not biting

I going to hit you w/ a series of ideas that could explain the problem.
Person there before you throwing large lures,, middle of the day w/ high sun,,standing in the water and every time you moved you send a wave,,items you are using are wrong size.

Advice would be go back early or late in the day and a low sun angle,,have smaller flies down to size 18,, don't step in the water, knee on the side and cast at the closest and farthest fish back in the stack,, lighter line and less weight.


There are so many different items it could be, here are a few.

If those fish had been in that a hole a few days, they probably have seen a lot of offerings.  I've had luck stripping streamers pretty quicky through holes to entice bites.  Not sure if you've tried that.  Chris is right though.  Move on to find a different pod of fish.  I know it's hard to leave a bunch of fish, but better luck might be found elsewhere.

ORIGINAL: 26.2

I was fishing Tuesday over a fairly tightly packed pod (30+, I'd say) on Elk and they simply wouldn't take any of the rainbow of eggs, sucker spawn and crystal spawl (mainly on #14 hooks, but tied small) and streamers I tried. Adjusted weight, too. Indicator and no indicator. The water was pretty slow and looked to be about 3 feet deep. Pretty darn clear, too. 4x tippet. I think I had a decent drift. They didn't seem to spook, but some would occasionally follow the streamer. Could they have just been resting? I caught fish in other sections, but not where they were so packed. If this is a behavior (or non-behavoir) I'd like to know so I don't waste time in the future. Thanks for any help.

Should have tried chumming them!!!!!!!! LOL

A few weeks ago I resorted to 5x and a size 20 midge (brassie). Didn't have a prayer as the only hookup resulted in a brief fight with the hook being thrown. I also had moderate success stripping streamers when the fish were in a tight lipped mood in clear water. I had one fish actually strike a streamer five different times (all seperate casts) but I couldn't get the hookset.

Thanks for the tips, all. I do have fun. Like they say, there's fishing and catching. And the more I do both, I think there's less of a gap between how enjoyable each are. Just as long as I don't leave skunked. 

Yesterday I found some fish that were on a slow bite.  I had a couple of hits on small glo bugs and one on a small black stone fly, but most of the fish I hooked were on woolly buggers.  I was swinging them thru the drift and watched to see which fish would react to them.  Believe it or not, I did not see most of the hits and they came at the very end of the drift.  The other thing was I tried a variety of colors until I discovered the ones that worked.  Blue with white hackle worked well, along with olive and black. 

The major thing to do when the fish are not biting is to keep changing the flies, different colors, sizes, type of fly, drift, etc...  Sometimes just moving a few feet one way or another can change the presentation just enough to tirgger a hit.  If nothing you have tried works, then it is time to move on and find some more fish.

As an aside, what will really add to your frustration is to be fishing a pod of fish with no luck and then have someone show up and start pounding them....  I have had that happen to me more often than not and if just is maddening, but if can see what they are doing, it can be a learning experience.

Good luck.

ORIGINAL: dano

ORIGINAL: joebaker79

if you're not catching at least a few of them pressured or not you dont have the right lure/bait.  the right jig will always catch fish..sometimes even its just one fish.  stripping streamers is too fast...jigs allow you to keep it down and slowly bring it back.  thats why i dont fly fish....if you insist on a fly rod go very small.  Ive caught many on very tiny bead head nymphs this year under a float in the lowest, clearest, and most pressured situations...almost as many as on single eggs.  singles on a fly rod should work well also.  just a thought. 

It may not be always the most effective way but catching chrome on the strip is by far the most exciting way to catch em. 

In defense of us streamer guys.
Streamers will work well most of the time but sometimes you need to work them instead of stripping them. Kind a like drift, work it drift it to next fish ect...
Sometimes fluttering , jigging, swinging or twitching is the key.
As far as size, the smallest streamer I've used this year is about 2 inches long. Don't need no tiny stuff.
Like you said, the right jig will always catch at least 1 fish. same goes with streamers.

Whatever you do, have fun with it.

 
i dont know dano i think seeing them chase down a jig is the most exciting....but we all have a diff definition for that.  my point earlier is that you can keep a jig working with good action longer than stripping a fly.  i think you get the same explosive strikes though.  when a fish charges from behind 50 other fish and inhales it all the way down to his****thats pretty fun.