| Show Strewn Riffles Produce Four Times as Much Food As Pools and Backwaters Backwaters' Larvae Larae of All Underwater Flies Make l Excellent Bait If Used on Small I. I Hook Catching Them ThemIs Is Trick Tricky Procedure Editors Editor's note This is the third of six stories on the fish population population tion of utah and food supply in the streams which knowledge may aid the angler in selecting his lIes flies and bait this season By WOOD WORSLEY According t to M M. J. J Madsen of the United s bureau of fisheries the most productive part of the stream for the foot food supply is not the pools and backwaters but the rimes riffles The difference in productivity is very marked rUnes riffles producing bout about four foul times as much food as any other part of the stream The rUne riffle however however how how- ever must be th the result ot of a gravel bed or 01 large rock and not a where tine fine rocks and soil furnish suitable breeding grounds for the aquatic insects These underwater ter bugs are the same varIeties as are found in the lakes namely the caddis fl fly mayfly and the stone StOlle fly The latter has a wormlike larvae no le legs and Is gray colored The larvae of all the flies which are produced under water make excellent bait U if used ed on a rather small hook Catching them Is a tricky pro however use the method employed b by the bureau of fisherIes A screen about three feet long and two feet leet high Is mounted at either end with a wooden handle so o that it can be easily casily manipulated Put the screen down into the water and kick up the mud or gravel on the bot bot- torn tom directly in front of it The larvae are thus released and come toward the surface where the current catches them and holds them tightly against the screen The importance and excellence of this kind of bait Is often overlooked by fishermen due to the difficulty of catching the larvae These are arc the actual insect that the fish eat cat and are better bet bet- ter as a rule than the usual run of grasshoppers night crawlers and prepared prepared pre pre- pared bait I Many Varieties I The stream also has many vane varie ties of the larvae of the ordinary two two- winged or dipterous fly These larvae are white gray and sometimes black and without legs The beetle larvae are similar in appearance to those o of the tone stone fly e except that the mouth has a formidable biting appearance with severe jaws In the pools the fishing i is good because be be- cause there is mote more competition among the fish to obtain the food since the pool Is much less tive The upper end is considered better because the larvae drift in from the rimes riffles and are taken as they enter the pooL An extremely small min now also makes good bait here On the weeds in the slower water waler can usually be found the fresh water shrimp yellowish orange in color about one half inch long and looking I Ivery very much like their larger name name- sake These are hard to use for bait I and a wet et fly 1 with n a thick orange I body and a touch of hackle is good I In the mud on the bottom of the pool are arc the burrowIng organisms such uch as worms and the white whit clam The latter Is about one eighth inch across and too small to use for bait baiL If H the fish are eating them put on a piece of angleworm and let it rest directly on the bottom Flat Worm Fine Finc Bait Leeches are arc hanGing on the weeds in the slow low water but cannot be easily used for bait baiL The flat fiat worm found in the same locations as the leech is liver colored and from one halt half to two inches long It makes fine bait being remarkably tough and Madsen has used them for as many as five different fish Plent Plenty ot of su surface food falls aIls In the pools from the overhanging bushes and floats oft off the riffles This II- II eludes ants bees plant lice or aphids blue bottle flies millers moths and especially the adult aquatic flies Toe The fisherman will have to watch what the fish arc takIng and use a fly which gives the best imitation Incidentally man many belIeve that the water strider is fish food Except in rare cases Madsen says these lanky bugs are avoided by the fish because ot of the low food value and lack of body juices A bank can harbor many large fish if it is ot of the right kind Fish are alas always al al- ways as looking for an hence a low overhanging bank Is good but avoid the thc taperIng bank which gradually slopes out into inlo the middle Ii If the middle ot of the stream Is shallow fish will avoid it since it must be deep enough to afford pro pro- The lower side o of the ford fordIs Is where the fish stay sta since the gravel riffle Is productive ot of plenty ot of food and the big ones catch it asit ns as it floats down Whenever er two streams join or where there is a lake inlet food conditions con con- are excellent because the supply supply sup sup- ply ot of both streams is concentrated the water slows up just n a trifle Fish congregate there In large numbers In the streams cast just below the junction in the eddies or small pools At the lake inlet let the lure or bait float out from the shore with the current to a distance ot of about 40 feet I |
