February 3, 2021
Flows: 76 cfs
Water Temp: 38 @ 9a.
Water clarity: ~4’
Air Temp: 41 @ 8:30a, 65 @ 4p.
Hatches: Midges – 9a to mid-afternoon
Moon Phase: Waning Gibbous
Flies: #18 Red Copper John, #22 Mercury Blood Midge, #24 Black Magic, #24 & #22 Mercury Flashback Black Beauty, #18 Guides Choice Hare’s Ear, #22 Black Rojo Midge, #22 Olive JuJubee Midge, #24 Top Secret Midge, #24 Black Bling Midge, #18 Black Zebra Midge.
Top producers: Top Secret Midge, JuJubee Midge, Black Bling Midge, Black Zebra Midge.
18" rainbow taken out of Valco Ponds Run.
Another day on the Tailwater and more big bows! There was no doubt that Brian and I were going back to fish the Tailwater again – the only part that was up for debate was the location on the river. After chatting about a few different ideas, we landed on meeting at the Double Tree Hole.
There are lots of deer in the park and they were out enjoying the nice morning weather.
It felt like a spring day with lots of sunshine with the high predicted to be in the sixties and the low in the thirties. It was 32F when Brian arrived at 7a or so. With the very temperate February weather and following conventional wisdom - my thought was to fish the deep holes (ie…Double Tree or Bridge) in the morning – then move into the shallower runs (ie….Tom’s Run or Valco Ponds) in the afternoon.
Brian took this 18 incher out of Tom's Run before 8a.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
The midges where already hatching when I met Brian at about 8:45a as he was fishing the Double Tree Hole. I was surprised to learn that he had already landed an 18” rainbow - - in Tom’s Run! He also lost a bigger one there - both within an hour of arriving. And so far – he had nothing in the Double Tree Hole. So much for conventional wisdom!!
Another view of Brian's 1st one of the day. He took the #18 Black Zebra Midge.
Photo by Brian Kenney.
As I was rigging up – Brian gave me the hole and moved back up to Tom’s Run. Even though Brian hadn’t had any luck in the hole, I felt confident that it would produce. So I covered it as I normally do – but no one was home! As I was moving into the upper part of the tailout - Brian moved to the end of it. I still had no action – but Brian briefly had a nice one on. It was able to spit the fly quickly after hook-up, but it was encouraging that he got a hit.
But that was it. So I moved into Tom’s Run and Brian moved back into the Double Tree Hole. I worked the run from near side to far side and top to bottom without any action. This was surprising. There is usually at least one fish in that run – but not today – not at this time anyway. I even stood up on one of the boulders (which I don’t normally do for fear of spooking the fish) to take a look to see if I could spot any fish. I didn’t see any.
As Brian walked up to meet me, I suggested that we work upstream towards the Valco Ponds Run - where Brain originally suggested to start out. We could hit the various pockets along the way. The first pocket we hit was just above the Bend Hole. The water was low and clear and after covering the area I again searched through it to see if I could spot – or spook - any fish. And again, there was no one home.
We could see to just the end of the Valco Ponds Run from our vantage point and it looked open. There were two anglers just below it in the slow water – but it looked like we could get in above them near the sunken tree. So we took a beeline to the run. Unfortunately, when we got closer and could see the entire run – there was another guy in it. But as we thought, the slow water just below the sunken tree was open. And the two anglers that were just downstream from it – were leaving. Perfect timing!
Brian took their spot and I began to work the hole below the sunken tree. I approached the bank cautiously because the fish were congregating near the bank here last week. And sure enough they were there again. A lot of them. They were lined up feeding in a slow seam near the bank. Getting them out would be a different story.
My 1st of the day. A 14 inch rainbow taken out of the Sunken Tree Run on a Top Secret Midge.
The water is slower in this part and it was very clear. And as I noticed last week – the fish were indicator shy. In other words, when my line drifted toward them – they would bolt. Not all the time but enough that it concerned me. There are only three reasons that this happens – at least that I know of. One is the flies are dirty. The second is the flies get hung up on something right in front of the fish creating an unnatural condition. The third is the indicator – or it’s shadow – spook them. Probably because the indicator is not natural and/or from a previous experience.
So I adjusted my drift to get the flies out in front of the indicator or to the side of it. This did work as I finally got a taker and landed a nice 18” rainbow. But there was a lot of fish out there and I should have had more action. So after adjusting my weight and depth - adding weight, then reducing it. Adding depth, then reducing it. And going back and forth on both.
Making adjustments on the river is key to having success. So with the issues I was having with these spooky fish, I decided to change my technique and go with a Dry/Dropper set-up.
An 18" rainbow taken using a Dry/Dropper rig on a Top Secret Midge.
The Dry/Dropper set-up uses a dry fly – big enough and buoyant enough to keep it afloat while trailing a dropper and couple of nymphs below it. It acts as an indicator and a starting point for the depth of your flies. The fish now see something more natural floating on the water – a dry fly - instead of something unnatural like an indicator and they don’t get spooked and run. Varying the length of tippet to the Dropper will vary the depth of your flies. Another benefit of the Dry/Dropper set-up is you can detect a hit much quicker than when using a typical nymphing set-up.
The seam that I was fishing was between about 1’ and 1 ½’ in depth and I had about 3 feet of tippet between my dry fly and the bottom nymph. I also had a #6 split shot between my last fly (Top Secret Midge) and my 2nd to last one. This would keep my flies down at the beginning of the drift and they would float to the top at the end of it – covering different columns through the drift.
I got this one on the same setup - also on the Top Secret.
This worked. I had 3 fish in the net and lost a couple more in the next hour. Of the fish I netted - one was 14” and the other two were 18”. All of them took the Top Secret. One of the fish that I lost was a big bull rainbow. He hit the fly and I was just a bit slow setting the hook. When I did, I wasn’t even sure there was a fish on. I gave my line a couple of tugs. It felt like a snag and first, then he came to life and bolted - zipping line out of my reel as he ran for the other bank. I finally got a bit of control and then he spit the fly. Even though I missed this one – it was a fun few minutes.
As I broke for lunch I pointed out where the fish were lying to Brian. He saw one of them and decided to go after him. I took a quick lunch break and watched. I ate fast though – it’s hard to take a break when you can see so many fish actively feeding. It probably took me 10 minutes and I was back on my feet ready to fish!
Here's Brian in the slow water of the Sunken Tree Run making adjustments to his rig.
The Valco Ponds Run was now open – and I moved there. The wind had kicked up just before I broke for lunch and it was now blowing pretty hard making my Dry/Dropper very difficult to use. So I switched back to a nymph rig. On about my second cast into the run I had a fish on. It was another 18” rainbow. After landing him – Brian pumped his stomach to see what he was eating. We found a bunch of midges – olive and black - and one light tan one. Lucky for me I had an Olive JuJubee Midge as my trailing nymph and that was what he hit.
We found these nymphs in one of the rainbows.
I continued to fish the run and Brian continued to fish the slower water below the sunken tree. Just as last week, I could see fish migrating into the run. There weren’t as many as last week but enough to have some fun! I’m not sure how many I was able to land but there were quite a few. All of them were on the Olive JuJubee Midge and all them were 17” to 18”. What fun!
This 18" rainbow took a Olive JuJubee Midge.
The fish were pickier downstream in the slower water. Probably because they had more time to inspect the offering, but Brian was able to fool a few of them. Unfortunately they were able to break off.
Took this one out of the Valco Ponds Run the Olive JuJubee Midge.
At one point as I was working the Valco Ponds Run, a fish moved into the seam no more than 4’ off the bank. I could see it and it was big. Feeding about mid-column. As my flies drifted into the zone – my indicator just wiggled a bit and I set the hook. The fish took off – heading downstream. At first I thought I must have foul hooked him – as he just flew downstream taking a bunch of line out with him. He ended up below the sunken tree in front of where Brian was fishing. As I walked downstream with him, I tightened up my drag a bit – trying to get a bit of control of the fish. This seemed to work, as I was able to get his head up. He was about 3 feet from me thrashing about and I could see that he was clearly hooked in the jaw! Legal. Then put his head down and broke off. Maybe I tightened the drag a bit too much? Jeez – I wanted that one.
Another 18" bow. Yep - he took the Olive JuJubee Midge too!
It was a good day though. We ended it with a bunch of fish in the net – most in the 18” range. They were challenging to land, requiring adjustments in technique – making it all the more rewarding.
The Valco Ponds Run was active and the JuJubee Midge was producing. Another 18" rainbow.
The bigger the challenge the bigger the reward!
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