02-08-2006, 12:02 PM
[cool][#0000ff]I second the suggestion for ice out fly flingin'. I will add a couple of things. First, think shallow. The big ol' bigguns often cruise in skinny water both just after ice out and often during the rest of the year right at daybreak. Position your tube offshore and cast inshore, working the fly back out.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In such situations you can sometimes see the wakes pushed up by the cruising fish. Gets the heart pumping. Be sure to cast far enough in front of them that you don't spook them. Floating or sink tip lines are best, with longer leaders, when fishing shallow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, think crawdad patterns. Recent DWR gill netting studies have shown that even the minnow-eating cutts are including more invertebrates in their diets, and that a high percentage of those bugs are crawdads. It was also observed that the majority of the 'dads consumed were under 3".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]More and more of the non-fly guys are using plastic tube jigs, and one of the best colors is something close to crawdad...greens, browns, motoroil, etc. I also throw a lot of marabou jigs in those colors.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For many years, one of my most productive fly patterns, year-round, is a green and brown wooly bugger...olive body, ginger hackle, brown marabou tail. I add a few strands of orange Krystal Flash to the tail on some, just for grins. Big rainbows eat it well too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In such situations you can sometimes see the wakes pushed up by the cruising fish. Gets the heart pumping. Be sure to cast far enough in front of them that you don't spook them. Floating or sink tip lines are best, with longer leaders, when fishing shallow.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Also, think crawdad patterns. Recent DWR gill netting studies have shown that even the minnow-eating cutts are including more invertebrates in their diets, and that a high percentage of those bugs are crawdads. It was also observed that the majority of the 'dads consumed were under 3".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]More and more of the non-fly guys are using plastic tube jigs, and one of the best colors is something close to crawdad...greens, browns, motoroil, etc. I also throw a lot of marabou jigs in those colors.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]For many years, one of my most productive fly patterns, year-round, is a green and brown wooly bugger...olive body, ginger hackle, brown marabou tail. I add a few strands of orange Krystal Flash to the tail on some, just for grins. Big rainbows eat it well too.[/#0000ff]
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