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early season trout patterns

3K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  juro 
#1 ·
I recall one March morning with Russ Jr and Bill Littlewood in Miles Standish state forest when I learned how good a 4x4 could be, and how active spring trout could be. There was a little known (and less fished) pond with an inlet stream and coves where brookies rolled all over the surface on gnats and gnat emergers. If I recall there were still a few patches of snow on the ground, and the trout we kept were red-meated holdovers, or maybe even better than that (though I dare not say wild).

Since then, I enjoy fishing the early march brown and New England black gnat hatches on lakes and ponds in the region, to bide time before the earliest arrival of the linesiders and blues on the south facing shores of the Cape.

Over the last couple of springs, I've had the best luck in stillwaters using dries or emergers in the film; and nymphs on a dropper tied to a stimulator style dry.

This is not to say that I am any trout expert, I've spent so much time over the last two decades double hauling into the surf or swinging flies over steelhead currents that the level of finesse associated with trout tactics has all but left my fingers. Let's just say that the beadhead wooly bugger has saved many a skunker day for me on trout ponds and streams.

Anyway, I'd like to propose a research project wherein we make a few excursions to streams and ponds in the pre-striper days of spring and capture the findings to share with members on this forum.

The first step might be to post any known patterns from years gone by as prep work for the advent of ice-out. Any general pattern discussion is of course highly valued as well.

I'll start by scanning a tiny midge emerger pattern tied with a piece of packing foam sheeting for the folded wing case tonight.

Hope to see some patterns emerging in the archive thread soon...
 
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#2 ·
Good thread. In my neck of the woods (north of Beantown) there is a tradition of using the White or Green Hornberg.
You can swing them through pools in classic wet fashion or troll them from canoes for deeper hatchery browns and bows. They just work.
Question: what size imitates a midge in the film? 18? Yikes!

Terry
 
#3 ·
I always start the river season with a black and silver spider in a size 14. It has never, ever, failed me (on a first day, it has often failed me later in the season). Its partner on the cast is, starting out, a sort of sooty olive. Last year I caught seven fish in fifty yards, it couldn't have taken 20 minutes. My all time record. I don't imagine I will ever see the like of that again. I fished all over early on last year and the two flies did the job in rivers, streams and lakes. I also only use a seven foot, no. 4 early on to get the most out every fish. This makes the tiddlers you often get early on feel like something else altogether...
 
#4 ·
Hi Mylo -

Do you get searun char in your region? I have seen some really large specimens in the north pacific.

I was fascinated w/ the various species you have listed on your web site. Are these distinct species -or- subspecies of trutta or other major trout species?
 
#6 ·
John - The Mickey Finn has also been working very well on brood stock salmon as well, which makes your nomination even better since they started putting those big boys in the kettle ponds too. Great choice.

For streams, I've grown kind of fond of the beadhead tan and black biot stone nymphs. I'll scan a couple shortly and put them up...
 
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