Tom
From: "Rex S. Takasugi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: waterboatmen Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:10:50 -0800
Well, I'm no expert on fishing waterboatman patterns, in spite of
what Kent just said. I'm still in the discovery/experimentation mode. I
hardly ever fished the waterboatman patterns until a few years ago when that
fly pattern was the key on an outing at Dry Falls. I've discovered that
even if you don't actually see waterboatmen hitting the surface (which is
pretty rare), the fish seem to really like the waterboatmen if they aren't
keyed onto some other insect hatch at the time. The waterboatmen must taste
pretty good for the trout to exert so much energy chasing after these quick
little critters, not to mention that the waterboatmen are also supposed to
be able to bite. Most of what I've read about fishing waterboatmen patterns
say to fish them in the autumn, but I've found that there are times when the
trout go after these patterns any time of the year. The waterboatmen
patterns have gone from being one of my under-utilized patterns in my fly
box to one of my most used patterns in the past couple of years. I find
that it is fun to fish the waterboatmen patterns and the hits are often
joltingly hard.
As for patterns, you likely have good waterboatmen patterns in your
fly box, but just don't know it. The GRHE, in my opinion, is a pretty good
waterboatman pattern. I think the fish key in on the body color (yellow or
tan, or black) and the shell back color (black, brown or mottled
yellow/black). I've found that eyes, legs, wings, tails and other things
are nice to have, but not necessary. The Inland Empire book has a couple of
good patterns in it that are on the dark side, but they still seem to work.
More important, I think, is the type of action imparted to the fly...
I generally fish the waterboatmen patterns in water less than seven feet deep, often in water less than two or three feet deep. It can be surprising to find trout in water that shallow (like much of the water at Bobbie Lake), especially when you think you can't see any fish in that water. I like to use a sink tip of some sort to get the fly just above the weeds, although one of my friends has had good success fishing these patterns on a floating line. If you have the opportunity to watch the natural swim, you'll notice that it moves in very quick, erratic, short spurts, never resting until it gets into the weeds. I'm actually surprised that a trout has much success catching one of these critters because they move so quickly and erratically. I try to imitate the action of the natural, but I also intersperse the retrieve with some pauses to give the trout time to catch the fly. Retrieve the fly all the way in, because some of the fish will want to take the fly as it is rising towards the surface. I've had takes not more than 15 feet in front of me. Because the trout are trying to catch a quickly moving target, takes are often hard and savage. No need to strike, as the trout will hook itself, or use a slip strike to avoid break offs. I usually use 2X or 3X tippets to lessen the chances of breaking off on the take. I use leaders in the 12 to 15 feet length so as to not scare fish in the shallow water. I imagine that clear floating or intermediate lines would be helpful in fishing the shallow water, but I haven't tried them yet. Even though I like fishing chironomids and other patterns, fishing waterboatmen patterns is much more active and interesting to me.
Even though I like to fish the shallow water with waterboatmen
patterns, a couple of years ago a friend was fishing over deep water (20 to
25 feet deep) with a floating line and waterboatmen patterns on a "secret"
lake in eastern WA and landed and released 9 good trout, when nothing else
was producing, and this was a hot summer day when most people wouldn't think
that waterboatmen patterns would work. He never believed in waterboatmen
patterns until then... now he's a fly tying dervish, creating all kinds of
waterboatmen patterns for me to try out.
I don't know that I've discovered the magic waterboatman pattern yet as I'm still experimenting, but it may be just that it differs from lake to lake and season to season. That's about all I know about fishing waterboatmen patterns...
Tight lines!
Rex
_________________________________________________________________
Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee when you click here. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
