straight river

[smoked perch]

hey. pretty new to fly fishing. i can do ok with my buddy/guide telling me what and where to cast, but want to get some fish up on the straight.

if any of you have fished the straight, what would you recommend using? i've tried huevos, pt nymphs, and spiders to no avail. cought a couple very small whitefish!

thanks in advance for any tips...

[DEADhead]

perch, those creek chubs can get annoying... I had them hitting my strike indicator all the time. I don't know what a Huevos pattern is, but your best bet to catching those elusive browns on the straight is to fish it during the evening during a hatch. Any good mayfly pattern will work, BWOs sizes 16-20, PMDs 12-16, light cahills 12-16, dark hendricksons, adams, and in late june/early july, bring along a bunch of hex drakes. Those browns go insane over those hex...

An ample supply of elk hair caddis in all sizes and colors, esp. tan, black and olives will be a good start.

Nymphing will be difficult; if you choose to go that route, PTs, hare's ear nymphs, prince nymphs, stone fly nymphs, caddis pupae, and scuds will work. Try fishing a dropper to double your chances catching a fish, and to better search for a pattern that the fish will hit. To fish a dropper, use either a dry of a nymph tied to your tippet. then take another piece of tippet, usually one size smaller, and tie on to the hook of the fly on your main line using a clinch knot. Tie the tage end of the dropper tippet to another nymph. A common combo is an EHC dropped with a caddis pupae, or a prince nymph or PT dropped with a scud. The possiblities are endless. Try using a combo of what you might think the fish bite on that day, it usually helps to seine and see what's abundant, or you can pick up a rock and look and see what's on it. Otherwise, good searching patterns are a good way to start. A strike indicator will also help improve your odds of hooking a fish. Rule of thumb is to set the strike indicator 1.5 times the depth you will be fishing up from your fly. You'll want your nymph to be bouncing along the bottom of the river.

There are some big browns in there, and they love big flies; throw out some wooly buggers, black, brown, olive, white, etc., or some muddler or matuka minnows or zonkers. Don't get startled if something slams your fly.

Main areas to target on the river are slack water pools behind rock weirs, or downed trees, along undercut banks, and along the seams of a riffle. Trout will congregate in areas where they can get the most amount of food with the least amount of effort. That's where fishing along a riffle or behind structure will benefit the angler. Trout also like areas of cover where they can hide easy from predators. These are the areas of undercut banks, downed timber, etc.

Check out the Fly Fishing forum for some other tips and techniques. Those guys are pretty helpful.

Good Luck and let us know how you did. You might even see me out there sometime...

[smoked perch]

deadhead:

thanks so much for the tips. yeah, i've been using the strike indicator, just not getting the strikes. i will definitely use some of the tips you mention.

i've been there on my own 3 times, and get so frustrated it takes me some time to get the nerve to get back at it. now i'll have a better idea. thanks again...\

p.s. huevos is spanish for eggs, what my buddy calls them.

p.p.s. if you ever want some company on the straight, give me an email... deckfeather at hotmail (Contact US Regarding This Word)

[DEADhead]

I figured as much that a huevos pattern was some sort of egg pattern... Definitely don't lose your cool over that river. The straight has frustrated at some point on every trip I've made out there. It is definitely a difficult river to fish beacuse of the fallen spruce and the mucky banks. I fell through on a couple of banks up to my knee, that was not fun.

Seeing some pretty good mayfly hatches this weekend, my confidence has been boosted to go fish the river again soon.

I'll drop you a line before the next time I head out on the straight.

[KidWalleye]

I have a cabin on Shell not far from osage. Where do you guys access the straight? I would love to try for a few browns in the next few weeks. Thanks Jeremy

[DEADhead]

co rd 125, 123, etc... plety of places around to get in.

[Benson]

You guys sound pretty experienced in the flyfishing department those were some good tips. I just started flyfishing for sunnies on lakes to get the hang of my flyrod, but I would love to go trout fishing sometime. Problem is I live in Saint Cloud and don't have a clue where to go. Any maps or directions to fish would be well appreciated for this beginner angler. I want to take my brother in law out sometime.

[DEADhead]

welcome benson! Unless you want to make major trips to the southeast or the north shore, I would focus on warm water opportunities in your area. Fishing for bass, sunfish, crappies, walleyes and pike can sometimes be just as fun as catching trout

Fish the mississippi if you really want a surprise catch. You might need to beef up your gear to an 8 or 9wt to fish the bigger rivers, but either way, you will enjoy fly fishing. The nice thing about warmwater fish, is that they are often less selective than trout, so they will take a fly more willingly and as a result, you should be able to catch fish. I just got off the Otter Tail River this afternoon after an hour and managed to catch a nice largemouth 3# plus, and crappies. Got bit off by a northern. I've also caught smallmouth, walleyes, buffalo, bullheads, mooneyes, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, you name it on this river, all on the fly.

Good luck, I know you'll have fun!