Interval Timing for Surface Feeding Big Brown Trout during a Hatch-A Right of Spring

                                           ( My personal best  20+ this spring on my CDC dry during the early black stonefly hatch on the Muskegon. This beauty taught me several new observations)

My goal in this blog is to look at how conditions and the general predator foraging profiles (PFP) of bigger year class brown trout will effect the way you present your dry flies. Interval timing of when and how a bigger trout will take your flies and what frequency is the key to presenting your dry flies is the key to success. Granted not all browns behave the same ( I've found each has their own personalities believe it or not!), which is usually formed by imprinting to selective experiences ( i.e. if they've been caught before, what eye side they favor, how aggressive or timid they are intrinsically ) thus many factors contribute to a take or refusal by the dry fly presenter. 

1. GETTING STARTED FOR SURFACE FEEDING- "TO SURFACE FEED OR NOT TO SURFACE FEED- THAT IS THE QUESTION!"

                     ( Browns and Atlantic salmon-"Salmo" are notorious surface feeders- why dry fly addicts love both!. Here a Delaware brown going vertical ( image by J.G. Miller-Delaware guide master) Marinaro, an influential mentor of mine,  wrote in exclusivity on the three main rise forms of trout- simple, complex and compound in his classic "In the Ring of the Rise". I take his descriptions and elaborate into the actual selection to eat the fly in my "4 Systems Go" approach in my Selectivity Book. My Nexus book explores more synchronicity associations to brown trout feeding on top.) 

First, not all browns are surface feeders. Many bigger ( over 14 inches) fish will stay deep and become carnivorous/cannibalistic , especially in large impoundments/lakes /rivers where large bait-fish populations exist. For every brown that feeds on the surface, there is one equal  cohort that will stay below and eat nymphs on the bottom and ascending. The surface just scares the crap out of some fish that are more photo-phobic than others, usually again in the dark environs of deep pools and big water.
This surface feeding behavioral response is usually imprinted at a very young parr stage/freshly hatched fry etc. If you watch a school of brown trout/Atlantic salmon parr in a school, some will be totally surface focused on diptera/midges, while others are in a "eat each other" mode. This You Tube video by a teacher in a NY classroom shows the ones that are cannibalistic, and the ones that are skimming  the surface for aquarium Tetramin fish food ( most likely surface feeders in the making)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zItvMMtPGes&t=150s
Water temperature and the duration of metabolic shutdown a trout has been under from winter to spring's transition will dictate how much surface feeding goes on, and with brown trout; everything they do is slow, gradual and cautious.But once in the groove, their predatory skills and feeding is ruthlessly efficient. Thus  a spring hatch usually takes a few days for  them to cozy up to it.

2. THE STIMULUS TO SURFACE FEED-SIZE AND DENSITY

                                            ( image: surface gulping brown-J.G.Miller)

Early spring hatches are "at the warmest and calmest parts of the day"( an age old dry fly/troutbum saying) Truly a gentleman's type of fishing in the finest comfortable hours of  1 -6 pm ( then after your fishing you waltz straight to the pub for brew, Scotch/Gin and dinner in your Wellington boots and britches like on England's Hampshire chalkstreams.

( The beauty of England's Hampshire Chalk streams- estates, perfectly managed landscape and gardens and the pride of the English Tradition: its beloved brown trout-Takata Image)

As the spring days continue to warm up, the hatches will progress later into the evenings ( 6-8 pm) , such as the Hendickson spinner fall usually taking place while the Gentleman and Ladies retired for dinner- then the wise will be advised to wait it out, as the late spring sunset usually warms after a cold cloudy day.

                                              The Magnificent Rite of a Michigan Spring -
"Many Men go fishing all of their lives without knowing its is not fish they are after"  Henry David Thoreau
 Bachforellen trout (German brown) from my local "ground zero" spring creek,  Grouse drumming, mayflies and the fruits of the Michigan forest and the beautiful wild Michigan steelhead spawning. Despite our political dictatorship disaster, Michigan is still a wild and wonderful freshwater masterpiece of nature)
  

 First of the season hatches  such as Red Quills, Grannom caddis, Baetis bwo's, Early Black Stones , Hendrickson's and midges are usually cold water affairs. Although the ideal text book  for the dry fly code (45-55 F water temps) is preferred for optimal metabolic activity, stones and midges hatch in water temps in the upper 30's.  Daily fluctuations in temperature, weather: wind/storms will play heavily on the duration and intensity of the hatches, since they are driven by consecutive water heating days and barometric pressure. In Michigan we can have a 70F spring day, only to be followed by snow the next- same in the Northeast and Driftless Areas. In very cold hatch conditions, emerging nymphs/still-born cripples will be the favored targets since hatching in a snow storm can damper mayflies taking flight. 

                   (Image: Albert Pesendorfer- European photographer of the finest caliber, for  the-Nexus book)
When a hatch has usually been in progress for at least several days, along with falling water flows from run-off/rain,  the surface activity will progress and steadily intensify with the hatch. The rainbows and brookies will usually partake of the surface feast much quicker than the browns, since they are less cautious and more opportunistic. Browns will be fiendishly plotting their attack scouting for and setting up lies in optimal surface taking niches. Fulcrum interception points in calmer slacker waters will be their feeding niches where the surface insects will flow along a foam line dictated by a funnel of wooded debris/ stream current deflections/ split stream channels or back undulating currents that will reverse the flow ( circular back eddies) 

( The perfect early black stone water and fly)

Again, I can't emphasis the point that browns will be looking for the slower current-less waters which are more likely to warm -up quicker than the main flows due to light penetration and clearer viscosity from siltation settling. When the temps are very cold- long slack water flats in medium depth next to shelter ( logs/bridges/deep pools etc.) are the choices. I was showing one of my neighbors where I was targeting the spring hatches the other day and he said, " I would never ever think to look for trout there, that is sucker water!, doesnt  look like trout water!"-herein lies the key.
Keep in mind that unless water temperatures are perfect (45-55 F) the rising intervals will be the most important thing to study. This is a waiting game of the highest caliber- like turkey hunting in a blind.I often take a thermos and a cigar and sit and wait and watch for a half hour or more before the first cast.You can learn so much more by just chilling out and watching nature interact- it is very soothing. We emphasis activity too much- just watch a blue heron stalk fish and that tells the whole story.
If you find a small pod of risers, it will be most likely a half dozen fish ( usually all browns, or all rainbows/brookies- rarely both, but in dense populations of both like on the Au Sable , they will feed side-by-side), since their water preferences are very different. In the feeding pod, the best position will be usually the largest Alpha dominant brown, followed in lesser efficient lies by smaller year-class fish. The smaller year class fish will feed more frequently, and that is one give away of a larger feeding fish. There is less spatial niche separation with smaller fish thus more competition for food .

( This is a dense hatch compared to the more singular/sparse hatch of springtime)

Once you target your leviathan brown ( can be a 12 incher or 20 incher depending on the size of waters you fish and degree of wildness/stocked populations/holdover etc.), be prepared to spend hours /days stalking it, depending on the degree of selectivity the fish has acquired ( being hooked before, wild, tough lie to cast to (branches overhanging,etc., funky currents) - it will be worth it! I have come up with my early spring hatch "leviathan brown dry fly code" for you to follow:

1. Make as few cast to your target as possible- don't flog the water! Big fish are put down even by the slightest bad cast by a pro ( I know!) watch, and watch and observe some more. 

2. The worst time to cast to a fish is right after you saw it rise.It is swallowing and digesting its food in a slow spring fashion and it takes a little longer especially on a slinked-out belly from spawning and winter. 

3. The feeding interval is the most important thing. Make sure the fish has fed at least twice before you cast to it ( I will wait impatient as hell up to three-five rises- trophy hunters must have discipline ! )

4. Early spring feeding intervals can be 15 seconds , a minute, 2-4 minutes....sometimes 10-15 minutes in separation, regardless of intensity of hatch. Its the metabolic thing again of every fish's interior bio-clock.

5. Fish the longest leader possible- I use 18 footers ( simple homemade one is buy a 12 ft leader to 3x, chop 8-10 inches of the tippet section....add 6 feet of 5x) This is due to the extremely long inspection times a brown has in the slower/slack waters. They will most likely do compound /complex rises, where the smaller fish are simple risers ( Marinaro's code)

6. Use down-and-across reach casts and puddle casts with mending upstream for long drifts.

7. Hook setting should be slow and deliberate in a downstream and low fashion- takes in cold water are very deliberate unlike warmer water.

8. Evaluate the situation your trophy is in. Is it close to cover that it will dart under fast as soon as it is hooked? You must act quickly and steer the ship in the first few seconds of battle. The big 22 incher I caught was next to a log jam and I quickly put enough pressure on it ( be careful not to put too much!) to turn it into the main current away from the wood, which it luckily did and ran downstream.

 ( NEXT:FLY PATTERN ANALYSIS) 

Hope this was beneficial. Happy "head hunting"

Matthew Supinski

Posted in: dry fly , gray drake lodge , hatches , Matt Supinski Brown Trout-Atlantic Salmon Nexus book , Selectivity book