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> > Black flies--bane and boon, Page 2
This topic is about the True Fly Family Simuliidae
Black flies are not usually regarded as important trout fare, but scientific studies of some rivers have shown them to make up the majority of the trout's diet. Such places are few and far between, but anglers should be aware of the possibility and keep a lookout for high concentrations of the larvae.
The adults are nasty, annoying, biting flies. Read more...
There is 3 more specimen...
The Discussion
| Entoman | July 9th, 2011, 2:56 am | |
 Posts: 2604 | Jason,But the mosquitoes are nothing compared to what tree pollen does to me I sense a future on the coast for you... Those clean western salt breezes? Terrace, BC? Astoria, OR.? Of course your fishing will suffer as there is very little in those parts.:) Kurt | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| Jmd123 | July 9th, 2011, 3:10 am | |
 Posts: 2611 | Jason, Allegra? Has worked for me without making me drowsy, even when fighting off a massive allergic reaction to fire ant stings in Texas (don't ask - well, OK, it does make a good story if you really want to know) taking at least 3 times the recommended dose (only did that once BTW and may have saved me a trip to the hospital?). Or have you tried them all? Jonathon P.S. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV... | |
| No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||
| Troutnut | July 9th, 2011, 5:44 am | |
 Administrator Bellevue, WAPosts: 2737 | I haven't tried Allegra. I usually team up Claritin and Singulair, but it's still a miserable couple weeks, except for the fishing. | |
| Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist | ||
| Oldredbarn | July 11th, 2011, 4:58 pm | |
 Posts: 2608 | OK, Spence, I'll back your tale of giant, nightmarish tabanids on Skaneateles Lake, but any rumors of big rainbows and landlocks feeding on huge hatches of Brown Drakes and Hex in that lovely lake are totally unfounded. ;) I sense a future on the coast for you... Those clean western salt breezes? Terrace, BC? Astoria, OR.? Of course your fishing will suffer as there is very little in those parts.:) Hmmm...Do I sense a pattern here??? I'm surprised that Matt didn't chase Jesse off the Delaware with his 12 gauge because we all know there's only one fish there and Jess is holding him...Right? ;) Lloyd. You know how bad us anglers are when it comes to a "good" measurement under normal circumstances. Maybe after being in the sun all day and swilling down copious amounts of Canadian brewed water I may have exaggerated a bit...Maybe seeing that fly head off carrying, what appeared to be someone's small child, was a figment of my imagination, sun stroke, or a flash back from 1969, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I have never seen anything but minnows swimming in Skaneateles Lake! And small ones at that! Spence | |
| "Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
| GONZO | July 11th, 2011, 7:53 pm | |
Site Editor "Bear Swamp," PAPosts: 1681 | That's the spirit, Spence...small minnows and giant marauding horse flies. Unfortunately, Jesse's photo sets us back a bit. There's only one fish in the Delaware, but now everyone can see that it's a nice one. We'll have to take young Jess aside and explain the rules. :) | |
| Entoman | July 11th, 2011, 9:18 pm | |
Posts: 2604 | After Matt was kind enough to point out the precise location, I booked my flight. We have no fish like that out here. The best fishing is in the East. | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| Oldredbarn | July 11th, 2011, 9:29 pm | |
Posts: 2608 | We'll have to take young Jess aside and explain the rules. :) Yes G. A little friendly schooling from a couple old-schoolers sounds a damn site better than Matt filling the back-side of his waders with buckshot, me thinks... | |
| "Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
| Entoman | July 12th, 2011, 6:07 pm | |
Posts: 2604 | Lloyd, Spence - Are we getting our threads mixed up?:) Kurt | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| Oldredbarn | July 12th, 2011, 6:38 pm | |
Posts: 2608 | After Matt was kind enough to point out the precise location, I booked my flight. We have no fish like that out here. The best fishing is in the East. Hmmmmm. Very sneaky Pete! :) Lloyd, Spence - Us...Here on TroutNut!? Not possible my friend...Is it?! ;) Just trying to make sure that Jess dosesn't end up with a big hole in his...Threads that is...If he had been walking around over there on the Delaware with a GPS unit marking waypoints we may of found him somewhere buried in the swamp...Maybe we should have him do those photos more as close-ups so no one can be sure of background features or see other fish rising downstream. :) | |
| "Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
| Entoman | July 12th, 2011, 6:53 pm | |
Posts: 2604 | Yes, perhaps we can all rendevous at the "wedding of the waters", rods in hand to point this out to him...:) | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| PaulRoberts | July 12th, 2011, 8:28 pm | |
 Posts: 1776 | There are fish like that all over the "Big D's". No need to hide out. | |
| Entoman | July 12th, 2011, 10:14 pm | |
Posts: 2604 | That's what I say Paul... By comparison Northern California and Southern Oregon are shot. Spence and LLoyd say the same about their home waters. We'll probably just stick to 'em for nostalgic reasons. You're welcome to come along if you ever visit, though you'll probably get bored. Everybody should just stay away from these places and head for the Delaware. Fish every branch, feeder rivulate, side creek, or what have you - because that's were the fish are. | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| Oldredbarn | July 12th, 2011, 10:23 pm | |
Posts: 2608 | Matt, It sounds like you better put the coffee on! Or buy another box of shells! Seems they are all loading up their station wagons with tackle and heading your way. Spence | |
| "Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
| PaulRoberts | July 13th, 2011, 10:18 am | |
Posts: 1776 | I got a little lost here...Guess you've been talking about competition. Competition can be beaten in time and space -unless all the "space" is occupied I suppose. The only waters I've ever had to really "elbow in" have been steelhead waters. There are advantages to being a fishing 'hayseed' lol. Guess I'll go ahead and toss a little stink bomb into the party: You can keep your 'Holy Waters'. And there are ponds full of big bull bluegills and NO one is edifying them, or themselves. It's all REALLY cool. Ever try to tie a zooplankton fly? | |
| Oldredbarn | July 13th, 2011, 10:40 am | |
Posts: 2608 | I got a little lost here...Guess you've been talking about competition. Paul...Now we are both lost...:) If only it was on a river somewhere...We "old-schoolers"were just teasing Jess a little bit for practically giving out coordinates to one of Matt's haunts. It's all REALLY cool. Yes. It is. Ever try to tie a zooplankton fly? No. Now...there have been some mistakes at the vice that I've made that may pass as a zooplankton fly...I don't want to start one of them silly arguments here we have from time-to-time, but is a zooplankton "fly" really a fly? ;) Spence PS...We only call the "Holy Water" Holy to try and keep the heathens away. | |
| "Even when my best efforts fail it's a satisfying challenge, and that, after all, is the essence of fly fishing." -Chauncy Lively "Envy not the man who lives beside the river, but the man the river flows through." Joseph T Heywood | ||
| Entoman | July 13th, 2011, 11:14 am | |
Posts: 2604 | Paul,You can keep your 'Holy Waters'. And there are ponds full of big bull bluegills... Has Jonathon been visiting? If so, did he have access to your computer while you were logged on by chance? :) Kurt | |
| "It's not that I find fishing so important, it's just that I find all other endeavors of Man equally unimportant... And not nearly as much fun!" Robert Traver, Anatomy of a Fisherman | ||
| PaulRoberts | July 13th, 2011, 12:53 pm | |
Posts: 1776 |
LOL! | |
| Jmd123 | July 13th, 2011, 1:03 pm | |
Posts: 2611 | Having seen my name mentioned, I will have to enter the fray here... No, I haven't been visiting Spence's "Holy Waters" - that's a bit too far of a drive for me when I have trout waters closer to home, waters that, when hit at the right place and time, don't offer me much competition for space. I went to one of my favorite spots on the Rifle last night and found a couple of guys sitting in lawn chairs right next to the parking area (slinging bait and/or hardware), and had the rest of the river to myself and even a fair amount of rising, though they were mostly little guys (got one 11-inch brown), which did make me wonder if the tourists had cleaned the place out over the past week (regular trout size limits here, you can keep 8-inchers and I'm sure every worm slinger kept every one). Although, most worm slingers tend to park themselves on the banks like the guys I saw and so never reach the parts of the river with thick brush along the banks, under which most of the trout hide... And actually, I haven't been throwing flies at bluegills (or other sunfish species) for some time now, last time was when they were spawning and that's been over for around a month now, plus the ponds are getting weedy...No boys, lately I have been chasing brookies at [REDACTED] Pond (where the naked screwing people were), browns on the Rifle and Pine, and smallies at Cooke Pond, and thinking about prospecting for brookies on tributaries of the Pine by mountain bike (I've already got one spot in mind). The bluegill chasing was mainly because of living downstate where there are NO trout and earlier this spring because of high waters on the local trout streams. That's not to say that a pond full of big bull bluegills won't get my attention yet this summer, as there are some places around here said to have them... And BTW, my favorite bluegill fly is the Firefly, a small black wet fly with a brightly colored rear end, color of your choice - I've tried yellow, hot orange, bright pink, chartreuse, and yellow with a red tail, and all have caught their share of fishies...and as far as a dry for 'gills goes, a #16 black-n-white Bivisible can't be beat! A black ant pattern in the same size works well also... Jonathon | |
| No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||
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