Hatches & Tactics for Spinney Tailwater
Before forgetting what worked & what did not on this trip, here's a simple record of the observed hatches and some techniques I'll want to remember when returning to this area in the future.
I found the variety of riparian insects related to this water to be truly astonishing. The thunderstorms and consequent spate of previous days had even triggered a massive hatch of crane flies. Our usual pesty friends - the mosquitoes, deer flies, and horse flies were present in good numbers. The deer flies are perhaps the worst enemy as they were able to bite through thick cotton clothing. Just as an aside, it's possible to wet wade this stream everywhere although crossing it during dam releases would be difficult.
During this visit in mid July, caddis flies & sedges were probably the dominant insect. Smallish medium brown colored ones (size 16-20) sat on the stream foliage daily but did not seem to be most appealing to the fish. A larger tan colored version which hatched - or was ovipositing throughout the day was the main menu item. This could be matched by a size 14-18 hair or tent winged imitation. As an aside, this is one stream where our normal tactic of fishing two surface flies together did not work well. Also surprisingly the flat water caddis did not seem to be as effective as a sparsely tied hair wing. This seems unusual given the intelligent nature of all these fish.
Oh, there also was a very strikingly colored iridescent green fly in the air occasionally. I don't know what it was as I didn't catch or hold one. It may have been a mayfly, but I've never seen anything like it. It was only present in the air for a couple of hours one day.
I had no success using caddis pupa - either in a realistic version - or as a suggestive version like a buckskin/serendipity tied with various head, wing, and thorax options. Only the small (#18) curved body bead head caddis emerger seemed to be effective, and that during a dam release when the water turned cloudy.
Midges were common all day long. They were present everywhere in all shapes & sizes and the larger trout undoubtedly feed constantly on larva near the bottom.
Mayflies of various types were also observed. I saw what appeared to be a few red quills, but for the most part, the dominant mayfly was a tan colored one of medium size (16-18) that was also fairly nicely imitated by a similar colored hair wing varietal. I even brushed a few what appeared to be BWO's off my leg mistaking them for deer flies. This was really strange as that insect is usually a cold weather, cold water hatcher. Had some success using tiny RS-2's fished close to the bottom, but as surface flies worked most of the time, I tended to stick to those.
I saw no signs of stones although they certainly may exist here. Didn't take time to turn over rocks to look at larva.
Streamers may work here, but the weediness at the bottom is annoying to say the least. It also makes for difficult nymphing. Consequently I chose to drift my sunken nymphs and emergers roughly five feet behind a hair wing fly used as a strike indicator. I suspect streamers might be effective in the evenings, and perhaps tiny ones imitating small rainbows could be fished round the clock. Knowledge of the water depth of the particular hole being fished is also critical.
OK on to tactics. Early morning & evenings simply have to be the optimum times to fish. There's no such thing as TOO early or TOO late. Either period is better than midday. The fish are fussy. Matching the hatch is critical. Smaller is generally better than larger. I had a handful of strikes to a grasshopper imitation, but I wouldn't bet my life savings on using that fly full time on this stream.
Long leaders are better than shorter ones. On some of the smoother pools & flats, 6X or smaller may be a necessity during lower flows. I pretty much stuck with 5X and it seemed to work fine on the water I fished.
The fish can easily be LINED. When at all possible, cast on an angle to the fish so they see the fly first. If you have to cast directly upstream, try to move slowly and cast so that only the leader passes over the observed rise. I had excellent success when casting all the way across the stream to get a short drift on the opposite bank. Decent drifts may only be 5-10 feet long due to the impossibility of mending a line in the fast current, but this approach can be very successful. Obviously downstream casting would also be effective if a fish can be observed rising. I was actually surprised that the fish don't seem too bothered by human presence on the shoreline. Apparently there's so much pressure in that regard that the fish tend to ignore us. We noticed that same lack of spookiness on the Green this spring.
Don't neglect shallower riffles. The rainbows cluster there during the heat of the day. How they hold in that faster water is beyond me, but they are tough little critters.
As with all tailwaters - and for that matter, most other streams, the learning about it, water temperature changes, flow changes, hatches, etc. could be the work of a lifetime. That's what makes this sport so interesting. It's continually challenging.
Home, Main Fishing Page, Stream Flows, , 1999 Archives, Eagle River Access, Local Ten Commandments, Successful Fly Patterns, Search For Something