the day. For me..........surface feeders usually foreshadow a good day of fishing..........if you can find the key.

If you can`t match the hatch, that can lead to some major frustrations. Having a river full of fish rising, but only manage one or two............well, thats an epic fail on our parts. We missed the match. It happens. If you haven`t encountered a specific hatch, you may not have a suitable imitation for it.......so, its back to the vise and a shot at redemption the next day. All pretty straight forward.

Then............there are days where not only do you encounter every fish in the river rising, but also every available insect hatching. This can present a whole new set of problems which can be found under the header, `Complex Hatch`. A complex hatch can be a difficult one to contend with. Even if you do have a match to what the insects have keyed on, you still have to figure it out, and put it on in time. Often, fish will have zoned in on one hatch, often the most prolific. This is good. You find the key, tie it on, and catch fish. Easy peasy, almost as if the competing hatches don`t exist. But things can get much more irksome.

What if some fish are on one bug, then switch to another.....or another stage of the same bug. What if different fish, are on different bugs? You can be dancing through your flybox looking for that right fly, for the right fish, In a limited time. I came across the most shining example of such a complex hatch the other night. Various Caddis, Light Cahills, BWO's, Cranes.......all coming off, or coming down. I had hit the water at around 4:30'ish and sat to watch a section of river that was devoid of trout rising. Chubs were going nuts. There were decent numbers of Cahills coming off since around noon, and the little guys were sucking them up. Fish attacking insects larger than themselves. I will not be surprised when I finally see a mayfly take off with a tiny fish latched to its leg. It had been an odd day. The morning never really took off. I watched a lot of water flow past without much happening. Sporadically checking the river throughout the day yeilded no results. So, I was realatively confident something should happen. When it did, it was fast, furious and frantic.

For 2 hrs only a very occasional trout showed itself. Then a number of trout started moving on bugs at the same moment. In a couple of minutes the entire river was full of risers.........taking emergers ( and the occasional dun ). Including a decent fish. SO, I slowly got into the water and moved into a position were I could observe that fish. It was pushing good water, and defintely on emergers. A day earlier fish here had been taking Cahill emergers. I was confident they'd be on that today. That was actually the plan. Beat up the fish on Cahill emergers. So I wasn't surprised when my first cast into its feeding lane was sucked up without hesitation. It was a very short hook up, but good enough to make sure that particular fish wouldn't show himself again. Oh well, onto other fish and successes. However, after a relatively brief burst of productiveness, the fly stopped producing. WTF? Something else had changed........the rise forms. They were now sipping and splashing rise forms. I could see no Adult Caddis or may duns getting sucked up..............so I was thinking something small, or difficult to see. My first though was...Black Caddis, Spent Caddis, Cranes, or BWO's. A look into the drink showed numerous cranes. The splashing and sipping is something I associate both with the crane........so on went the crane. Instant and undeniable success! Yippee. But wait! Whats this? After another brief window my fly is ineffective. Fish are now all splashy. Hmmmm........lots a caddis? Which one? After flipping through my caddis, leaving my box in disarray, I find more immediate success on a #20 TanTan Caddis. Kewl. Ask me how surprised I was when the fish all started sipping shortly after.
Here I got stuck. At first, I tried a BWO......as the days weather had me thinking they should make an appearence. My #20 dun and emerger patterns got rejected. A former guide/friend tells me the were smashing #22 Bwo's in the upper stretches. I hadn't come across any BWO's that small before ( edit: Yes I have...........somehow brain cramped on this. )and had none in my box. Or if I had, a 20 had sufficed. However, when I was rejected...I had a good long look at the drink and saw the #22 spinners. I first tried a #20 color appropriate spinner. First cast.........rejected. It was a little large, but I liked the attention. So, on goes a 22 spinner. Instant success! Problem solved. Of course, when I dealt with that fish, and looked to the river............there was now no fish moving anywhere. At all. Nothing.

SO it was off to the bank for a rest and a look see. Then a short time later back to the campsite. All of the activity had taken place within a two hour period!!!!

Oddly enough I had been talking to an angler the other night, who had related to me something he had read about the different types of anglers. One type, is the type that falls into the 'as many as possible' category. Next, was the 'biggest possible'. And last we had ' size, numbers not as much, as technical as possible.' I like to believe I fall into the third category, having worked through the first two.

In my opinion, working through a complex hatch can be difficult enough. Often, we can get lucky and the key is fish are on one of the hatches and stuck there. Having to go through a night like I did was definetly an exception. And with such a short window on each bug? I can't remember that happening to me before. It may have, but I can't remember it. In order to keep step at all, I had to be stocked with the requisite flies. I had anticapated to be fishing to trout on Cahill emergers. That I had the needed flies ( with the excetion of 22 BWO's ), spoke more to preparedness than blind luck. I was happy about that. I also thoroughly enjoy figuring out fish. Waiting, watching, then talking a fish into taking the first cast gets my rocks off. When its a good fish, its as close to perfection as I've experienced on this plane.............well short of the aid from hallucingenic substances. For one brief moment, you were perfect in the eye's of the fish, and god.

I would have been far more successful had the fish kindly done as I hoped and stayed on the Cahill emergers for the night. Just the changing of flies and tippet cost me valuable time. However, I was savvy enough to be aware of the changing rise pattern, and check the drink for the cause. And I figured the fish. And while I havehad much better days on the water in terms of fish numbers and size, not all will be remembered as long as this evening, when I and the trout did the flybox fox trot.


edit: I more than certainly familiar with #22 BWO's. I have dozens of them tied up in my UC box............and a look at one of my older sites reaffirmed this. Can't explain this brain cramp. Maybe 4 seasons off? More likely Ian Martins evil little book on the Grands Hatches that has misinformed me more than once. I had been pouring over that lately and poisoning my brain once again.