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Posts tagged "twitch flies"

Early July Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 5, 2023

The big bugs and crescendo of our May and June hatches have pretty much come to an end. There might be an encore performance as there usually are some stragglers and late bloomers, but for the most part it’s near time to put the headlamp away for the season.

There seems to be a lull this time of year as recent fishing pressure and the big meals provided by the Hex mayflies have the trout laying low while digesting the two weeks of over indulgence. Other bugs come and go usually late mornings and late evenings, but be careful fishing in the evenings with water temps approaching the upper 60s. Have some Summer Olives/Drunellas (#14 BWO) and Pink Ladys/Epeorus (#14 Borchers). Always have some Isonychias in your box into August and some Bat Flies if headed out in the next week.

On the overcast days, cover the water with some sub-surface “twitch” flies like skunks and other weighted oversized nymphs, small streamers with rubber legs on them.

Speaking of rubber legs – it’s also time to think about fishing some terrestrials and attractors on the surface with their attention getting moving legs.

July and August are also great times to shift gears from the trout streams and hit the bigger rivers for some smallmouth bass. Baitfish streamers fished on slow sink-tip or intermediate-tip lines around log jams usually out produce poppers but when streamers aren’t working, think about going right to poppers/surface bugs. With the full-moon, crayfish are molting, and a tan colored imitation fished near rocks is usually a sure bet.

Lastly, with the full-moon look for the last of the big bluegill/panfish up shallow doing their last spawning cycle on the local lakes and ponds.

Good luck.

Ted

 

Trout – July and August is time for Ticos and Terrestrials on the Upper Manistee – an ideal half-day on the river.
Smallmouth Bass– Spend a half or full-day on the lower Manistee fishing smallies – June through Late August.
Fall Steelhead – November still has some dates available in 2023 – finish the fishing season strong.

bluegill fishing, fishing guide. fly fishing traverse city, manistee river, popper fishing, smallmouth bass, streamer fishing, trout, trout fishing in July, trout fishing traverse city, twitch flies

Early June Fly Fishing Report

Posted by Ted Kraimer - June 5, 2018

Fishing the Traverse City region in early June offers plenty of choices. Most fly fishers are going after trout since this time of year offers some technical dry fly fishing. Rivers like the Manistee, Boardman and Au Sable continue to produce a smorgasbord of flies on the water including: Gray Drakes, Great and Little Mahoganies, Sulphurs, Little Yellow Sally Stones, Medium Brown Stones, Brown Drakes, Isonychias and Caddis. Any given day you can see a few different kinds of bugs, other days only one type but you should head out to the water with a loaded fly box and a headlamp with fresh batteries because a lot of times the spinner fall is taking place at dusk. Bring some bug spray, too.

Streamers and twitch flies on smaller sink tips have been working during the day to bring a fish out of the wood and onto the hook. This time of year, lightening up your streamer approach can be a good thing as the fish like a different presentation after six weeks of heavy streamer pressure.

The current cold-front has brought the water temperatures down in the river which is good – last week’s heat warmed them up a little too much, too quick. Levels and clarity are about perfect if there is such a thing. As always, handle the trout quickly and get them back in – most of these rivers rely on natural reproduction so even the small ones are important to tomorrow’s quality of fishing.

The inland lakes continue to produce good bluegill fishing as well as large and smallmouth bass fishing. The smallmouth are typically deeper and weighted flies and/or clear sink-tip lines will help you get to fish near those slight drop-offs. The largemouth and bluegill are in the shallow water and are mostly done spawning but are in a post-spawn mood.

With all the wind and cool temps, the fishing on the bay is still in its infancy for the carp and smallmouth but there are still some opportunities for those willing to put in the time and cover some water. Sustained weather (and warmth) will help make for some better fishing that is sure to come as June progresses.

If you are into the warm-water fishing, this weekend The Northern Angler is hosting there 2nd Annual Cheese Cup Warm-water fishing tournament. This is a fun, fundraising event for the Third Level Crisis Center in honor of Alex “Cheese” Hawke who lost his battle with depression. The format is easy going and focuses on the warm-water species including bass, carp, pike, and bluegill. The after party is one you won’t want to miss. More detail’s here.

Good luck.

Ted

Trout – The big Bugs of June will be here before you know it…. Isos, Drakes and Hex – limited dates available.
Stillwater- Bluegill, Bass and Carp. With the best trout fishing in the evening, try fishing lakes during the day.
Fall Steelhead –  With Summer just arriving, it’s time to think about getting your Fall dates – Oct. thru Dec.

Baordman river, bluegill fishing, brown drakes, carp fishing, cheese cup fly fishing tournament, guided fly fishing, isonychias, manistee river, smallmouth bass fishing, traverse city fly fishing, trout fishing, twitch flies

Twitch Flies and Twitching Them

Posted by Ted Kraimer - July 17, 2017
Twitch Flies - Brown Trout II

Brown Trout caught by twitching a fly

Twitching flies is a technique that isn’t overly common but has a long history of success. It’s becoming a little more popular these days when our first attempts of drag free dry flies or stripped streamers don’t work. “Twitch Flies”  and twitching them often saves the day on the water and an assortment of them deserve a place in your fly box.

When we get to our favorite river we often have an idea of how/what we are going fish in regards to presentation and fly patterns. But often with just a little time using these methods and patterns, it’s apparent that the fish aren’t overly interested. You can be fishing dry flies or chucking big streamers on sink-tips, but with no signs of interest. Swapping fly patterns a few times, targeting less likely parts of water (like inside bend) and changing presentation by adjusting retrieval speeds, methods, and sink-tip density is typically our next course of action. But sometimes even that doesn’t change the outcome. Some choose to be stubborn and keep changing up patterns, but a growing number of anglers change the approach and tact all together by using Twitch Flies.

Twitch flies are patterns that are sometimes fished on the surface as a dry fly, but more commonly are subsurface patterns, kind of like a streamer, but not really. Confusing, I know. Think of the fly being presented cross-current and rather than stripped, it is dead drifted with movement and action introduced periodically by twitches of the rod tip and short strips to gather the slack.

Combined with fly design, this action garners the fish’s curiosity. In the case of a dry fly, it looks like something scurrying across the surface that shouldn’t be there, i.e., grasshoppers and other terrestrials. Sub-surface, a pattern can appear to be a wounded bait fish, something large dislodged from the surface struggling in the current, or simply something the fish hasn’t seen before so it simply eats it because, well, it can.

Twitch Flies - Super X

Super X

The first time I was introduced to a twitch presentation was in the late 90s on the Green River in Utah – a beautiful river with more fish than any river I have fished before or since. My brother suggested I tie on an odd-looking pattern. At first, I thought he was joking because the pattern didn’t look anything like a “trout fly.” After assuring me it was a good approach for what we were experiencing – lots of uninterested trout. I tied it on. I fished it like a streamer with no success while ignoring the suggestion to twitch it dead-drift as we floated downstream.  As soon as I listened to his advice, slowed down and flicked the rod tip a few times – our luck and success changed drastically with fish after fish coming to the fly. I’ll never forget how our success caught the attention of the others floating the river that day who also experienced slow fishing and seemed resigned to “Slow day – that’s fishing.” The nonverbal communication was loud and clear – we (my brother) figured it out, they hadn’t.

There just isn’t one way to do something with fly fishing and the twitching of flies is no different.  When conditions allow, watch the fly and how your action affects the pattern. Look for any response from the fish and adjust and experiment with presentations and patterns until you crack the code.

How to Twitch

Horizontal Twitch: Almost always with twitching flies, cast the fly out and across the current 90 degrees. The current often takes the fly downstream, and as it does, twitch the rod tip horizontally away from the fly once or twice followed by a pause. This gives the impression of a struggle followed by the current washing it downstream, leaving it vulnerable.

Vertical Twitch: Most effective with flies that have heavy lead eyes, this method is executed by giving the rod tip a quick vertical lift/flick or two followed by a pause. Think of it as jigging the fly and, as the fly drops and simultaneously drifts downstream, this is when fish most often strike.

Wiggle Twitch: A variation of both the horizontal or vertical twitch, the wiggle twitch is presented similarly, but action is invoked by periods of short wiggles of the rod tip – either horizontally or vertically – to activate the fly’s materials showing motion. Often when the fish are in a funk and not interested in much of anything, this subtle presentation is the answer.

Twitch Flies - Row vs WadeRow vs. Wade: Fishing from a drift boat makes twitching flies easiest since you are moving with the current and covering lots of water. However, it can be done wading. The faster the water is, the more difficult it is to get the fly to twitch because you constantly have water pushing and moving the fly downstream where any action is hard to detect. One way to offset this is by either casting slightly downstream and twitching the flies towards the center of the river or implementing mends throughout the presentation, causing the fly to pulse against the current.

Equipment

The tackle used for this approach you likely already have. Choose a rod that has enough power to cast the flies you will be using and is strong enough to quickly land hooked fish. Rather than select a particular rod action, use what you cast well. Floating lines are predominately used, but when fishing in faster and/or deeper water, a shorter sink-tip line has its place, as does a more specialized clear sink-tip or full intermediate sinking, clear line. No special consideration needs to be made for your reel choice.

More Than Trout

Don’t limit twitching flies to only trout, but also other species found in rivers like smallmouth bass.  Smallies often like a twitched fly drifting into their zone before eating – they can be lazy and this presentation is a good match.

Still Water

Although river currents help add to the movement of twitch style flies, you should twitch flies in still water for just about anything that swims. When fishing lakes or ponds a little more action is required from the angler to get maximum movement in the fly without stripping it too much and too fast. Twitch-twitch pause, twitch-twitch pause – is a good approach when using a fly that offers action.

Twitch Flies

Twitch Flies - Improved Michigan Skunk

Improved Michigan Skunk Dry Fly

Twitch Flies - Wet Skunk

Wet Skunk

Skunk: Named after its black and white color scheme, the “Michigan Skunk” is tied in both wet and dry versions. What is consistent between both styles is the color and use of rubber legs that kick and wiggle. Break tradition and go with body color variations like olive or even a shiny gold. This pattern isn’t for local waters only – try it outside of Michigan, too. Click here to learn how to tie the “Improved Skunk.”

Twitch Flies - Yuk Bug

Yuk Bug: It imitates nothing in particular but suggests lots of things. A fuller body than the skunk and fished exclusively wet, the yuk bug has caught more than just trout. Traditionally tied in black, white and grizzly, mix it up and tie in other color schemes including sparkle chenille or estaz.

Twitch Flies - Pepperoni Bug

Pepperoni Bug: Kind of a mix between a Yuk Bug and a Montana Nymph, this subsurface fly can be tied in a number of sizes, but it’s always weighted with lead wire or a bead head to help it sink.  If tying your own, feel free to deviate from the original color of black and rust and vary the amount of weight.

 

Twitch Flies - JJ Special

JJ Special: It’s basically a brown wooly bugger with yellow legs, but it seems to be a great color combo and pattern approach, especially when crayfish are active.  Tie some with a bead and others with dumbbell eyes.

Twitch Flies - War Bird

War Bird

Wooly Bugger Variations: Other bugger variations that can be used for twitching include Bitch Bugger, War Bird, Tequeely, Trick or Treat and more.

Twitch Flies - Lamprey Leech

Lamprey Leech

Lamprey Leech: Our local rivers have a fair number of chestnut lampreys.  Fish hate them, so they eat them.
This pattern also suggests a night crawler, so it’s a reasonable candidate to use after a good rain when
worms become a steady part of the fish’s diet. Click here to learn how to tie.

Twitch Flies - Super XSuper-X: This is the pattern that changed our luck on the Green River. I know, it doesn’t look like a trout fly, but it’s worth having a few in the box. Maybe its genius is, well, the fish haven’t seen it much?

Twitch Flies - Turks Tarantula

Turk’s Tarantula: This Jackson Hole One Fly tournament winning pattern remains one of my favorites.
The “Turks” can be fished dry or wet and it does a good job of suggesting grasshoppers and stones when tied
in natural tones. Although I’m not sure what it represents when tied with a red body, you will want
some of those in your fly box, too. When wading, fish dead-drift, then swing at the end  of the  presentation
and then strip it back. If nothing grabs it, well, there is a good chance there isn’t a fish in that section of water.

Twitch Flies - Gurgler Fry

Gurgler Variation: Fished on the surface with lots of twitches, it spits water and the legs kick
getting fish to come up and out of the water (often missing). This can provide a lot of action
and fun when the fish are focused on eating juvenile salmon and steelhead.

Twitch Flies - Transfoamer

Transfoamer: A cross between a wooly bugger and a Chernobyl Ant,
this pattern is fished dry, but it can also be stripped and twitched as a diving bug.

Twitch Flies - Beaded Alevin

Beaded Alevin: Twitched rapidly, down and across, fish see this pattern as a juvenile fish
vulnerable to becoming a protein snack. This is an especially effective pattern in waters
where natural reproduction takes place. Click here to learn how to tie.

Twitch Flies - Madam X

Madam X: One of the first “modern” ties which has been the benchmark for many other patterns of its type.
The X in the legs continues the theme of effective twitch flies.

Twitch Flies - Bead Head Bad Hair Day

B.H. Bad Hair Day

Twitch Flies - Alex's Double Skunk

Alex’s Double Skunk

Streamers:  A number of streamers that might already be in your fly box are good candidates to fish “twitched” rather than stripped. Make sure it has the right profile, that it’s not weighted too heavily since the presentation is more or less dead-drifted. You don’t want it hanging up on the river bottom, and most importantly, the materials should offer lots of motion in the current. This is a good place for tandem/articulated streamers with minimal weight.

Tying your own There are close to endless possibilities for variations and versions of twitch flies between design concept and the materials you can implement. The world of rubber legs has greatly expanded through the years, offering a full palate of color ranges as well as sizes.  One thing seems to remain consistent in most of the successful “Twitch Flies” – they have rubber legs and they often are tied in a pronounced “X.” On sub-surface patterns, marabou compliments effective patterns and should be used whenever possible.

As more anglers expand their presentation and discover the niche and effectiveness of Twitch Flies, look for more patterns to be developed. And try this presentation before it becomes mainstream in popularity and before the fish get wise.

alternative fly fishing presentations, hellgramite, madam x, skunk dry fly, skunk pattern, transfoamer, turks tarantula, twitch flies, twitching flies for trout, war bird fly pattern, yuk bug
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