I’m a firm believer that it’s a good idea to “check out the bugs” in the river nearly every time you fish, especially if you’re doing a lot of nymph fishing. Mary Ann and I were on the Crooked River last week fishing a spot we fish often and started with a bug sampling. We have a small net that is about 15″ x 15″ that one of us holds in the water while the other turns over rocks upstream. We then transfer the bugs in the net to a white bowl that aids in viewing and identifying. For the particular spot we sampled, there were very nigh numbers of olive/tan scuds in sizes ranging from about #18 to #10, as well as black mayfly nymphs that were about #18 and #16 in size. We both used euro-nymphing techniques for our fishing for the day. Using #14 and #16 gold or tan scuds, #18 Psycho Mayfly nymphs, and #16 Black Beauties produced a lot of rainbows in the 6″ to 14″ range. So, knowing the bugs in the water and matching those bugs certainly helped us. Here are a few photos of the day.
Bug Sampling from the Crooked River
Scuds and mayfly nymphs.
Our fly choices for the day.
A nice 14″ rainbow that took a #16 black beauty nymph.
