Can The Trout I’m Fly Fishing For Sense My Lure Is A Fake?
Question: I just got back from a fly fishing trip where we were fishing for trout. I caught about 10, with my largest being just at 18in. I caught all but one using nymphs. I could put almost any nymph it the water, and the fish would all have interest in it, and most the time I would have a bite in less than 2-3 min.
Then the fish would pay no attention to the fly. But as soon as I tied another nymph on they chased it again. So I was wondering if the fish started to under stand that it was fake or what. I don’t think it was the line because I used 2lb fluocarbon tippet.
Answer: What has actually happened is that the color of your fly was off, for the conditions that you were fishing in. Some fish prefer different insects, larva, and other aquatic creatures during different times of the year; usually in relation to when the insects and larva are hatching. Trout, in particular, are especially choosy about what types and colors of fly they will take, on certain days.
To get a better idea of which type and body of fly you should be using, you might want to dig around in the grass line beside the water that you’re fishing in. Take a look at the colors of the bugs and other insects that you pull out. Try to match the size of your fly as closely as possible to the size, color, and volume of the insects you’re looking at.
Because these types of insects are already in the water, the trout that you’re fishing for will already have them on the dinner plate. This is what anglers term “matching the hatch”, or matching your lure to specifically what the fish are feeding on that day.
First off, congratulations on catching some trout!!!!!! Way to go.
As to your question about why they would only take a nymph once and not again,
The best answer I can give you is, “That’s Fishing”.
Usually that does not happen and no, the trout don’t send off messages to keep other trout away. Most likely they were not really in a feeding mood but were curious. You dropped in a new tidbit for them to check out and one would grab it. Normally you would just keep using the same fly and not have any problems. But, I have seen that happen before where one takes it and the others ignore it.
As for why this happened, Jim M had a possible reason, a different approach or possibly the fly was sitting in the water differently after the first fish. There are a lot of variables. Usually, if the fish are in a feeding state, they will keep taking the same fly, totally destroying the fly regarding how it looked when it first hit the water. By the time you finish fishing with it, some of the flies can look rather ragged, but still catch fish.
Chalk it up as a learning experience but one that you won’t see very often.
Again, congratulations on catching some fish. Bet that 18 incher fought good and hard.
Larry