Weekend on the Trinity

[donpline]

Fished Saturday and Sunday, along with quite a few other fly fisherman. The great bite faded into a tough scratch. I fished with my brother and we only managed 5 adults for 1 1/2 days on the water. The bite was early. Nothing after 10:00 AM. The fish were caught on Poxyback Hares Ears and Copper Johns. My brother lost a big fish when the hook on his #12 Copper John opened up causing an LDR.

Had a drift boat pull right into the drift I was fishing on Sunday. I could have hit him with a short roll cast. They hooked a great fish on a Hot Shot in the lower part of the run, that I had not worked down to yet. They drifted down river to land the fish, and then rowed right back to the very top. Expecting me to just stop fishing so they could hammer my run. The second time was too much. I let them know about what I thought about their lack of etiquette with a few choice words. Mom would have washed my mouth with soap but some things just need to be said. They fished through pretty quickly at that point.

Talked to over a dozen people nobody had more than 2 fish, and most had 1 or 0.

[slim]

thanks for the report, Don.
I found your comments about the hook opening up on your friend's copper john very interesting. I've consistently had the same problem the past few years with that pattern(and only that pattern), be it large fish or bottom snags. I sure wish they would tie that pattern on a stout hook. I'm not much of a tyer, or I would do it myself.
good fishin'
slim

[Darian]

Hey Slim,.... Not sure where you get your flies from but I'm sure if you ask for heavier hooks, the supplier/tier would comply (....if they're local).

Another thing to consider is the quality of the hook used. If you're buying flies from the bargain bin/counter, the quality of the hook may be sacrficed to keep the price down. This could result in opening the gap.

Finally,... you might want to comsider whether the model of hook is correct for your intended use. For example, a wire (unforged) hook is inherently weaker in smaller sizes than a forged hook in the same size. The bend/gap on a particular model may be something you want to look at as well.

Lotsa fun stuff to consider. When you get further into tying, this stuff'll become much more interesting. Then, you'll be a "geek" like the rest of us

[slim]

Good points, Darian.
All I'm trying to say is watch the amount of pressure you put on the larger fish with a store bought c.j.
slim
p.s.-I gotta start tying my own flies.