[rustydeej]

Sat. the BWO were emerging by the hundreds. The rainbows were sipping them from the surface in a frenzy. As many as 6-8 fish would be on the attack at any given time. The fish are still in the deep pools as the water is still very cold. Question? Do you think I could find a taker for any of my nymphs? No way. It was fun to watch but frustrating. I fish this water weekly almost year around with constant sucess. And yes I have experienced this before. WHAT TACTICS WOULD YOU CONSIDER?

[MTskibum]

When i see that, i tie on a streamer to target the big fish who are watching the little fish eat the bugs.






However tying on a streamer is pretty much my answer to any fishing situation.

[Biggie]

It appears the fish were sitting high in the water colum even though the holes were deep. Nymphs can work very well during a hatch but they have to be kept just under the surface rather than fished near the bottom. I have had lots of success trailing them on a short dropper from the back of a dry fly to keep the fly in the fishes window. You can also have luck fishing unweighted flies under and indicator and greasing the first 3/4 of your leader. Swinging a soft hackle on a dry line without weight can be another nice trick for fooling fish during a hatch. The title of your post states you tried some emerger patterns and had little success.

Sometimes during a heavy hatch you will see fish rising and when a dry pattern doesn't work many people will switch to emergers, this works great sometimes but you should also think about the later stage of a mayfly hatch as well. Spinner patterns get overlooked often by anglers during a hatch but some days that is what the fish are keyed in on and we forget about the dead bugs that have already hatched. If you are fishing fish that are below a section of fast water you may also try sinking your spinner patterns as the fish could be eating adults that have been drowned in the fast water and are readily available to the fish. I like to use a small pinch on indicator, Rio's Kahuna indicators or strike putty when I fish spinner patterns. All of these are small inconspicious indicators that can be attached a few feet from your fly and aide you in knowing where your hard to see fly is at.

Good luck with the hatch next time and don't forget about the dead adults that are probably available to the fish.

[liv2fish]

I have fished in caddis hatches that were actually "too" thick in my opinion. The fish don't have to work to feed and often there is nothing that allows your fly to stand out. If you think that might be the case, try throwing something totally out of the ordinary, streamers are always nice but even big, ugly lookin attractor patterns. Another option is, if you tie, to tie up the typical pattern but tweak it a bit with some flash, maybe as the emerging wing or tail fibers. Even using some flashy dubbing on a standard emerger can be all it takes to grab their attention. Hope this helps.

[FISHN50]

sounds like time for a dropper or a smaller or larger fly combo, maybe even a twitch. Try positioning yourself so the nymph reaches the end of it's drift & starts to swing up in the vacinity of the feeding fish. Often during a hatch just dead drifting a fly just doesn't work so change your tactics & fly size or color. A hatch doesn't start instantly. There will be a lot of nymph activity before it starts. Look for the type of bottom & river flow that insect likes & fish downstream from there judging where the bugs will be in the water collumm where the fish are feeding.