How do I tell what flys trout are taking

davidk11811

Title says it all, I know a man that has a boat and we'll be going to a stocked brown trout lake in Leitrim, Laura Lake. I wan't to know how to tell what flies they are taking, also if anyone fly fishes it could you tell me what flys you found were succesful. I went today and caught a 2lb trout and a small quarter pound trout on a small plug. i see alot of people fly fishing it and wan't to give it a go myself.

coolwings

The season/month has it's expected flies.
The time of day has it's stages.
The water has it's particular insects that are more numerous than others.
And the trout have their preferences as to what is easiest to hunt, most numerous, and preferred flavour.

You have some study to do!

The shape or way of a trout's rise tells you a lot at distance as to what it just took.
Study of the water at the edge gives more info, I even look at what the spiders have caught in their bankside cobwebs.
Good fly fishers pay extreme attention to what bugs are swimming around their feet, or flitting among the trees.

I suggest you read My Way with Trout by Arthur Cove, and The Trout and the Fly by Goddard and Clarke.

davidk11811

AH BALLS! I though there might be a nice simple answer but NOOOOOOOOOOO! :rolleyes:

bitemybanger

You can buy a thing called a spoon which is just a long narrow spoon designed for emptying the contents of a fishes stomach to see what it was feeding on.
Sometimes found on the inside of a priest(batton designed for dispatching fish) which screws out. handy tools.

davidk11811

Hmm that's interesting. Where could I get one?

bitemybanger

davidk11811 wrote: »

Hmm that's interesting. Where could I get one?

Most fishing shops will stock them. they have a black handle with a heavy brass head for knocking the fish and a screw off bung at the bottom, this is where the spoon is. you just screw it out and reverse it. Found this on ebay, probably pay over €20 in a shop for one.

davidk11811

Oh, I have a priest but it doesn't have a spoon inside unfortunately. I don't think I'll bother buying another one. Thanks

bitemybanger

You can buy plastic ones on thier own but havnt seen them in a while, im sure Rory's or Southside will stock them

davidk11811

The only flies I see on the water are tiny ones, I don't even know what they are. But they are commonly on any river or lake i fish, could this be what there eating?

Caribs

In my limited experience this is really a million dollar question. Unless you have a situation where there's been a major hatch of a specific type of fly (such as the Olives or Mayfly) the fish could be feeding on different types of flies over a relatively small area. Then of course they change their minds and in the lakes are starting to go after the Perch fry so trying to entice them to take a fly gets even more challenging.

I think the biggest clue to the complexity of all this is the range of flies available in any fly fishing shop. Having said that if you talk to experienced anglers they'll always have a favourite fly, the Green Peter is a popular one but I've never caught on it..!!

coolwings

Remember: they are feeding opportunistically 80% of the time, and only get selective 20% of the time. Those situations are hard to miss ... millions of the same thing hatching at once!
Otherwise - they are open for business with anything reasonable.

davidk11811

Okay thanks for all the help lads, I'll tell you how I get on next time i go.

fontanalis

There are ways of telling if the fish are rising.
In general if the fish are making a very quick splashy rise then they are going for something on the surface (caddis, midge, mayfly dun). If it looks like a bulge and the fish isn't really breaking the surface then more than likely they are going for emergers just under or in the surface film.
If it's a very slow rise that leaves a bubble behind then it could be something like a spent mayfly in the surface film.