Hit my favorite spot on the MF between 5 and 6 last night. Got rained on, but I actually enjoyed it. This fish didn't mind either.
Started out fishing my way down a brushy creek choked up by a few active beaver dams. Had lots of action on a very beat up black woolly bugger, with a few suprise 10-11 inchers. Eventually moved on to the main river after getting tired of tangling my line\fly in the brush (and my dog swimming in the creek didn't help much either...).
Started fishing the main river with the same woolly bugger. Now just about ready to fall off the hook. But they still liked it, so it stayed on.
I like to work this spot very systematically. I start in the tailout that fishes well for the big guys and some white fish when the water level is up a little. Since the level was very low, not much action here.
Then worked my way up the edge and middle of the deep pool. Hits on nearly every cast. The small fish (under 6 inches) couldn't really get the hook in their mouths (by design). So about every 3rd or 4 cast I landed a 6 to 10 incher.
Then I moved up to the head of the pool. During the lower flows, this is the prime feeding channel and the bigger fish claim the best spots. Since my fly was now so gone, I decided it was time to see if I could get any action on the surface. (not a lot of rises, but I gave it a shot anyway)
I started with a large dark brn stimulator. Instant action, but it was hard to see due to the rain and dark clouds. After a few fish, I switched to a wulff pattern. Again instant action including a beautiful 12 incher that rolled on it and put up a great fight. After a little bit I switched to a smaller wulff with different colors. Still lots of action until I realized I was missing fish due to a broken hook, so I switched to a smallish yellow stimi. Man they REALLY liked that one.
I moved back down to the big pool and started working the log jam on the other side (my 'sweet spot'). Got back to back fish for several minutes. If I got the right cast to the right spot I was almost guaranteed a fish. If I missed, or the fly went under, I was still likely to get some action, just not for sure.
Ended up with over 20 fish to 'hand' - several 10 to 11 inches plus the one 12 incher. The smaller fish (under 10 inches) are great - they almost always made spetacular leaps. Usually 2 to 4 times each. I love that spunk in these little guys.
Later,
Chad