You make the call

[Rob G]

For those that remember the "You make the call" segments done on televised football games during the "80's"

 

Wonderful over cast day, good water temps and good water clarity. You're catching fish, a lot of fish, so you know your fly choice is reasonable but..........they're all dinks, only a couple barely over 12" and you feel from past outings that this stretch of water holds larger fish. Such was my outing today. What do you do?

 

A. Switch to a larger fly

B. Switch to a heavier fly to get you deeper

C. Find another section of river to fish

D. Say "screw it" and keep enjoying the numbers game

E. Other

[Mike G]

E

 

Till recently I would have tried A or B or both. But Doug Hannon used to say,"Little fish are liars." That is, they fool you into thinking you are onto something and that all you have to do is a little tweaking to catch big ones. In reality larger fish are somewhere else and require a completely revised presentation--depth, speed, size, color, and action.

 

12" does not sound too bad for waters in IL, so I might consider D if I don't have much time.

[tjtroester]

i i wanted different, or larger, fish i would go to a different fly and different method. timothy

[John Gillio]

Depends on my mood for the day. Some days D is just fine with me. Other days A,B, or a different fly all together. If time wasn't a factor C or E may be in order. Like I said...........

depends.

[Jim Wright]

If time is not a factor...C

If time is a factor...D

I like this game

[Terry Dodge]

I'll go with D and E.

Maybe a faster or slower retrieve or longer/shorter pauses is the answer.

[ronk]

Usually if all you're getting are dinks that's all that's there.So if you weant bigger ones move.

[Tim A]

I lean towards thinking bigger fish want a slower, more finessed presentation. Obviously it's not always the case. And sometimes smaller flies get the chomp.

[Tom L]

I would go with "C".

 

If I want to work the same section, I'd come back in 2 hours (rest the pool as trout guys said) and fish slower with longer casts and with smaller fly the second time.

[Rob G]

Ron,

I covered quite a bit of water that day and have taken up to 18.75" from that stretch on a couple of occasions and even a short while ago took a few up to 16.5". There are not that many places on this section of river for the larger fish to hide so I really feel that they must have been there but they weren't buying what I was selling.