Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3815 July 5-19 2019 | Page 8

6 July 5 - 19, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 15 Catch & Release Fishing! Hook More & Bigger Fish With Flies... Flies & Spinning Gear: A Deadly Combination For Trout! By Cal Kellogg Flies work great when teamed with conventional tackle. Teaming flies gear has been long been an important element in my trout fishing bag of tricks. Teaming flies with conventional gear when targeting trout is nothing if not simple. I believe this approach is effective, because it isn’t often used and presents pressured trout with something that they haven’t seen before. Let’s take a moment to discuss which types of flies are best suited to being teamed with spinning gear. Traditional fly anglers use dry flies that represent insects resting on the surface of the water. They also use nymphs and wet flies that imitate immature forms of aquatic insects that live underwater. Finally, they also employ a class of larger flies called streamers that imitate minnows, leaches and other large prey items When it comes to fishing big deep fast moving water with nymphs and wet flies spinning gear does an found below the surface of the water. efficient job both in terms of casting and hooking fish. When trout are feeding on the surface, traditional Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. fly tackle is the best tool for catching them. For the conventional tackle angler, it is subsurface patterns that hold the most In still water situations, whether fishing from the bank or a boat, I promise. fish the casting rig by casting it out as far as possible and then retrieve Over the years, it slowly. I usually start out with a steady retrieve, but if that doesn’t the woolly bugger work, I’ll mix things up by imparting twitches and pauses. has emerged as my In favorite streamer rivers and pattern. If you only streams carry one fly pattern I use my with you, this should woolly be it. The woolly buggers bugger, an updated and version of the woolly marabou worm, sports a streamers a chenille body that is great deal, covered with hackle but I also and a marabou tail. When using spinning tackle, it doesn’t take a large make use selection of flies to catch fish. A few mediums size wet Both the hackle and of nymphs. flies and nymphs like these are all you need for success. the marabou look At times, Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. extremely lifelike I’ll even tie If you only have one fly in your stream and lake fishing arsenal to under the water, pair with spinning gear, a No. 8 black woolly bugger is tough to two flies pulsing and writhing continually with the slightest movement. I carry on a leader beat. Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. both black and olive colored buggers with black being my favorite in and fish sizes 6 and 10. them both at the same time. This is accomplished by tying one fly to the In addition to woolly buggers, you’ll end of the casting rig’s leader and then adding a 12-inch section want a few size 6 marabou streamer flies of leader to the bend of the first fly’s hook tipped with a second in white, orange and black. A few No. 8 fly of equal or smaller size. and 10 light and dark colored stonefly Moving water is most effectively covered by using a drift and nymphs featuring soft hackle legs along swing presentation. To accomplish this, the rig is cast directly with a couple size No. 12 or 14 soft across the current or a bit upstream. Allow the rig to sink on a hackle pheasant tails will round out your semi-tight line. When the line tightens below your position allow assortment nicely. the fly to swing across the current and back to your side of the To set up a casting rig for general flow. casting or drifting applications I tie a At this point don’t be in a hurry to retrieve the rig. Instead allow swivel to the end of my main line with it to hang in the current for several seconds as you slowly pump 24 inches of 4-pound fluorocarbon leader the rod tip. It always amazes me how many trout I pick up by attached to it. I tie my fly of choice to the jigging or pumping a fly right next to the bank on a tight line. end of the leader and add an appropriate For getting your flies near the bottom of the Having the correct amount of weight on your line is critical amount of weight above the swivel in the stream you’ll need a selection of split shot. when fishing current. It is best to use several small split shot for Soft English split shot works best because form of split shot. If I need to go really weight. This allows you to add and remove weights until the rig it’s easy to remove allowing you adjust the heavy, I’ll often put a quarter to half amount of weight based the depth and flow of is just ticking the bottom occasionally on the drift. any given stretch of the stream. ounce bullet weight above the swivel. Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.