Morning Fishing

[jonesp]

I have had a chance to see what happens in the late afternoon when the fish start rising and the action can get exciting, but is the reaction the same in the morning?

What flies would you recommend for Jones Bridge/Island Ford in the morning?

I also wanted to thank all of you for your help, you have made my entrace into FF very easy. Hopefully I will be able to add some advice/info in the near future.

Thanks
Pat Jones

[NetBoy]

The fish hit all day but they usually start rising in the afternoon. I like this time the best. Casting to specific fish with a sz 20 griffiths gnat.

In the morning, I'd go near the bottom with a bead head nymph.

NetBoy

[Rod]

Pat et al,
haven't posted in a while, thought I'd add dos pesos on this one--since I haven't fished in 2 mos.--I've had mono--S. O. B.

9 times out of 10 you'll catch most of your fish on the fly you're most familiar and comfortable with. Most call it their go to fly.

Netboy metioned his gnat, which I've seen him post about before.
Flyguy loves his bh woolie--which I too am very fond of
a friend of mine almost always starts with a soft hackle--even if flies are obviously coming off
I usually start with bh soft hackles--departing from my mentor.
One of my good partners uses everything in his box but always settles on EHC before he really starts reeling them in.

In short we catch with what pleases us and not nec. what pleases the fish.
Most of the time we don't entice the fish with what we fish but how we fish and how we fish depends on our comfort and trust in the fly we're lumping into the wakes.

Pat--short and sure course for finding your goto fly--use something that a)makes noise (elk or dear hair, even marabou) b)"lives" on its own (marabou, cdc etc)

the bh woolie is a good starter--once you can cast it ok you can fish it in any direction and any speed from dead drift to two-handed retrieve.

Go fishing with Flyguy or with myself, when you can---get a goto fly and use others only when catching fish on every cast gets boring.

Rod
over simplifier

[Flyguy]

Rod is all over this one. I am a big bugger tosser and I fish a dropper now thanks to some good advice form Aaron Sago which I might add is much more productive year round.

I will usually start with a Bugger and a Prince nymph early on and then go to other nymphs if the Prince is not producing. I keep the bugger on as a stimulator and switch the dropper untill I find the right pattern although with fishing with Aaron and Super Chub these guys seem to have a gift for finding the right comb of the day. As the morning passes I switch the bugger with a dry like a caddis or a stimulator dry and fish a small nymph #16 or smaller and this seems to work most of the time. Don't forget to try the Stone fly patterns this time of year.

As Rod stated take a trip with us and we will be glad to share and show some tips and tactics. I tend to like the Jones Bridge area and Rod is the expert on the Island Ford area and great with the dries in my book.



Enjoy....



flyguy

[jeffg]

In the winter, I usually have the best success around 1-3 oclock. If there is going to be a hatch it is going to happen after the sun has warmed the water for a while.
Personally I like the evenings. Especially for the sunsets and that most big browns come out as the sun goes down.
But in the middle of summer, I prefer the mornings. Right at the break of dawn. After a whole day of being heated by the sun, the water cools off over the evening and the fish becomes more active.

[jonesp]

Thanks for the info.

Rod and FlyGuy you can be sure I will try to get with one or both of you guys in the future.

Hopefully I can sneak out sometime this weekend.

-Pat

[NGTO]

Rod - you really hit the nail on the head. The fish in the 'hooch simply don't care, if you fish any fly right - they will come, of course some flies are easier to fish than others http://www.georgia-outdoors.com/ubbngto/smile.gif