Chasing Triploids

[Steelheader12]

I'm going out to ******* lake on opening day and was curious of any good wet patterns, or nymphs besides the old wooly bugger. i saw a man fishing nymphs at this lake last year and was doing real well and was fishing them under an indicator, was just curious of any tips and patterns for fishing for triploids? Thanx for the help

[Schmitty]

If your fishing stillwater, its always a good idea to have damsel nymphs and chironomid patterns. Leech patterns (buggers, etc..) are also a must. It really sometimes depends on the lake you're fishing. If you can somewhat guess to what types of insects might be present you can bring whatever you might need to immitate them. Pheasant tails and hairs ears can also be good because they imitate a wide variety of nymphs.

I usually use an indicator if I'm fishing shoreline structure (willows, reeds) otherwise I use an intermediate line to cast and strip.

I don't know if that helps, I'm not sure what type of water you will be fishing though... Good luck!

[Poindexter]

I typically fish large (size 4 or 6) black, brown, or olive green wooley buggers (weighted and/or bead head) on a floating line or 10 to 15' intermediate sink with a 9 or 10' leader. A lot of times I'll add a second fly like a Copper John, a bead head pheasant tail, a hare's ear or, believe it or not, a black chironomid. I know you're supposed to fish chironomids still but they work behind a large wooley or leech pattern. I think sometimes the fish come in after the larger attractor pattern and pick up the smaller trailer fly.

[MarlinMark]

I'll bet the fella you saw was using chironomids. Slow style of fishing but sometimes it's the only thing that works.

Mark

[Fly Junkie]

Forget about good flyfishing midday.

[Stonedfish]

Buggers, leeches, damsel and soft hackles are all good patterns to have with you.

As far as chironomids, have some in black (snow cones), red, brown and chromies in size 12 to 16's. Add in some SJ worms to imitate blood worms.
If fishing deep water, a quick release strike indicator will really help. You can also eliminate the indicator if you find it is a hassle.

Three other keys to successful chiro fishing are having two anchors, something to measure the water depth with and a stomach pump. The two anchor will help you keep a tight line and stop the boat from moving. The less slack in your line, the better your hook up ratio. Knowing the water depth will help you fish your flies near the bottom.
A stomach pump will help you find out exactly what size and color the fish are really keyed in on.
Also, don't be afraid to fish a leader that is longer then the water is deep. Last weekend in eastern Wa, using 22 to 25' of leader in 20' of water was the key to success along with a good chironomid chop. A fellow next to me was hooking up consistantly using 27' without an indicator.
Bobber or line watching can really be boring, but when it is on it is a ton of fun.

As far as mid day fishing goes, some of the best hatches of the day will occur between 10 and 4, once the water warms up.

Have a good trip.

[anschutz1913]

So this may sound stupid, but how do you fish such a long leader? What happens when the fly line gets inside the last ferrule? And what taper is it? Is there just a really long section of tippet?

Sorry for so many questions, not trying to hijack.


I would definitely try fishing some active looking flies stripped slowly. A favorite of mine is the articulated damselfly. Very important note: tie in with a loop for added movement. Also, depending on where you are, a crawdad fly dragged along the bottom can be deadly on big trout!

ANZ

[Stonedfish]

A1913,
Casting a long leader defianetly has its challenges. The key if you are going to use long leader with an indicator is to use the quick release indicators. It is much easier to cast a long leader without an indicator.

Here is how I set up a 25 foot leader using a double chironomid set-up.
First, I'll tie a small perfection loop at the end of my butt section.
From there, I'll add a straight 17' section of fluorocarbon (6 to 8 lb) connected to my butt section with another small prefection loop. Using a slighly heavier lb test fluoro helps keep the indicator in place.
Add my quick release indicator and then a size 12 Vision barrel swivel. From there, I'll add 6' of 5x fluoro, then 2' of fluor to the dropper.

When the indicator releases, it drops down to the swivel, so you are landing the fish with only 8' of leader, which makes netting very easy. I have no problems with the leader going in and out of the guides while playing a fish.

Some waters (Canada) only allow one fly. In Washington, you can't use a swivel in flyfishing only waters. Instead if the swivel, I just use a Froghair rubber bobber stop and use a double surgeon knot when connecting my tippet.The bobber stop stops the indicator.

Not everyone is a fan of using swivels. I learned this some years ago from some old chironomid veterans and it works for me. I've seen folks fish this way with 30'+ leaders.

I hope this helps.

[Steelheader12]

thanks alot for all the help guys ill give it a try