Fishing Reports index >November 2007

Trout chasin’ with Chris Dore

Summer is approaching but why go big?
Stay smaller for an effective, thinking approach.

When chasing mayfly-munching browns, the phase to really focus on in my opinion, particularly in the south is that of the emerger. Trout will accept an emerger when feeding on duns, but will rarely take a dun when locked onto emergers.
 
Trout can expect to see these at any point of the day, and will often respond favourably to a wee emerger pattern, even when feeding on larger prey items. Follow me!
 
After, say the first week of the cicada season many rivers have been hit hard by anglers wandering upstream and thrashing the water to foam. You can guess what they are all using... Big size 8 type terrestrials.
Now I don’t think trout look at individual patterns like we do, rather the prey images they project whilst trapped in / on the surface.
 
Think of the myriad of spent spinner imitations on sale in south island fly shops, and hidden away amongst top-secret compartments of the Mataura anglers fly box. Some are bright, some are dull, some sport striped abdomans whilst some are just plain dubbed. Some emanate an irresistible sparkle, immediately catching the angler eye… What if all the trout sees is this prey image here...

Any of the above patterns would work, as long as it was of the correct size, threw out the right silhouette and sat low in the surface, as does the natural, drifting at the mercy of the currents.
 
Needless to say, if you were using a stimulator, I was using a madam x, and the next guy was using a deer hair cicada, from the trouts viewpoint he would really just see three of pretty much the same thing. Now this isnt the problem!
 
Problem comes when the trout has been spooked a few times by improper presentation of these large terrestrial bugs, say the other guys Stimmie (well we would never spook ‘em now, would we?) and now looks very carefully at similar food items in the drift. Remember, most anglers in February will be throwing these large terrestrial type imitations. Not all these anglers will be adept enough at casting long leaders and big dries, particularly on the Oreti.... Think a lot of suspicious trout.
 
This is where the wee emerger comes into play.
This often encountered, inconspicuous prey image will not arouse the same suspicion as the large prey image of the cicada that has now been seen many times dragging across the surface, slapped down inappropriately, or attached to that long bendy thing being held by that 2 legged creature with the net.
 
During the 2007 / 07 season I confidently fished a wee deer hair emerger throughout the summer and had one of the best cicada seasons ever.... on a wee mayfly! You'll be amazed at how far a cicada munching trout will move to hit a wee size 16 DHE in the meniscus once he lets his guard down, and your refusal rate will drop like a fly box off a high bridge.
 
Tie your emerger so that the abdomen penetrates the surface film, for this I feel is one of the major triggers of an emerging mayfly. A curved hook, or a forward slanting wing would do the job nicely.

Think messy and non-descript when designing the fly, for an emerger doesn’t just represent one established form; Wings are unfolding, legs are flailing, and the adult is trying to rid himself of its expendable nymphal shuck. The emerging mayfly presents many, many ever-changing prey images, so try and imitate this in your tie.
 
Pictured is my wee emerger pattern, which seems to work for me in most situations where trout are looking towards the surface.... even when willow grubbing! Its not the be all or end all of mayfly representations but is simple and quick to tie, possesses what I feel are the essential triggers, and is as durable as you wish to make it.
Considerations on fly design

I don’t think colour is a major factor in fly design. If the size, silhouette, position in / on / below the surface and behaviour is in line with the natural, you've got him!
Remember the wee emerger whenever a 'difficult' trout is encountered. 

If a fish refuses ones fly or ignores it, most peoples first instinct is to change the colour of the fly.
I recommend they should first consider the size, and then the silhouette their imitation is throwing out.

To increase feeding efficiency, and to eliminate the need to examine every stick, leaf, piece of foam etc in the drift, trout establish a ‘prey image’.

As I’ve also mentioned elsewhere, I feel the first thing that catches the trouts eye, what distinguishes a food item from other flotsam in the water is the size of said morsal.
 
Silhouette comes into play soon after and I feel that if these two aspects of the overall prey image are fulfilled, most times the trout will look closer at the fly. If its behaving naturally on / in/ beneath the surface (three important distinctions here) then they will hit.
 
Imagine looking out the window at night. Out of the corner of your eye you glimpse a triangular shape roughly the size of a coin, and without even thinking you know this is a moth. Not a leaf, not a smudge etc, but a moth.
 
The size, confirmed by the silhouette tells you this without thinking, whereas if it were several inches longer you would probably regard it as something else.
 
It takes very little energy, or brainpower to define such things using this prey image method, and we all know that trout are efficient feeders.
 
So taking this on board, if the trout refuses your fly, or ignores it completely then it probably didn’t fall into the accepted prey image it was searching for.
 
Change to a different size of fly, and then look at the silhouette it throws out.
 
After that, look at its positioning on / in / beneath the surface film and finally behaviour.
Fly selection need not be a complicated matter. With an understanding of what the trout are looking for and just how they select their food, ones fly selection can be effectively cut town to a total of maybe half a dozen suggestive patterns…. I have refined my ‘go to’ selection to 4. I would tell you, but then I’d have to silence you, and anyways, the exploration and discovery is what makes fly fishing as addictive, and intriguing as it is!

Chris Dore
FFF Certified Fly Casting Instructor.
Queenstown, NZ
027 693 3027

Chris Dore is an independent fishing guide; his reports are not officially representative of Fish & Game NZ

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