J.C.
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Alright, let’s do this. I propose we meet at River Rose Tavern at 0800 on Saturday 01 FEB. For those that want to, I thought we could start by explaining our setup, leader formula, fly selection, number of flies used, how you attach them to the tippet and anything else we think appropriate. Then make our way to river for demos, different casting methods and ideas for different types of water.
Hope to see you there,
JC
Thanks for all the responses. It seems we have a quorum. I would like to suggest 01 Feb or 02 Feb (perhaps the first Saturday or Sunday of each month). Also, I think River Rose Tavern would be a good initial meeting point, plenty of parking and there is a lot of water both above and below the bridge that showcases some of the advantages and different applications of euro-nymphing. Thoughts, other ideas?
JC
Earlier in the season, I saw a couple on kayaks cleaning a trout above Potts (old 6b site). With the head already removed, difficult to judge size. Although, I think I may be more bothered by bait fishermen that release trout with little chance of surviving after ripping out a swallowed hook.
JC
Alex, nice reference to the old Badger Hackle himself. The Quill Gordon will always be a favorite. -jc
Alex,
I, too, was out yesterday and found your mind. Unfortunately, at my advanced age, I can’t remember where I placed it.
JC
Bloomer,
I’ll take a stab at an explanation as I have witnessed and participated in electrofishing while stationed in PA. Biologist/scientists/fishery management, etc. use electricity to temporarily stun fish so that they can be collected, counted, measured, and weighed in order to survey the fish population. For some reason, trout (and many other species of fish) are galvanotaxis, which causes them to move towards electrical impulses. Although this may sound strange, there are other corollaries in nature, such as sunflowers being phototaxis, whereby they follow the movement of the sun.
Nonetheless, the electricity temporarily paralyzes the fish so that someone with a net can scoop up the fish and place them in a bucket or barrel. The fish are typed, measured and weighed. After collecting the data, the fish are returned to the river. The overall consensus is that little harm is inflicted on the fish and the data provide valuable information about the health of the targeted fish population.
JC
johnnyleettu,
No, 7x tippet is in my opinion quite unnecessary and probably ill-advised on the Guad. However, I routinely use 5x, 5.5x and 6x tippet but I am generally fishing a 10.5 ft 3wt that affords me a lot of tippet protection with a soft rod tip. The steelhead pictured above were caught on 3x tippet, which if you let them straighten your rod or you pinch your line, they have no trouble snapping your tippet (and I snapped a few off). The key to landing large fish is to keep a nice c-shape bend in the rod to protect the tippet, play them on the reel with an appropriately set drag, and be prepared to move if necessary. Of course, these are my opinions and with free advice… well you know.
Alex and I have had a few discussion surrounding tippet size and he can weigh in as well. But I find the thinner tippet isn’t as much about leader shy fish as it is about sink rate. In competition, I often have small buckets that I need my flies to sink into quickly and without the ability to add split-shot or weight I have to rely on the weight built into the fly. Therefore, less resistance from the tippet is a variable that I can control. But if you can add weight then 4x vs 5x probably won’t make that much of a difference and it will provide a little more breaking strength, which may also lead to landing a fish quicker and that’s better for the fish. Occasionally, I suppose fish do become wary of fly line, especially as the season wears on and in those cases thinner tippet might be an advantage but as stated many times before, I believe that presentation trumps fly selection and tippet size.
Wow, I thought this was going to be a short post and probably wrote more than you cared to read.
JC
Alex, At 70 cfs, I thought the wading would be easier. Turns out, you’re right, the last 1300 miles really takes its toll.
Scott, they are strain of steelhead and lake trout that run from Lake Erie. The surrounding States release 100Ks fingerlings into the rivers each year in an attempt to imprint the little ones to the streams. Generally, after 3-5 years of great lake living, the trout return to spawn.
JC
You are in the right neighborhood, Jimbo. PA, Elk Creek near Erie. -JC
To post your pictures, they have to be hosted somewhere as you can’t embed them in the post. I use photobucket, but there are other sites as well.
JC
They are bit leader-shy and selective. Recommend 7x tippet with a size 18 to 22 midge 🙂
JC
I also keep an eye out for Alex’s Sage ESN.
JC
The water is low enough that I was able to wade the entire way. In fact, I was wearing my waist waders not my chest waders. I stay on the opposite side of Whitewater until I reach the riffles above the island then cross over. I then move above the big rock and cross back over. -jc
Great shots, thanks Kev!
JC
Although flows are sub-optimal, the temperatures are certainly trending in the right direction.
JC
