CHARTRUE

[gene goss]

The other day when i was fishing the delta, my partner was out fishing me 4-1, the only thing different was the color or shade of chartrue in his fly. Does one brand of chartrue work better then another brand??????? fishon Gene Goss

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Gene

Just guessing here but there are a ton of other variables to fishing even if you are together in the same boat.

The total sink rate of the line, leader and fly.

How long you wait after casting.

Your retrieve.

The size and action of each fly.

I doubt if the shade of chartreuse would have much effect but who know?

Top Striper guide Ed Marcillac told me his favorite fly in the Delta lately was actually olive over chartreuse with pearl Flashabou.

Many use chartreuse over white for Stripers all over the place.

I had good luck with a fly that was all chartreuse once.

I guess the blue gill patterns are getting popular out there too.

[JerryInLodi]

Gene, IMHO, if there is ONE thing that makes a difference in fishing for stripers, assuming you are in the ZONE where the fish are, it is the retrieve, especially now when the fish are more aggressive, the fly is much less important.

For example, on my last two days when I fished for fun with friends, I ended up with 16 fish to 1 on the first occasion and 10 fish to 1 on the second occasion. On the first day, my friend and I were EXACTLY equipped from rod down to the fly. On the second day, the only difference was the rod, the line and fly were the same.

Stripers generally like an erratic retrieve with a lot of acceleration at the beginning of the strip, each strip about 22 inches long. I almost work with a metronome in my head, strip, strip, strip, pause, pause, strip, pause, strip, strip, pause, pause, pause, strip, etc.

What is interesting is that the fish take the fly on the beat, whether it is a pause beat or a strip beat, especially on an extra series of pause beats.

I generally use the same counting method but just increase the tempo or decrease it depending on the fish and water temperature.

Give it a try.

[jbird]

I ended up with 16 fish to 1 on the first occasion and 10 fish to 1 on the second occasion.

Wow Jerry, It sounds like you lost a couple friends! :D

Jay

[Hairstacker]

No kidding. If someone outfished me 16 to 1 out of the same boat, I think I would have ended up profoundly depressed at the very least. :lol:

[Darian]

Gene,.... I second what the others have said but to answer your question about shades of materials making the difference you'd have to keep some type of journal to record your results. There're undoubtedly those who believe that a specific shade is important and those who believe that if you get near the shade required, it'll be OK. 8) 8) I've found myself in both camps at different points in time and when tying a specific pattern... :roll: :roll:

At any rate, if you're convinced that you should have the exact shade of chartreuse you saw, you should take the fly to a shop and look for a match. 8) 8) Good luck on that, tho. I've compared a lot of materials labeled in packages for a shade of color called for in a pattern and found more than subtle differences in the same material. This results from lack of control on the dyeing process.... Also, flourescent yellow can look a lot like chartruese. On the other end of that range, lime green is close. :roll: :roll: Maybe things'll get better when genetic engineering turns out a chartruese chicken. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JerryInLodi]

Guys, hey, don't tell me you haven't been in the same situation! I've had my butt kicked PLENTY of times! However, I've never been mad at my partner, just at myself for not "getting it!"

And, if I remember right, you both outfished me when we last fished together!

It is true though that certain things trigger a strike with certain fish, Hairstacker I know you know how to pull that trigger with LMB and jbird, you know the same with steelhead.

Fly fishing is a life long learning experience, we never know it all. It does get a little embarassing sometimes though when good things happen to one person and a lot less to another.

[WinterrunRon]

Jerry,

Sounds like you fished for striper, they fished for fun!

I'm finishing up on steelhead, probably make one last trip north and then I'll hang up my steelhead gear and start making trips down to try and give you a run for your money!

Ron

[JerryInLodi]

Darian, I agree with you about materials. I used to tie my striper clousers with buck tail. Then I started salt water fishing and the fish were so hard on the buck tail that I switched to synthetics. When it came time to tie striper flies again I used the synthetics but for some reason they never seemed to produce like the old buck tail flies. I decided I was going to tie using buck tail again but have wandered off the path with such things as bluegill flies and woolly buggers.

However, I was surprised and pleased to find when I ordered six dozen of Jay's flies that he still ties clousers for stripers with buck tail. I don't know if he believes that material to be more effective but I would presume so since a good supply of synthetics would be much easier to secure and probably a little cheaper.

And, as you know, while two different materials will appear to be the same color and have the same translucence out of water such as chartreuse buck tail and plastic chartreuse crystal hair, they will look totally different when in water and when wet.

[sculpin]

I have read on Blanton's site Slinky Fiber is a great substitute for Bucktail. I have used it a little but not enough to tell if it works better or worse than Bucktail. Does anyone have any feed back on their results with it?

[Darian]

Mark,.... I use both, Slinky Flash and Slinky Fiber. It's easy to use and incorporates pearl flash into the white color. 8) 8) It can be used to create the illusion of bulk while remaining translucent. Lotsa uses in Saltwater patterns such as the Sea Habits.... 8) 8) 8)

[gene goss]

I like to thank all of you for your helpful suggestions and inputs. The visibility of my partner fly was more visible in the muddle water, his fly was tied with yak hair, ice landect, or slinky fibre chartreuse I'm not sure which one he was using, he was guarding his edge on me. My fly was tied with craft fur chartreuse, there was a different in the visibility between the two flies. fishon Gene Goss

[JerryInLodi]

The visibility of my partner fly was more visible in the muddle water, his fly was tied with yak hair, ice landect, or slinky fibre chartreuse I'm not sure which one he was using, he was guarding his edge on me.

Gene, I'm glad you called him your partner rather than your friend. Friends share.

[PaulC]

Mark,
I also use slinky fibre and slinky flash for alot of baitfish patterns. Holds up well even to a good bonita chewing.
Very easy to tye with.
-Paul

[Hairstacker]

Jerry, as I recall that day, you caught the only fish that was worthy of being photographed: :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/Sachlil/DSCF0013.jpg

By the way, the picture I took didn't do it justice -- that was a really nice fish.

[JerryInLodi]

Couldn't you have taken a picture of just the fish! Who's that old guy holding it, I don't recognize him!

[Terry Thomas]

Just like Lefty always says, "It ain't no use, if it ain't...." That's right!
T.