peculiar trout behavior

[LWJ]

I found myself on a small, coastal Oregon Cutthroat stream yesterday with a fly rod in my hand. I did ok with my standard small stream fly - a yellow humpy. Nothing special, they seem to land dumb fish on a consistent basis.

Things slowed down a bit and I found myself digging in my flybox for something different. I put on a purple haze. A purple dry fly that doesn't imitate anything but has a crazy cult following. Before yesterday, I had never caught a fish on one and thought the hype was BS.

I cast up into a slow, languid pool, right at the final bit of the pool, where there should be some fish. There were. I caught 30-40 small, native Cutts. It was like fishing in a stocked pond.

Here is the weird part. There weren't ANY fish jumping or looking up. None. Yet, when I cast, they hit the fly 30++% of the time.

Which tells me it is one heck of a fly for that river on that day - it changed fish from column feeding to top feeding. Sort of amazing.

Similar, was a magic fly an old timer handed my son last month. I was catching nothing for days but my son hammered them until he lost the one magic fly. Which, again, looked like nothing on/in the water.

So what is the point I am making? I find it amazing that something that is 100% foreign to a predator can be more attractive than real prey. I am certain there are examples outside of trout fishing but this simply strikes me as fascinating.

[KFC911]

That's very cool.....

'Scuse me while I kiss the fly

[Norm K]

Used to fly fish for sea-run Cutthroats on the Alsea. Fun little coastal river that yielded smaller fish like the trout in low water, then Chinook and Silvers in the fall, followed by a killer winter Steelhead run.

If you really want a rush, hook a 15lb winter Steelie on a 8-weight fly rod with sinking line in high, heavy water. It might be 35 degrees and raining (or even cold enough that you'll occasionally have to stop and pick the ice out of your small eyelets) but you'll forget all about the the cold once that fish hits.

_

[jyl]

What does a Purple Haze look like? Is it basically an Adams with a sparkly purple body?

[wdfifteen]

Is fly fishing the slow, peaceful, relaxing pastime it is depicted as, or do you ever get frustrated and pissed after a few hours and just want to beat the water with the pole until you hit something?

[LWJ]

JYL, It is a parachute Adams with a purple body. Nothing amazing.

WD- yes. At times. It’s better now that I don’t throw knots in my leader or flies into trees every 5 minutes.

[Steve Carlton]

[craigster59]

Sometimes it's just something "flashy" to piss them off. We toss some "Kern Candy" in the late spring to early summer down here.



WD, it is relaxing and interesting. It's a bit more involved than bait casting, more constant movement. Not like tossing your line and popping open a beer, waiting for your bobber to catch your attention.

Beware: It can get expensive.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by LWJ

JYL, It is a parachute Adams with a purple body. Nothing amazing.

WD- yes. At times. It’s better now that I don’t throw knots in my leader or flies into trees every 5 minutes.

Maybe the purple looks like a local bug. Trout vision is different from ours. Through water, colors like red and orange turn to black silhouettes while collars like blue and I guess purple stay “colors” longer (water absorbs long wavelength light faster than short wavelength).

[Steve Carlton]

I like the Disco Midge.

[Rusty Heap]

Black Woolly Bugger.

[masraum]

When you run across a trout like this, let me know.

THAT will be peculiar behavior!

[Bill Douglas]

You should come out here for a holiday.

New Zealand has big Rainbows, Browns and maybe... Brook trout.

[LWJ]

^^^Bill, I am! Pretty stoked about it. Also, intimidated!