Catching Large Trout Under Tough Conditions

mur-inchworm

On heavily fished trout streams I often catch many large trout by fishing with what I call “changes of pace flies”.  These are fly patterns which mimic the natural foods upon which the trout feed but which show them fly patterns they seldom see.

A good example of this is the Murray’s Housefly.  By placing the wings down spent on each side of the flies body I show the trout a food they know well but that produces a different light pattern from what they usually see.  I fish these below shrubs along the banks and below overhanging tree limbs using an upstream dead drift.

The Inchworm is another fly which matches many worm-like creatures that the trout feed heavily upon in addition to the real inchworm. Since many of these worms fall clumsily onto the stream, I find that presenting my Murray’s Inchworm with roll cast causing it to land on the stream with a splash often brings a strike from a trout which races across the stream to get it.  Dapping this carefully over vegetation along undercut stream bank causes the Inchworm to dangle on the surface like a natural worm hanging from his thread.

The Mosquito is another artificial fly which will fool many wary trout when fished with a dead drift along blackish water on mountain streams and on sloughs in spring creeks.

Frequently these tactics bring me some of my largest trout of the season.