Flyfishing on the Willy

KStock · 06-21-2007, 08:13 PM

Guys, I'm going to try some surface flyfishing on the Willi this weekend for the first time. I'm thinking it should be best to go very early in the morning (low light conditions) and to fish the more shallow flats?
I'm not sure what flies to throw other than some trout generics like Elk hair caddis, Adams, and Royal Coachmans since I haven't seen a lot of fly hatch action on the river. Will these work?
With your help I'm going to give it a shot, but it probably won't take me long to resort back to my spinning rod and Senkos! Thanks for the assist.

-KStock

fishnfun · 06-21-2007, 09:42 PM

the fish are busting smolts in any where from 5 to 40 feet of water. It doesnt seem to matter much which type of water your fishing as long as it has current. Try a pencil popper or a clouser minnow fished fast.

Tar Heel · 06-21-2007, 11:02 PM

On the John Day, wwe do well w/ poppers, hoppers Klater, probaly on west side) and caddis imitations.Try a sink tip to get to suspended fish in the strike zone. This works great, as smallies tend to sit along current breaks at 5-10' waiting to hit minnows. Wolly buggers and generic wet flies. No doubt, more fun, but on the Col., where I like to fish, the wind makes ff a hassle on all but calm days. Fyi, most fly shops have unbelievable crayfish patterns that work great, and w a wet tip, they can crawl rt over the rocks wo as much chance of snag as weighted plastics.

KStock · 06-25-2007, 09:01 PM

Thanks guys for your advice. We tried some Wooly Bugger type weighted flies with no luck but as you know the wheather conditions were tough on the Willy Sunday morning. We'll give it another try next weekend and report back.

KStock · 07-06-2007, 07:45 PM

My buddy and I tried fly fishing for Smallies early this morning for 2 hours on the Willy and didn't get bitten once. We tried Wooly buggers, dragon flies, and bait fish patterns... fast, slow, deep, shallow, mostly on the shaded flats... and got nothing. I was really surprised at the lack of our success! Of course, when we switched back to our spinning rods and plastics in the same water, we were bitten as usual.
We're not giving up yet... and I'm thinking that next time I may try fishing the flies from a drop-shot and/or Carolina rig (spinning rod).... to see if they'll at least take the flies to eliminate the fly line variable. Any other advice would be appreciated.

-KStock