Monday, May 25, 2015

A Reprieve from my Last Outing


 
After trying to fish the slim cover waters of Walker County Lake last week I wanted to fish some crystal clear waters this past Thursday. The Sipsey Tailrace was just the ticket, to rid me of the horror I experienced last week, while trying to bluegill fish on Walker Lake 
Fishermen always have a plan in place when venturing out on the water, and my plan today was to get on the water by mid afternoon and hopefully experience some type of hatch. In fact I was so confident of some sort of hatch; I didn’t even rig my fly rod until I actually got to the waters edge. As I approached the fast water at access four I notice a few midges here and there but nothing significant enough for me to tie on a dry. So I started with a soft hackle, because a few trout were feeding just below the surface. A soft hackle usually will generate a take if the drift is near perfection when the subsurface activity is happening. I stayed with the perfection drift soft hackle for a while with no results; so plan B was put into play, which was dead drifting a nymph. I hoped I could land some quality rainbow on the swing part of the drift. This same technique has produced some of my best rainbows this season on the tailrace. 

 
The dead drift yielded this rainbow on the swing. This technique places less emphasis on mending and more emphasis on feel.   
While viewing this rainbow, I imagined seeing these spots on the backs of future browns that may be stocked one day in the Sipsey.
 
The last rainbow of the afternoon was taken using a copper john dropped under an indicator. A few minutes after landing this trout the generators came on and cut short what looked to be an even more promising afternoon.
 
 
 



18 comments:

  1. Lester
    Spelling and grammar mistakes is often used to really see if anyone is actually reading my nonsense. Thanks for the comment

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  2. Bill, you're funny! Les, spell cehck is our friend. Nice looking fish. Happy Memorial Day Bill.

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  3. Happy Memorial Day Bill! I am glad you were able to get out and catch some nice trout to make up for the slim'in you received last outing. Sorry the generators ran ya off but looks like you had quality time prior! Thanks for sharing and look forward to the next!

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  4. You talked about the generators coming on. Near here we have the Mokelumne that is fed by the power house at Tiger Creek. You're along way away from the power house and don't hear any siren. You can be standing on dry land and before you know it you're knee deep in water. You tend to pay more attention when that happens.

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  5. Glad to see you got out. I haven't gotten a trout fix in quite awhile.

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  6. Bill you are quite the trout guy. Your backup was right on. Well done.
    Now we have to get you on a small stream.

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  7. Howard
    Hope you had a great Memorial Day---thanks for the comment

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  8. Lester
    Yes spell check is worth it----thanks for the comment

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  9. Kevin
    Can't believe you haven't made it out to some of those beautiful streams there. Looking forward to some reports soon---thanks for the comment

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  10. Noco
    The tailrace had just been stocked a few days before I arrived the other day with 10 to 11" stocker rainbow, which made for a good afternoon. Thanks for the comment

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  11. Mark
    I pay close attention to the sirens on our tailrace. I try to stay close to the access points when I am fishing there. Thanks for the comment

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  12. Alan
    I believe I have made some progress, considering I have only been trout fishing for 10 years. It is still a learning process for me, which is a lot of fun. Thanks for the comment

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  13. Sirens always seem to ruin a great day! It's like they know when you're into fish! Still sounded like a great day, awesome!

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  14. Bill,
    You mentioned those generators and I immediately thought of the White River in Arkansas where I fished one time and learned that when the warning was given you don't waste a lot of time getting out. It's frustrating, but then the southern tail-race can provide nice fishing when all other possibilities for trout are limited. Thanks for your report.

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  15. I need to catch some trout on the fly but Mark refuses to fish with me! hahaha

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  16. Drew
    The sirens have run me off the tailrace twice this past week. Thanks for the comment

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  17. Walt
    I remember fishing the White River right after I retired. The sirens did go off right after we left the river that first afternoon we were there.
    We are so blessed here in Alabama to have a place like the Sipsey Tailrace to fish for trout. I can be on the water in about 20 minutes. Thanks for the comment

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  18. Juan
    Hard to believe Mark doesn't want to land some trout-------------hope you get him on the water soon---thanks for the comment

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