Link to a good boatmen image. http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/459/password //sort/1/cat/514/page/1
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Watson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 2:06 PM Subject: RE: waterboatmen[Scanned] John Gierach mentions the Prince Nymph as a good boatman imitation. Phil Rowley has a couple of good boatman patterns, including one that floats. You use it with a full sinking line in the fall when boatman are diving into the water to lay eggs. I'll try my boatman patterns this weekend. I got a pattern from a friend of mine in Calgary. He uses some cheapo leather from a case that his cheap watch came in. Its stretchy black leather for the wing case. I've substituted super floss for the eggs. Here it the pattern: THread: black body: dubbed black/red seal's fur or substitute Butt: clear glass bead wing case: cheap black leather. Hook: 12-14 for lakes. 16 for rivers. They have great boatman fishing on the Bow River in September. James -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of T. Lang Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 2:00 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: waterboatmen[Scanned] The GRHE-boatman connection may explain what one guy described as "being attacked" by fish at Dry Falls one April a couple of years ago. 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
