More trout are caught on flies that are poor imitations of their food or no imitation at all than on perfect imitations.
To us these attractors are wild and beautiful but in the trout's mind they may simply look good to eat, or they may take them for some other reason, perhaps, as a challenge.
Picture a trout lying contentedly in his feeding position, fins andtail fanning slowly, looking up at the sky. Along comes a dry fly.
As it approaches, he thinks, "Ah! Wings like vanilla ice cream; legs like rich chocolate syrup; a strawberry body with a touch of green mint fore and aft, and finally a coffee-cream tail. Never saw anything like that before. I wonder what it tastes likeand if I don't grab it now it will drift out of range and I will never know." -- Taken from a discussion with Lee Wulff on fly design.
Too often I have heard others criticize the flies tied by both novice and innovative fly tiers. I have a different approach. I let the fish be the judge.
If it works, it is good enough. After all it is the fish we want to impress; not the person with all the answers and an empty creel.
THE REPORT
Fishing on our lower mainland lakes is fair. For wet (sinking) fly fishing try Coachman, American Coachman, Professor, Wooly Bugger, Micro Leach, Sixpack, Dragonfly Nymph, Halfback, Doc Spratley, Baggy Shrimp, or Zulu.
For dry (floating) fly action try Tom Thumb, Irresistible, Black Gnat, Griffith Gnat, Royal Coachman or Renegade.
Our Lower Mainland bass and panfish are active again. For bass try Wooly Bugger, Big Black, Clouser's Deep Minnow, Zonker, Bucktail, Dolly Whacker, Frog, Popping Bug or Crayfish in sizes 8 to 4. For Crappie or Pumpkinseed try: Wooly Bugger, Big Black, Micro Leach, Bucktail, Dolly whacker, Clouser's deep minnow or Popping Bug.
Fishing on our Interior lakes is good. For better success try early mornings and evenings. The Fraser River is fishing well for sockeye and spring with some cutthroat, pink and dolly Varden in the mix. For spring try Popsicle, Big Black, Stonefly Nymph, Squamish Poacher, or Eggo. For Sockeye try patterns in lime green or Chartreuse.
The Stave River is fair for rainbow and cutthroat.
The Vedder River is good for Spring and pink.
The Harrison River is good for sockeye, pink, cutthroat and rainbow.
