​Don’t Match That Hatch!

What? Isn’t matching the hatch and presenting with a drag free drift the most prolific method to catch trout? Why yes, yes, it is. I would garner to say it has probably caught more trout than any other method.

So, what am I talking about? 

I'm talking about when there is no hatch, or you don't see fish actively feeding. 

This is the perfect scenario for Attractor Flies.

What is an Attractor Fly

Now, people debate all over the place on what is an attractor. Of course, there’s stimulator, trudes, and humpies, but folks would also argue hoppers, wulffs and even an adams fly. For me, it’s turning to something non-hatch specific, that I can cover a lot of water with, and a bug that’s going to elicit a reaction strike.

Which Attractor to Use

The first thing you need to do is think about things for a moment. There’s no active fish, you’re not seeing any, so you’re casting to “fishy” spots. The thing with this kind of fishing, you don’t want to swat the water all day long. You want to get a couple good drifts in - and move.

Depending on the type of water I’m faced with will highly dictate the Attractor I’m going to use. 

I love our Crystal Stimulators with rubber legs in faster water and riffles. We’ve just come out with the Brindle Chute. I love this bug. But neither of these would be good in slower water. Here I’d use a Wulff or a Trude.

Yellow Crystal Stimulator	Brindle Chute	Royal Wulff

Where to Cast an Attractor

I’m going to pull stuff from my youth, when I gear fished for bass. We’d routinely chuck a spinner bait up against logs, docks, trees, lily pads…. any kind of above surface structure and let the bait fall. If you see structure on the water, think about shooting a hopper right just on the end of the bank and having it drop into the water. In a boulder garden, plunk a few rocks with a big ole stimi.

I think the point here is, when I’m using attractors, it’s more of a predatory hunting game trying to elicited a reaction strike. These strikes are anything but subtle. They are fierce, aggressive, water boiling takes.

You still want a good drift. You still down want to be flailing about in the water. Your methods and tactics change a bit.

That’s it for now my fishy friends, until next time!

Tight Lines and Screaming Drags