Have you ever thrown a party, sent out the invitations, bought the onion dip, and in the end it’s just you and your onion dip?
Now imagine the river is the party, the bugs are the onion dip, and the trout are your ungrateful, good for nothing, no-show friends. If you spend enough time on rivers, you have either seen or will see a situation where the hatch is out in force, yet not a single one of our finned friends is so much as poking a nose up to say hello. It is usually at this point your buddy starts with his blubbering about, “This is crazy man, all these bugs and not fish…I just can’t believe it dude…trout are cruel mistresses…I hate you Dad, ” and other such nonsense. My advice is to grumble some obligatory “uh-huhs,” while you coolly and calmly cut off your dry fly, tie on a big articulated piece of meaty goodness, and make the thunder stick go boom. Bugs are great, but not if fish aren’t eating them.
Written by: Dave Grossman, editor of S.C.O.F. magazine and guide for Appalachian Fly Guides
Keep it Reel,
Kent Klewein Gink & Gasoline www.ginkandgasoline.com hookups@ginkandgasoline.com Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter!
OH man i’ve had many days like this. With responses like: “huh? whaaaaat? this does’nt make sense”
So, about this onion dip…
Here in the Northwest our waters are widely varying and wheather it’s lake or stream if things seem slow with your presentation it sure is a good idea to take a look at what you’re doing. In many area lakes in June the bugs are as you say dense that is the time for what some call a tripple cheese burger and bypass anything that resembles a natural and simply cast to rising fish after noting which direction they are traveling. A big juicy rubber legged cadis dry seems to work wonders!
Yeah Man, sometimes unmatching the hatch is the ticket.