Nymphing on Rock Creek for Bigger and
Better Returns
By Doug Persico
Western Montana fly fishers overwhelmingly rate Rock Creek as their favorite dry fly stream. Generating legendary hatches, this quintessential stream offers riffles, pools, long runs and deep holes. Best of all, it is the perfect size to wade and cast, especially to rising fish. Except for a fairly brief period in the spring during the spring runoff, the stream can be waded almost anywhere along its 50 odd miles, and it is almost never crowded compared to the more fabled waters of the Yellowstone Park area.
However, if a
fisherman were to consider Rock Creek as only a dry fly stream, he or
she would
be missing the best fishing opportunity Rock Creek has to offer. Rock
Creek
nymph fishing exceeds its reputation as a classic dry fly fishery.
Nymphing
produces consistently bigger fish and greater numbers of fish. Best of
all,
nymph fishing produces during those times when there is no dry fly
fishing.
Techniques
Dead drifting a
nymph on the bottom and fishing a nymph on or near the surface, either
by
itself or in tandem with another fly, are the two most productive
methods of
nymph fishing. Dead drifting simply means figuring out where the fish
are
holding on the bottom, weighting either the fly or the leader enough to
get the
fly down to where the fish are, and drifting the fly through the holding
water
until a fish takes it. Recognizing the take and setting the hook follow.
Sounds
simple, right? It is, until you consider such questions as, how do you
know if
you are deep enough, and how do you recognize the take.
The answer to
the first question is easy. If you are getting hung up on the bottom and
losing
an occasional fly, you're deep enough. To answer the second question
opens up
one of the big debates currently in fly fishing -- are strike indicators
nothing more than bobbers and an open acknowledgment that the fly fisher
hasn't
mastered his craft?
Most of my
customers use strike indicators to recognize takes when dead drifting a
nymph.
Strike indicators are simply something the angler can see under any
condition.
They are attached to the leader far enough away from the fly so that
they can
be seen on the surface as the fly drifts on or near the bottom. The
strike
indicator telegraphs to the fisherman the fact that the nymph is no
longer
drifting. The angler must then quickly set the hook before the fish
spits the
fly out. Strike indicators are a valuable aid to increase productivity.
As a
fly shop owner, I make and sell indicators, and I consider them a
valuable
source of revenue for the shop.
The other
method of nymphing used most often on Rock Creek is fishing a nymph
unweighted
either as a wet fly on the swing or as a trailer to a dry fly. To fish a
nymph
on the swing, simply cast across the current and start stripping line
slowly in
as the fly starts swinging below you. In most cases the fish will hook
itself.
A technique
that is becoming increasingly popular is to fish an emerger imitation in
tandem
with a dry fly during the hatches. A section of tippet is attached to
the bend
of a dry fly hook. The tippet section is from 16 to 18 inches long, and
an
emerger nymph is attached. The dry is drifted and catches fish in its
own right
as well as acts as a strike indicator for the trailing nymph. This
method is
proving itself deadly and increases in popularity every year.
Fly Patterns
Just as there
are a number of techniques that work on Rock Creek, there are a number
of
patterns that seem to work well. Some patterns work well all the time,
and some
work best during a particular time of year. If I were limited to just
one pattern
and size of nymph to use on Rock Creek all year long, that pattern would
be a
size 10 Prince, with or without a bead head. For some reason known only
to the
trout, this pattern works any time of year. Other patterns will work
better
than a Prince at various times, but day in and day out during the entire
year,
a size 10 Prince will always produce fish.
During the
winter the fish are not very active, but when the weather is warm and
sunny
enough, and there is no slush ice floating down the creek, a dark
stonefly dead
drifted through the deep holes can produce some big browns. I sell more
Kauffman and Brookes' stoneflies in sizes 4 and 6 than all other
patterns
combined.
During the
latter part of March, Skwala stoneflies and Western March Browns start
to hatch.
This is the time to dead drift smaller stone fly patterns for the Skwala
and
size 14 Pheasant Tails for the March Browns. It is also the time to
trail a
crippled March Brown emerger behind a dry fly. We have particularly good
results sinking a Quigley Cripple in the surface film behind a size 14
Parachute Adams or even a size 10 Skwala Stimulator. For a lot of
locals, this
time of the year is their favorite. I know that this is my favorite time
of
year to fish dries on Rock Creek, as long as I can trail the emerging
nymph
behind them.
Once the Skwala and March Brown hatches are over, we begin the countdown to the Salmon Fly. This hatch is easily the best known in the state, since it occurs in a lot of our major streams. I consider Rock Creek's hatch to be at least as good as any in the state. However, to a dedicated nympher, the hatch itself is less important than the weeks preceding it. During this time there are caddis emerging. Dry attractor patterns are fooling some good trout, but the nymph fisherman knows that the major story is being told on the stream bottom where both the Salmon Fly and Golden Stone nymphs are preparing for their destiny.
Both of these
stonefly species hatch on land. When the time is right, the nymphs
wiggle out
of the water, split their cases, and emerge as adults from the cases and
climb
onto bushes near the stream banks, which is where they will spend the
major
part of their adult lives. Prior to this momentous event, the stonefly
larva
have been moving around the stream bottom. The trout, of course, are not
indifferent to this movement since the larva of the various stoneflies
is a
major part of their diet. As the date for their hatching gets closer,
the larva
migrate closer to the stream bank. Finally, on the appointed day, out
they
come.
Not all
stoneflies hatch on the same day. The hatch is progressive. It starts
near the
mouth of the creek and progresses several miles upstream from where the
insects
are actually hatching. I dead drift a big black nymph as close to the
bank as I
can get it. Anyway, I used to fish like that. Since opening a fly shop,
my
outings during the stonefly season have been few and far between. I have
sold a
lot of large black nymphs, however.
After the stoneflies are done, Rock Creek settles into its summer pattern. The primary hatches are caddis and Pale Morning Duns. This is the premier time to fish emerging nymphs just under the surface, trailing behind a high floating dry. Sparkle Duns and Quigleys work extremely well for PMDs and Sparkle Pupas are devastating in the evenings as caddis imitations. For those anglers who like the bottom, Gold Ribbed Hares Ears, Pheasant Tails and the ever popular Prince, either with or without bead heads, will almost always take fish.
As the season
starts to wind down, the hatches change. Late August brings the
Blue-Wing Olive
and the beginning of the Giant Orange Caddis. Fishing the olives is
pretty much
like fishing the PMDs. Small Pheasant Tails do a good job on the bottom,
and
olive Sparkle Duns in the surface film can be killers.
But the real
star of the fall on Rock Creek is the big orange caddis. This guy is big
with a
body almost two inches long. If you want to see the adult, they will be
on the
water in the evening although not in large numbers. My personal
experience with
this insect, at least as a dry, has been frustrating. I can count on one
hand
the number of fish I have taken on dry imitations of this caddis.
A couple of
years ago I began experimenting with different nymph patterns to try and
imitate the insect. After a lot of false starts, I came up with a size 8
Serendipity. This is perhaps the simplest caddis nymph there is, but it
has
proved to be absolute dynamite on Rock Creek in the fall. It can be dead
drifted on the bottom for big browns or fished as a wet fly to imitate
an
ovipositing caddis. In either case, we've had a lot of success with the
pattern.
The orange
caddis stays with us until the snow starts to fly. As soon as the ice
and snow
start to build up on the banks, both the trout and the anglers seem to
go into
hibernation. The cycle has been completed, and we are back into the
stone fly
larva on the bottom we started with. If you're planning to fish Rock
Creek at
any time during the year, the techniques and patterns discussed here
should help
to make your experience more enjoyable. Even if you're a dryfly bigot,
remember
that there will be times when there is no dry fly fishing. And if you're
going
to fish and want to catch something other than a cold, you're going to
have to
go under the surface. And when you do, you will be surprised both by how
challenging it is and by how rewarding it is.
