OCR Text |
Show BY F. E. SHEFSBX According to reports sent in from all the Utah streams, the water will be clear enough for trout' fly fishing June 15, and the boys arc preparing to mako big catches tho opening day. It has boon eight years since all the streams were in condition for fly fishing so early In the season. AH the streams are low and clearing fast, although there scorns to bo some doubt regarding the Provo river. A bait fisherman these days is looked upon as one who is out for tho fish and not the pleasure there Is In the sporL lie is a sort of an outcast and never feels at home, and" In consequence Is anxious to learn how to cast the fly. Tho bait fisherman tries a fly hook about twice a year, but he never considers the traits of the trout and therefore he can never make a success. He makes two or three casts find with Impatience hurriedly takes off the fly hook and substitutes bait, which he sinks to the bottom of the stream with a heavy lead sinker. With patioucc everybody can catch trout with the fly. Trout are natural surface feeders and they try to swallow everything which shows life that conies floating down the stream. Six-pound trout will tako a mosquito from the top of the water, in the one extreme, and on the other will eat birds, snakes, mice, etc. They are regular cannibals as well as gluttons and never have enough to eat. therefore it is nearly always possiblo to make trout bile at any lime of the dav. Three or four hours before you get to your fishing grounds wrap your lcad-ors lcad-ors and half a dozen fly hooks in a wet rag and throw them into your Ashing basket. If you havo a leader box. so much tho bettor. When you arrive at the stream your leaders, and hooks will be In shape to fish, all the curl having boon takc"n out or the gut, and it will straighten out when cast into tho water. If the water is clear where you are fishing fish-ing tako a coachman, either royal or' plain, or whUe miller for the carlyr morning morn-ing fishing, which fly can be more easily scon in the, early dawn. After It gets good and light, the coachman may do, but you may have better success with tho gray hackle, professor grizzly king or queen of the water, also try the brown hackle, but nine out of every ten fisher-, men will stand by tho coachman. The noxt question Is to consider the slzo of the fly. you should use. In the Provo river you arc not limited and can use as large or as small as you wish, but eight or ten iff a good' average. I use twelve and fourteen .aiur can get all the fish J care for. If you want to get the big ones in the Provo use a large .fly, about' No. 2 or 1- Tho water in tho Provo is a trifle roily, and may be so on tho opening day. In this case, spinnors will bo the right kind of bait, the Colorado spinner being the best. "Worms will also be tempting to tho fish. The best fiv hook for Big Cottonwood Is about a No. 10 hook, although some use as large s No. G. which may do. on the "first dav. There are so many fishermen fisher-men on this stream and the fish aro hooked so many times that it Is hard to mako the fish rise, and the fisherman must bring Into play all the ingenuity ho. can. By using a No. VJ or 14 hook no trouble wju uo nau 10 cnicn nan m Cottonwood canyon. In the valley, minnows min-nows will be found good bait In this stream. Mill creek and Parley's are clear enough for fly fishing. In Mill creek the gray hackle and professor are the favorite favor-ite files the first part of the season. Get tho hackle with yellow or peacock body, and silver tip which i;uns Into black at the head, and do not get larger than' No. S hooks for this stream of you wish lo get plenty of rises. In Parley's the coachman is the leading lead-ing fiv, witli the gray and brown hackles next. In this stream 1 fish exclusively with tho coachman, whllo Al. Thornbcrg. who Is one of the best fishermen to visit tliat stream, seldom changes from tho hackles. The smaller the fly in this creek tho iiioro fish you will catch, and tho man who uses larger than a No. 8 hook will seldom be seen with many fish after the first week of the open season. Chalk creek. In the neighborhood of Coalville. Is clear, but the Wobcr river is high, roaring and muddy. Lost creek Is also clear, and everybody who will visit those streams on the opening will I'omo bark with fish. No. 6 hooks, with the feathers well clipped, will be favorite favor-ite for tho opening, although the smaller flics aro best lo make the fish rise. When you tell av man who has lonesome lone-some fishing with flics and who has niado a failure, that It Is easy to catch trout, ho only laughs and a majority of thorn believe that tho average fisherman who makes big catches.., uses sonic kind of dope. There is one thing to remember. 'Jn trout fishing. If t ho fish see you . first you might Just as well pass on." for. thoy will not bito. The Inexperienced' man walks right up to tho bank ofn-stream ofn-stream and plunges right Into, the water as ir he was trying lo scaro tlnjusb downstream Into a net.'' This mnn'never catches any fish. Keep out ofy-W1' you have solved the groatfsr obstacle In trout fishing. One or t'U'Ips to a stream will make you fanjHnr with the docp holes. Iho rlfllos, cK-V Approach the stream so that the s.0?cs "? enst your shadow Into th water, llido behind be-hind grass, logs or"'??, boulders, or if the stream Is npcpfnud away from tho hanks and mak''"" "ists. When the fish do not see Ihej.) Immediately rush lo the jnirfacp'J" Inspect anything which falls Into VQ water. A small pebblo thrown in,1,c water brings the fish to Its iiotieJ,,n( aR quickly sis a hook, 11 Is thcy'tyftlnct of the mountain, trout to goHl1'1" anything that falls Into tho wntiVa w,,en- within a foot of the oblfyt "ley ran generally tell whether tl"i' were fooled or whether it Is a real I y. or bug of some kind. r: 11 is harder to fish downstream than At is up. Trout nre Invariably headed against the flow and If you are cautious you can undo oftentimes to within ten or fifteen f.'et before they sec vou, going go-ing upstream, but coming downstream ; tho fish can sec you for a long dlstunce and aro always out of sight, and after you lisn for some time you gcnerallv come to tho conclusion that there, aro no fish in ho stream, when there mav be thousands. .In small streams, do not wade ; up to tho middle, but remain as. near ' tho edge as you can. and entirely out of tho water If possible, and you will meet with much bettor success, and you will " also nelp tho man who Is behind you. A Always think of your "brother' who is fi fishing. Thero aro itome who go slumb-Uig slumb-Uig dowii .the ut roams spoiling tho fish-Ing. fish-Ing. not only for themselves, but for everybody ev-erybody else. Keeping out of sight, as said bofore. Is the greatest point In trout ' fishing, Casting- comes- next. Get- your taolchi as S, s noslllo- if you bundle yor Hah cnreu ly, your , tovJcle will noL brcul will? v?i " i"CrtM ,u,lV'a ?,X-J'"MU trout with No. i cotton .(bread. Also if v0u at ompt to pull, out a liirge fish vvh-M I lUJ"!mU "y yol wl" 1)0 'I'sappo in't-cd. in't-cd. Pho hurry to gJt.out big fish Ik. re- ' spons bio for t:p many fioh stories where tho big ones are' lost. K Practice earning ao tlmf as Uttlo of your line as possiblo hits Tho water. You will soon become so proficient in vour work that you can strike the water with tho lono fly. The next point is whuro to cust vour ' lly As trout, when not. feeding. Ho under un-der banks or In tlui shadow of locks, under logs or brush which may bo.jjv c the stream, these are the places, ot course, to get your hook to. When fish are feeding you will invariably find them In the shallow water at the lower ends of. big holes, swimming 'from one side to the other, or In the still water alongside the riffles. This condition exists" early in the morning and -In the evening. In the daytime the llah' rest, but they aru continually watching for'anything coming down the stream that they can eat. As you stop into the (stream, If it Is small and brushy, you aro Immediately handicapped and must be very careful. If there Is a hole ahead of you, try to get as close as you can' hiding behind tho brush. Then, gonlly flip your fly to one edge of the hole mid draw it quickly across to the other side. You will bo surprised. If the fish havo not seen you. If you see a 'fish going nfter the hook , do no't slop to "draw. The Instant In-stant you stop your fly,1 in the water trout will discover the "fake." and the Instantly become alert, Jf you miss the flsh the first time, it will come, again, and this time you will find that .the trout will strike your fly, no matter now fast yoifi draw It. Of 'course, .there is a limit to .pulling the book through mo water. The idea is to make your fly-hook fly-hook resemble a bbg .which has just fallen fall-en into the water and which Is trying wilh all lis ijilghl to get out. There may be a large boulder ill the stream. Draw your fiM toward the boulder. If there is a riffle on one side of the rock, throw your fir Into thu riffle and then bring It out (Oward the rock the "bug" Is trying lo r&teh safely, and tho trout underneath th water is bound to dine. Where water if (tils'1 over a log- or large rock In part cf the stream, you will Invariably In-variably find t large fish at. the edge. Throw your 1 )nk -a little above to one side and in a half-circle and Just miss (he obstacle, and If there is a lisb hidden there it will rfcc to the top If it strikes the hook the sh will carry the lino over tho fall Into I io hole below. If willows h ng into tho water dribble vour hook as (close to them as you enn and the fish vlll invariably strike. Do not be afraid f snags, as tho water will carry your Hn clear of thorn as a rum, and if you git snagged do not 'give a hard jerk, for that will faston your hook. Pull up or do-in stream slightly and the snag will usuiUy rclense Itself. Tf your llncgcts caught in Ihe willows overhead, wait a mopicnl. 'and tho gut will start (Irving ami in hair a minute It- becomes stfrf, and 10 lo 1 ypu can get your line out easily. In large open water, whoro you can use plenty p' line, fishing Is much easier than In sjnall streams. ' You can cast, all around' a 'Hi can pick out your" fishing. Here you will find the fish in the more .shalloiv water nnd they are easier In approach ap-proach But the same rules apply. Keep vour" line out of the water as much as .possible and play your fly with as much 'j!fc as possible. When tho water Is high, puss up the deep holes and fish in tho riffles, and you will have better success. Tho picture herewith' shows many forms ot bait, some good and some not. No. 1 is a bunch of gut loaders. The single gut Is the most popular and the most used by the sportsmen.- and is strong enough to lanu the biggest trout that swims. Nos. 2 and A are plain grit hooks for bait fishing. No.'n is a new luminous bull used for night fishing and It Js'sald to be a great bass killer. Krom its general appearance It would make a good carp snag' hook. :o.6 Is a tailored flsh line. This linn In nuide especially for long casting and Is used by experts In all tournaments. For all around trout fishing K has no superior su-perior nualillcs over the ordinary good llnu. In fact, in our small mountain streams It Is a trifle too thick. Nos. G and S show Iwo favorite bass spinners. Thero arc many different styles of spinnors. and all have their ' favorites. l?rlg Madsen of Provo has made a nes' spinner out of copper, whlph ho claims Is a "killer" and which bass will take when all- other ball falls. Its shape Is like No. 10. with a rounded surface. It spins slower than a trout spinner and looks llko a bullhead when going- through the water. No. 7 Is the old reliable Colorado spinner, spin-ner, which is being used by many fishermen fisher-men when files provo ineffectual. The spinner Is best, when the stream Is not clear Anotner spinner which is making a hit in some of tho streams resembles the Colorado hut Is made of nickel hi- stead of copper, with the upper half of the Inside painted red. . v No. 0 shows one of tlje most- popular reels on the market. It s especially adapted for- the - larger streams, where plenty of line must be used to land big trout. No. 11 shows the style of the average fly hook. No. 12 shows an artificial frog Vhlch ia used for bass fishing. No. 13 shows a bunch of trout files Some of the boys say they aro" it. N.os. 11 and 16 show artificial minnows and No. IS is an artificial mouse. |