Solution to "What Would You Do?"
When I last left you, I was fishing Poindexter Slough using a parachute hopper. I had cut back my 15 foot 5X leader to 3X.
My bonus question asked what tippet material I used and why. The answer is that I used a fluorocarbon tippet, Orvis Mirage in this case. Fluorocarbon has almost the same optical density as water. It becomes less visible under the water. I use the rule of thumb that fluorocarbon leader has the same visibility as leader material 2X smaller when it is submerged. So I estimated that my 3X had the visibility of 5X leader. I used saliva to sink the leader even though I was using a floating fly. Under the windy conditions, the choppy water surface also helped make the leader less apparent to the fish.
How did I solve the larger question - why did the parachute hopper not work and what to do about it? I recalled that both fly shops had suggested parachute hoppers. In addition, both shops carried parachutes as their main grasshopper pattern. I suspected that these fish had become accustomed to parachute hoppers. To test this theory, I walked the bank until I found a trout I could observe. I threw the parachute pattern to it and it didn't react at all. If the pattern was even remotely close to what the fish thought was a hopper, it should have moved to the fly.
The parachute is an inventive and an excellent hopper pattern. It floats low in the water like a real hopper, and it has a realistic profile in the water. However, above the water, it has the characteristic white deer tail parachute post. In this case, I suspected the post acted as a negative "trigger" that tells the fish that this is a fake.
Gary Borger, in his book "Presentation", discusses the concept of positive "trigger" factors, which cause the fish to hit the fly. These triggers can be built into the fly such as the well-known concept of size, shape, and color. They can also be related to behavior of the natural insect such as skating the fly during a caddis hatch.
We all know about drag as a negative factor that puts the fish off. I want to introduce to you the concept of "negative" triggers that heavily fished trout use to tell a real insect from a fly. In this case, I suspected that these fish were constantly exposed to parachute hopper patterns. Even when the presentation was perfect, they had been stung enough times by this pattern, that they had learned to recognize it by its characteristic above water profile. When these fish saw the white parachute post, they immediately recognized it as a fake.
So I changed to my "secret" hopper pattern - the Henry’s Fork Hopper designed by Mick Lawson for the heavily fished Henry’ Fork of the Snake. It has the correct profile both below and above the water. I tie it with either deer hair or foam for the body. Therefore it requires no hackle to float and the body floats low in the water just like a real hopper. Even when submerged, it looks like a real hopper. The parachute pattern with its upright post and hackle does not. Trout love "drowned" hoppers just like they love drowned ants. You should continue to fish hopper patterns even after they sink.
I always carry an extendible sampling net with me. I caught a real grasshopper to imitate. I didn't have HFH in the appropriate color. However, the pattern was tied with a white abdomen and I used a magic markers to color it olive green.
What would I have done if the parachute was the only hopper pattern I carried? I would have taken my iris scissors and cut off the post and hackle. I am convinced that this would have worked but not as well as my secret hopper
When I switched to the Henry’s Fork Hopper, the trout I was watching promptly moved to the fly and took it it. This convinced me that I had solved the puzzle. With this pattern I had the best day of my trip. I caught and landed over 20 fish with 8 of them measuring over 15 inches. The largest was 19 inches. Rather than a problem, the low water and heavy wind were an advantage as I'll explain below in the answer to part II of the puzzle.
--------------------------------------
Solution to part II
On our second trip to Poindexter, there was no wind. The water was still very low and clear and the parking lot already had 6 cars and trucks. After getting on my waders, I walked downstream to where Poindexter Slough enters the Beaverhead River. I still had on the 9 foot 3X tippet with the same hopper pattern that had worked so well the prior day. But I went fishless.
I suspected that without the wind and even using fluorocarbon tippet, the fish were put off by the 3X leader. The wind was actually an advantage on the prior day. Not only did it blow the hoppers into the water, but it also served to hide the short heavy leader I had to use to deliver the fly under these conditions. One other thing the wind did was to hide the drag that the 3X tipper caused.
Under windy conditions, it is not uncommon to see naturals skating on the surface and being blown about in an erratic fashion. The trout took the drag of the 3X leader as the normal motion of a natural being buffeted by the swirling surface winds.
To tailor my presentation to the current conditions, I cut the 3X tippet back slightly and added a 3 foot section of 5X Mirage tippet. I also changed the hopper to a smaller size, from 10-12 to size 14. Under the low water conditions and with the lighter tippet, I needed to go to a smaller pattern to get a gentler presentation that would not scare the fish.
After these changes I promptly hooked two fish that snapped off the 5X tippet material. Unfortunately my fluorocarbon tippet was not as strong as standard monofilament. So I not only went up to a size 4X tippet but switched to Dairiki Velvet. After the switch I went on to land 12 trout with 4 over 15 inches and the largest measuring an honest 20 inches against my rod. Only one trout broke me off after the tippet switch.
I explained above why the wind, which is normally a hindrance to fly fishing was in this case a real advantage to those who knew how to adapt to it. It is the same with low and clear water conditions. Normally fly fishers would consider this a real problem because it warms the water and makes the trout more wary. In the case of Poindexter the water temperature was not a problem because of the cold springs that feed a spring creek.
The low water actually helped me to locate the fish, since they would move to the remaining deep areas of the spring creek. Not only did it help me to concentrate my efforts on the productive segments of the stream, but these segments also now held more trout, which increased my chances of getting a rise. When the trout become concentrated they will jockey for position and become more aggressive toward the fly. It was surprising to me to see fly fishers casting essentially to dead water. These areas were too shallow to hold fish or if they did hold an occasional trout, they would probably be spooked with the cast.
In low water conditions, go to the areas, which have the deepest runs. This means you need to go downstream because downstream in a spring creek is where the stream has gathered the greatest flow from the many springs that feed it. Then look for the narrowest areas of the stream and fish to the outside (convex) curve of the stream. This is where the stream has usually cut out the deepest runs. When you have located the deepest runs during low water conditions, rest assured that you have located the trout. The key to low and clear conditions is to fish the remaining deep areas that act as the holding areas for fish under these conditions.
The low water held one additional advantage for me. Poindexter is a relatively narrow stream that has few open banks, and these open banks tend to be in the wider areas of the stream. I find that you need to get into the stream to fish the most productive portions. Being of less than average stature, I could not wade much of Poindexter in normal water. Portions would simply be too deep. Even under these low water conditions, I had to occasionally backtrack and get out of the water to avoid the deepest pools. I found some pools that were still well over the top of my waders. So for me, the low water was a real advantage.
Henry Kanemoto
When I last left you, I was fishing Poindexter Slough using a parachute hopper. I had cut back my 15 foot 5X leader to 3X.
My bonus question asked what tippet material I used and why. The answer is that I used a fluorocarbon tippet, Orvis Mirage in this case. Fluorocarbon has almost the same optical density as water. It becomes less visible under the water. I use the rule of thumb that fluorocarbon leader has the same visibility as leader material 2X smaller when it is submerged. So I estimated that my 3X had the visibility of 5X leader. I used saliva to sink the leader even though I was using a floating fly. Under the windy conditions, the choppy water surface also helped make the leader less apparent to the fish.
How did I solve the larger question - why did the parachute hopper not work and what to do about it? I recalled that both fly shops had suggested parachute hoppers. In addition, both shops carried parachutes as their main grasshopper pattern. I suspected that these fish had become accustomed to parachute hoppers. To test this theory, I walked the bank until I found a trout I could observe. I threw the parachute pattern to it and it didn't react at all. If the pattern was even remotely close to what the fish thought was a hopper, it should have moved to the fly.
The parachute is an inventive and an excellent hopper pattern. It floats low in the water like a real hopper, and it has a realistic profile in the water. However, above the water, it has the characteristic white deer tail parachute post. In this case, I suspected the post acted as a negative "trigger" that tells the fish that this is a fake.
Gary Borger, in his book "Presentation", discusses the concept of positive "trigger" factors, which cause the fish to hit the fly. These triggers can be built into the fly such as the well-known concept of size, shape, and color. They can also be related to behavior of the natural insect such as skating the fly during a caddis hatch.
We all know about drag as a negative factor that puts the fish off. I want to introduce to you the concept of "negative" triggers that heavily fished trout use to tell a real insect from a fly. In this case, I suspected that these fish were constantly exposed to parachute hopper patterns. Even when the presentation was perfect, they had been stung enough times by this pattern, that they had learned to recognize it by its characteristic above water profile. When these fish saw the white parachute post, they immediately recognized it as a fake.
So I changed to my "secret" hopper pattern - the Henry’s Fork Hopper designed by Mick Lawson for the heavily fished Henry’ Fork of the Snake. It has the correct profile both below and above the water. I tie it with either deer hair or foam for the body. Therefore it requires no hackle to float and the body floats low in the water just like a real hopper. Even when submerged, it looks like a real hopper. The parachute pattern with its upright post and hackle does not. Trout love "drowned" hoppers just like they love drowned ants. You should continue to fish hopper patterns even after they sink.
I always carry an extendible sampling net with me. I caught a real grasshopper to imitate. I didn't have HFH in the appropriate color. However, the pattern was tied with a white abdomen and I used a magic markers to color it olive green.
What would I have done if the parachute was the only hopper pattern I carried? I would have taken my iris scissors and cut off the post and hackle. I am convinced that this would have worked but not as well as my secret hopper
When I switched to the Henry’s Fork Hopper, the trout I was watching promptly moved to the fly and took it it. This convinced me that I had solved the puzzle. With this pattern I had the best day of my trip. I caught and landed over 20 fish with 8 of them measuring over 15 inches. The largest was 19 inches. Rather than a problem, the low water and heavy wind were an advantage as I'll explain below in the answer to part II of the puzzle.
--------------------------------------
Solution to part II
On our second trip to Poindexter, there was no wind. The water was still very low and clear and the parking lot already had 6 cars and trucks. After getting on my waders, I walked downstream to where Poindexter Slough enters the Beaverhead River. I still had on the 9 foot 3X tippet with the same hopper pattern that had worked so well the prior day. But I went fishless.
I suspected that without the wind and even using fluorocarbon tippet, the fish were put off by the 3X leader. The wind was actually an advantage on the prior day. Not only did it blow the hoppers into the water, but it also served to hide the short heavy leader I had to use to deliver the fly under these conditions. One other thing the wind did was to hide the drag that the 3X tipper caused.
Under windy conditions, it is not uncommon to see naturals skating on the surface and being blown about in an erratic fashion. The trout took the drag of the 3X leader as the normal motion of a natural being buffeted by the swirling surface winds.
To tailor my presentation to the current conditions, I cut the 3X tippet back slightly and added a 3 foot section of 5X Mirage tippet. I also changed the hopper to a smaller size, from 10-12 to size 14. Under the low water conditions and with the lighter tippet, I needed to go to a smaller pattern to get a gentler presentation that would not scare the fish.
After these changes I promptly hooked two fish that snapped off the 5X tippet material. Unfortunately my fluorocarbon tippet was not as strong as standard monofilament. So I not only went up to a size 4X tippet but switched to Dairiki Velvet. After the switch I went on to land 12 trout with 4 over 15 inches and the largest measuring an honest 20 inches against my rod. Only one trout broke me off after the tippet switch.
I explained above why the wind, which is normally a hindrance to fly fishing was in this case a real advantage to those who knew how to adapt to it. It is the same with low and clear water conditions. Normally fly fishers would consider this a real problem because it warms the water and makes the trout more wary. In the case of Poindexter the water temperature was not a problem because of the cold springs that feed a spring creek.
The low water actually helped me to locate the fish, since they would move to the remaining deep areas of the spring creek. Not only did it help me to concentrate my efforts on the productive segments of the stream, but these segments also now held more trout, which increased my chances of getting a rise. When the trout become concentrated they will jockey for position and become more aggressive toward the fly. It was surprising to me to see fly fishers casting essentially to dead water. These areas were too shallow to hold fish or if they did hold an occasional trout, they would probably be spooked with the cast.
In low water conditions, go to the areas, which have the deepest runs. This means you need to go downstream because downstream in a spring creek is where the stream has gathered the greatest flow from the many springs that feed it. Then look for the narrowest areas of the stream and fish to the outside (convex) curve of the stream. This is where the stream has usually cut out the deepest runs. When you have located the deepest runs during low water conditions, rest assured that you have located the trout. The key to low and clear conditions is to fish the remaining deep areas that act as the holding areas for fish under these conditions.
The low water held one additional advantage for me. Poindexter is a relatively narrow stream that has few open banks, and these open banks tend to be in the wider areas of the stream. I find that you need to get into the stream to fish the most productive portions. Being of less than average stature, I could not wade much of Poindexter in normal water. Portions would simply be too deep. Even under these low water conditions, I had to occasionally backtrack and get out of the water to avoid the deepest pools. I found some pools that were still well over the top of my waders. So for me, the low water was a real advantage.
Henry Kanemoto
