Thursday, June 20, 2013—Not A Repeat, And A Bonus Recipe

TIME:  8:30 AM to 12:35 PM

WEATHER:  Mid-80s to low 90s, partly sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy, to near McClellan's

FLIES USED:  #14 gray Norfork River Scud, #16 black/copper Zebra Midge, #20 black/silver Zebra Midge, #14 pink Cockleburr

ROD USED: 8’ 6” 5-wt Winston JWF

HATCHES: Midges, a few Caddis, Sulphurs

OTHER:  I fished solo.  Shedding the fly fishing vest in favor of a small Mayfly necklace pack, I felt "nekkid", and missed the several hundred flies normally carried.  Also, tried a different floatant, and found that I did not like it as much as what I had been using.  Again this morning, the river valley was shrouded in mist, and the sun was not yet high enough to begin burning it off.  Wading to the top of the island, and then upstream along the left descending bank, I caught only a couple of fish in the pool between the island and the riffle; the fish were not rising to the surface and sipping insects like yesterday, and the mist may have kept the fish down. I bypassed my favorite riffle and waded upstream to the end of the gravel, and then further towards McClellan's.  This area produced lots of fish last year on the gray scud, but this year has not been productive!  I caught two more fish at the top of the gravel. 

(The photo is looking upstream from the gravel at Otter Creek.)  Two and a half hours of fishing a scud/zebra midge combination produced only 4 fish, and no big fish!

Wading back downstream and switching to a pink Cockleburr, I fished the riffle above the island (my favorite), and took only a few fish, but there definitely were not as many fish there as last week.  It appears that when a small area is fished really hard for several consecutive days, the fish will either stay down, or leave, and this area has been pounded the last 6 days from daylight to high water.  I did note a large number of fish holding in the funnel at the top of the island—could they be from the riffle?

The chute along the island did not produce any fish, though I had several misses and refusals, until the last tree downstream leaning over the chute (in the photo, water is flowing from right to left).   Typically, this area does not produce fish except for September when it is loaded.  However, the last couple of days has been different.

From there, immediately under the downstream overhang of the tree shown here (3 fish were caught at the overhang within a 4-foot diameter area) and for the next hundred yards, I caught at least half dozen fish—mostly rainbows, and one cutthroat and one brookie.  The cutthroat was about 10-12 inches long, so likely not one hatched from the eggs put in last year.

Mill Dam Eddy was the hot spot today, yielding about a dozen fish, all on the pink Cockleburr.  Several fish hit the fly as it was stripped back.  

PINK COCKLEBURR

HOOK:  Tiemco 100BL Dry Fly Hook (or similar), Size #14-#20  (I use #14 exclusively)

THREAD:  UFC Red, Size 140

BODY:  Pink All Purpose Rabbit Dubbing with guard hair

HACKLE:  Ginger, oversized by 2 sizes (e.g. #10 hackle for a #14 fly)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Lay a base of thread on the hook.
2. Tie in hackle at the gape of the hook (above the barb, if hook is barbed).
3. Sparsely apply dubbing via noodle, or splitting the thread, technique and wrap forward to about two eye lengths behind the back of the hook eye and tie off.
4. Palmer hackle to about two eye lengths behind the back of the hook eye and tie off.
5. Whip finish.

HOW TO FISH THE COCKLEBURR:

1. Fish the Cockleburr as a dry fly, applying floatant (particularly after every hook-up), and casting to rises or emerging fish.
2. Fish the Cockleburr as an emerger by casting the fly quartering downstream, pulling it under, and stripping back in 2-inch strips; you’ll feel the fish hit.
3. Employ a combination of the above two techniques, pulling the fly under after its drag-free drift, and stripping back.

NOTE:  This fly was featured in the fly fishing column in our local newspaper, the Baxter Bulletin, last year about this time.  The author, a local guide whom I've known almost 20 years, was having difficulty hooking-up fish, and I offered him my spot at the riffle, giving him this fly and suggesting he use it, on the condition of silence—asking him to swear secrecy about the pattern and his using it—to no avail as it was in the paper the next week.  It is effective from mid-May until mid-September, and is particularly effective during a crane fly hatch.