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Tips, Ties And Tactics
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 Fly Fishing In The Rain: Malad, Idaho
Posted by skitch976 on Monday, October 09 @ 09:01:54 PDT
I have been fly fishing for about 3 or 4 years now. I have had many opportunities to fish all over the west and love every minute of it. I try to learn new things about the addiction all of the time. In this case I am baffled by Rain. Some of the best fishing I have ever had is on a small lake near Malad, Idaho while it was raining. I have also had some great river success while raining. But I have had plenty of bad outings during and after the rain. Is there any rule of thumb or secrets that I should know of regarding rain? What tactics work well? What flies work well? Where is good/bad? Is before or during rain better than after? Etc. As always thanks for the tips.
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Re: Fly Fishing In The Rain: Malad, Idaho
by AvidDavid on Monday, October 09 @ 09:56:31 PDT | Skitch:
I have been fly fishing for about 30 or 40 years. I have had many opportunies to fish all over the country (although many opportunities went unrealized). I, too, try to learn new things about my addiction all of the time, and I think that this desire to learn new things is what keeps fly fishing such an exciting endeavor to me... even when I don't catch fish. Afterall, NOT CATCHING FISH is, in part, what makes CATCHING FISH so addictive for me.
I have noticed a very similar situation regarding rain. A clear example was in April '05 when I was indicator nymphing one particular run in a spring creek on Long Island (NY). It was a cool day and overcast when I started and I was catching a few fish. All the fish were small.
Then it started raining, not a complete downpour, but enough to disturb the surface of the water. Right at this point of time on the same run in the same spring creek, the action picked up. I had lots more hits and caught much bigger fish.
Now, I don't know what the fish were thinking.... but I now believe that the fish were watching me the whole time and only the inexperienced younger (smaller) fish would hit my nymphs prior to the rain. When the rain began, the surface disturbance made it difficult for the fish to see me. Hence they were "less spooked?" Just a guess.
I mentioned that this was a spring creek. This particular spring creek runs clear ALL the time. It hardly ever receives any significant runoff, so it never gets cloudy. Freestone streams that have a large catchment area upstream of your position may have increased flow rate and may cloud up during or after a rain as silt is washed into the stream. Again, I don't know what the fish are thinking.... but I suspect that the change of flow rate and/or the increased turbidity of the water either signals to the fish that something different is happening or they just can't see the offerings as well.... hence the action gets worse.
I, too, would be interested in reading what some of the other guys or gals (who have much more experience than I) think about this "rain effect." |
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Re: Fly Fishing In The Rain: Malad, Idaho
by skitch976 (hibbyjibby@jib.net) on Monday, October 09 @ 13:13:40 PDT | | I went fishing on the Weber River in Utah this past Saturday. It had been overcast the whole day and the fishing hadn't been bad. It got to be about 3:30ish in the afternoon and I had bee trying different nymphs and the action picked up around the same time it started to rain. Now I am not sure if it was the time of day, type of nymph, area, or the rain that did it though. I am still just as baffled as ever. |
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Re: Fly Fishing In The Rain: Malad, Idaho
by jason-c on Monday, October 09 @ 14:44:43 PDT http://www.fliesandfinswest.com | | The rainy fall weather really gets the Baetis going. There is a thought that the low pressure associated with inclement weather makes it easier for May fly nymphs to break the surface tension to hatch. Certain ones like Baetis may have evolved to take advantage of that. IN the fall inclement weather means excellent streamer action. I think that fish, browns in particular, feel the changes in the weather as a sign to feed for several reasons. First, fall spawning fish become very aggressive because they need to support energy expended during spawning. Low light limits there ability to see well and the motion of a stream look very appealing to them. Second, rain could lead to run off and less than ideal feeding conditions. I believe trout have evolved to feed during inclement weather because they may not be able to if run off conditions limit their ability to see. Avid David makes an excellent point as well. Cloud cover and a broken water surface provides excellent cover for fish. They can comfortably feed during bad weather without fear of predators from above. I have seen inclement weather hurt the fishing as well. Usually that happens during the summer when cold mountain rain, sleet or hail suddenly lowers the water temperature. I actually prefer fishing in bad weather. Rain, wind, and snow whatever as long as it is not lightening, I hate lightening. But I almost always find bad weather means good fishing. My suggestion is to change things up, try streamers, and seine the water to see what insects are available. I think you will be surprised by what you will find. Any other comments out there? |
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