Redfish Flies

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Redfish flies. There are hundreds of shrimp, crab, and baitfish patterns out there. Not unlike the immense number and variety of trout flies. They come in all sizes, shapes and colors. There are many regional differences and preferences. There are different patterns for murky water vs clear. Fly design can also vary based on the type of bottom the Redfish are feeding on such as Oyster beds; thick dense grass; sparse shoal grass; mud; pothole areas; sand. And there are different head weights depending on the depth an angler will be fishing. Some patterns have rubber legs to create action, some realistic eyes, and so on…

On past trips to a Redfish destination I copied some of the fly patterns used in the region I was visiting. On my most recent trip, I had patterns that I have had some success with and confidence in.

fly tying fur

Redfish generally aren’t know to be picky eaters… that is until they are. I’ve had many follow my moving fly until I had no more fly line to strip and was down to my leader. I’m sure clear water feeding fish are harder to dupe than fish in cloudy, muddy water; same with calm vs choppy water; light conditions can be a factor such as the quality of the light (brightness) or the angle of the Sun’s rays; food presence or lack of can influence their feeding behavior; as does Tide phase and water temperature, which can change quickly in the ultra shallow bay that I fish; competition from other Redfish (those searching and feeding in schools vs solitary fish) influence feeding; as well as innumerable other factors that I’m simply not aware of. It’s all part of Nature’s mystery. And it’s the mystery that keeps you coming back.

On rare calm mornings in the super transparent shallows slow moving Redfish and stationary feeders (head down) often wouldn’t eat my larger flies or bulky ones. Small and sparse flies seemed best along with soft landings and careful wading. Some of those fish seemed focused on small crabs.

walking back from the bay

When I had to deal with high wind on the flats (most days) I found patterns tied with silly legs often got fouled on the hook. On those days I clipped the legs off. Shrimp eyes that I made with melted monofilament and that protruded slightly from the shrimp body and hook bend, often picked up shoal grass filaments/ blades dislodged from the shallows by fierce wind even though most flies that I tied had preventative weed guards. So I nipped the eyes off too. A fly with a weed strand (s) hitch-hiking on it was always rejected.

So as the trip progressed I kept my tied shrimp patterns simple. Most of the fish I caught were on two similar flies (see photo): Both had a body of EP fibers, color tan, which in the water look translucent as advertised by the product maker ( EP: Enrico Puglisi Flies); a few strands of crystal flash were added; some Sharpie drawn bars on the side of the EP body; at the head of the fly behind the hook eye I dubbed in some golden retriever hair (endless supply from Harper) to match the EP body; then some light weight as I was fishing knee to thigh deep water such as small or medium bead chain, sometimes a large size in wind ruffled water. On a couple of flies I wrapped some hackle at the head (Seaducer style) of the fly to try and soften the landing in the shallows. I don’t know if it really made a difference but I caught some of my best Reds on it. Both are very easy, quick ties. Just what you want when you are on the road/ travelling.

welcomed calm, morning

Reds on the Sand

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REDFISH, AKA: Red Drum, Spot-Tail, Reds.

I HIKE THE SAND DUNES TOWARDS THE BAY IN THE MORNINGS with a fly rod, fly box, some leader material, nippers and a knapsack with lunch and water for the day, and most importantly optimism. My equipment is basic. It’s pretty much the same as when I fish for trout except the rod I’m using is slightly heavier, a saltwater 7 weight. I’m on a barrier island along the Gulf of Mexico. I’m here searching for Redfish on the clear sandy saltwater flats on the bayside of the island. I’m fishing on foot in knee deep water. It’s my 6th trip to the region.

used a kayak (home base) on occasion while wading

It’s Winter Solstice time and daylight is brief. The sun arcs low, close to the horizon. With the short days angling time and opportunity pass quickly. Most days are warm but conditions are often variable. With the short-lived days and fickle maritime weather it can make sight-fishing challenging, especially when it gets cloudy and windy. The worst is when a big blow from the north blasts through.

my foot path to horizon

The best time to spot a Redfish on the sand flats is when the light is good and when there is a significant tide. Moving water, in or out, always seems good. With it Sheepshead, Sea Trout and baitfish like Mullet, Lady fish and small Silverside minnows show up. And Redfish often tag along. That’s when the sand flats come alive. That’s when pelicans and other bird life begin working the water. That’s when you see Mullet jumping. That’s when you see schools of Ladyfish pushing water, their sides reflecting the sunlight on those rare perfect days. That’s when the bay is full of activity and energy. That’s when you want to be out there wading the knee deep water, hopefully standing right in the middle of it all. Stand still long enough and you end up becoming part of it, and with the sun fully illuminating the shallows you can see everything. It’s like looking into an aquarium and just as mesmerizing. That’s when you have your best chance to spot a good one.

redfish

When Redfish do make an appearance they are usually on the move. When they prowl the shallows they are always alert; always hypervigilant. Spot one and you’ve got to be quick and fairly accurate with your cast. You’ve just seconds to react. And you rarely get a second chance with the same fish on the flats. Make a casting mistake and it is gone. If it sees you it’s Adios!

As quickly as fish come in on the sand flats they can disappear. Sometimes they don’t show-up but that’s rare. There are usually a few that pass through at some point in the day. It’s a big bay that I’m fishing and fish move around and there are no guarantees that they will visit the area that I choose to wade. Successful sight-fishing here is a commitment. It’s always a challenge. You have to put in your time and stay focused and alert when searching. Concentration is essential. Spotting fish in a variety of conditions is a skill. Like anything, you get better at it the more you do it. You have to believe the Reds are out there and that at some point they will come in to feed on the crustaceans and small baitfish that inhabit the sand flats. I know that if keep showing-up, I will cross paths…

photo by r dewey

hiking to the bay

sea (speckled) trout

early morning high humidity

wind foam

challenging sight fishing conditions

wind foam blocking my search

fly box

rare perfect sight-fishing morning

harper

Postscript

Photographing fish alone with my phone (in a plastic waterproof sleeve, high humidity) while standing in water several hundred yards out in a windy bay is always challenging and with many images the clarity is not always the best.

All Redfish landed were released.

Road trip: Bwo’s, Blue Jays and Bat flips

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“The Blue Jays won the bat flip contest hands down. Some of the best ones I’ve seen since Jose Bautista was at the plate. They showed-up, stood tall, faced the payroll Goliaths of the league and slugged it out inning by inning…best attitude, team spirit, comradery and most enthusiastic, loud and appreciative fans…all players winners in my mind…the most entertaining team I’ve seen in a long time “. — Bob

Road trip. Fishing, not Baseball. Last one for the trout season. It’s been sunny and blowing for weeks along the eastern slopes. The two conditions often go together in Autumn. The upcoming weather prediction was for 2 or 3 days of calm and overcast skies. A perfect set-up for a late season Blue Winged Olive (BWO) hatch. So I decided to take advantage of the incoming low front and drove due south in full sun and high wind, and woke up next morning under a heavy sky and best of all calm.

The riverside campground where I stayed in mid-canyon was empty. Harper was left off leash as there was no one around to bother. She chased squirrels and some deer, and nosed the fire pits. Fortunately no skunks showed up when it got dark. Most mornings it was 32f or slightly above. In the afternoon it was 40s or low 50s f. There were a few anglers around and some floaters. The fly shops were open but quiet. A great time to look at angling stuff. Local restaurants were closed.

The night is long at this time of year and daylight short, and dry fly opportunities brief. One or two hours in the afternoon, maybe slightly more, depending on the intensity of the hatch. My first day I experienced a weak hatch. The second day it drizzled a bit, was colder and the sky ominous looking. The hatch was strong. The river section I was on came alive, and I connected with size 18 and 20 parachute BWO dries. Rising trout on November 4th. It was a good day. So good I flipped my fly rod in the air.

Some images…

Visible flies

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” Black: the absence of light; the absorption of light”.

The clouds rolled in. Just for one day. So I took advantage of it as the dry fly season is winding down in my region. Soon local Brown trout will be on redds. Maybe some already are. With the overcast sky I was hoping some trout could be found rising to Olive and Mahogany mayflies. There were quite a few bugs on the water in the afternoon but unfortunately it was windy. I didn’t see a lot of fish surfacing but did find one decent one feeding just off of the edge of a current line. It ate a size 18 Olive tied with a black wing. The black wing allowed me to see the small fly from some distance even in the low light, high glare conditions. I was able to get the tiny impression on target.

When fishing wide open places I tie at least one third of my small dries/emergers with a black wing or post. I can’t fish what I can’t see. Flies that become invisible once casted are useless. When tying dry flies for rivers that tend to produce a lot of small bugs I pay attention to size, color, attitude (how it sits) in the water but just as importantly, or more so, visibility. I need to see where the fly lands to know if my cast is accurate; I need to see it tracking (drift) to the fish; and I need to see the trout’s response if I’m going to fish effectively. Put simply, I need to see it…

When I glance over various online fly tying forums I see many exquisitely crafted fly patterns (beyond my skill level) but many would be hard or impossible to see on a lot of the rivers that I fish. Maybe these tyers fish a lot of small water with streamside foliage and shadows that darken the water and therefore their dry fly patterns, even small ones, contrast well and show-up. A lot of the tailwater rivers I fish are not like that. They are broad and flow in wide open terrain and their hatches are generally small mayflies and caddis. And the dry fly fishing is usually best on overcast days which often means a grey, silvery surface and eye straining glare. That’s when a black wing or post can be helpful.

Surprisingly it’s hard to find fly shops even in big broad river destinations that have small fly patterns in their bins with black wings or posts. Most have some High Vis patterns in fluorescent colors but my eyes simply don’t pick them up as well in extreme glare as solid black.

Here’s an Autumn colored Brown trout that I caught on a size 18 Olive pattern with a black polypropylene wing.

Showing up

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“Eighty percent of success is showing up” — Woody Allen

I’ve been fishing east and west of the Divide with a friend, Roman. Mostly west. The good weather has been hanging in: clear skies; warm Autumn afternoon light…the best light. Some rivers have been spectacular. Some bugless and lifeless. I’m fortunate to live in a region where a 30-45 minute drive can deliver you to a variety of rivers if the one you are on is unproductive. The key, as always, is to show up, look, explore.

Large Bull trout are on redds in the mountains streams. The Brown trout in the lower rivers are not paired-up yet. There are fewer anglers around. It’s a great time of year to squeeze whatever juice is left out of the dry fly year. Hopefully BWO’s are still to come on some of the tailwater rivers. And maybe even some Mahoganies. I’ll wait for a low front, overcast skies and light wind and then show up. That’s the recipe to find a late season large colorful Brown trout sipping on the surface.

Some images from a week ago.

life ignites

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AT MY LATITUDE DAYS are noticeably getting shorter. Mornings cooler. The sun archs lower. Shadows are longer late afternoon. Some trees are coloring and shedding their leaves. September has arrived in the Rocky Mountains.

It was 46f (water temperature) at 11:30 am on a nearby mountain stream the other day. It always runs cold. It’s cold in July. It’s cold in August. Same in September. By mid afternoon the creek probably was a few degrees warmer. Maybe it hit the 50f mark, probably not. Some hatches especially the larger Drakes are only suppose to emerge when the water temperature climbs above 50f and into the mid fifties. In the stream I was on Drakes can pop below 50f, some of the large ones and definitely the smaller, Flavs (Flavilinea Drunella). In my experience it just takes sunlight to flood the river bottom. That seems to be the trigger. That’s the spark that gets a really good hatch going in a frigid flow. With the mid-day sunlight the submerged rock clinging nymphs then let go and make their way to the surface. And trout wake-up and begin chasing their ascent, and start feeding on those riding on the surface. The river comes alive. Witnessing it is always special as is searching for the best that the stream has to offer when life ignites…

creeks, drakes & trout

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CLEAR MOUNTAIN CREEKS. I’ve been out on them the past few weeks treasure hunting. A fair amount of stream miles/kms covered while walking the cold flows over uneven stones. The smaller version of the Green Drake (Flavs) family (Mayfly) were around on some of the streams. A few of the bigger Drakes too. Cutthroat trout are always willing to take them on the surface. The hatch never gets ignored. Survival in mountain streams requires that trout feed when opportunity knocks. And this relatively large mayfly means calories and thick healthy fish. Some streams have Drakes. Mysteriously others just a valley or a few miles away do not. The fish in those rivers are not as robust; not as wide.

Some gems found while treasure hunting…

comparaduns/haystacks, a simple pattern

pierre

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“We fish for hours only to hold a trout for seconds”– Unknown

RECENTLY FRIENDS FROM the Montreal area visited the region. Pierre had experience fishing lakes but never trout streams in the Rocky Mountains. We spent four days combing a few freestone rivers. He said he did not have a lot of experience casting a fly rod. With some basic tips, however, within one-half of a day he was able to consistently get the fly where he wanted to and in front of trout. He even threw tight loops into the wind. In short order he became a natural at casting, wading rivers and reading the water. His athleticism and calm, patient manner and positive attitude were a real advantage. And with all of that came great success. Some beautiful Cutthroat trout were caught on dry flies, admired and released. It was an easy and enjoyable hosting/guiding experience for me. It was a breeze. A great guy to spend a day with on the river. I hope he returns to visit again. Some images captured on our outings…

The Originals

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Original: “Present or existing from the beginning; first or earliest”.

COOL FOR AUGUST. Overall a cool summer here. And a fair amount of rain. That’s bad for campers. That’s good for trout. Everywhere else in the northern hemisphere it seems to be cooking.

Stream banks, intact ones, great spot to search for trout

I visited a local stream up in the mountains. Clear water up there. Water like air. I was hoping for a hatch. I’m always hoping for a hatch. The conditions looked perfect. It never happened. Just a few Drakes. More as the day progressed. The odd rise. I would have got skunked if I didn’t know the river section I was on well. I walked more than I fished. Last time I was on the river it was late spring, early summer. Today I connected with a few good ones. My reel sang. I believe a reel with a good sound helps me play/ land fish. It’s the feedback.

I casted barbless dry flies. Makes for an easy release on the native trout. A couple of beautiful ones came to hand. Cutthroats with a strong, pronounced slash. The originals…”existing from the beginning”.

Slight undercut