Pellet flies ?

[attila]

Anybody tie them for those put and take streams that get too warm in summer for trout to survive anyways ? What size and how do you tie them ?

[Hardyreels]

A hares ear nymph in a 14 should do for that, but I wouldn't eat a hatchery trout.

[wt bash]

I'll second not eating a pellet head but a buzzball would do well. Its just brown and grizzly hackle palmered first wrap the brown hackle foreward and then clip it even with the hook gap then wrap the grizzly clipping only the top and bottom. You could omitt the grizzly all together and gink it to death or just fish it under film.

[Rip Tide]

Hatchery trout are not attracted to a single pellet fly as such, although they may mistake your imatation for a bug.
What they're conditioned to respond to is the sound of the pellets hitting the water and the strong liver-like smell.

[attila]

Good point Rip Tide. I have found stones and sticks in stocked trout though. Poor things don't know what real food is.

[williamhj]

There's a trout pond behind my wife's uncle's place in the mountains. The trout are a mix of stocked and wild but he's taught them to go into a feeding frenzy for dog food. I tried all kinds of flies in my box thinking a caddis or humpy might fool them but no dice. I've taken to tying flies from foam over brown or tan yarn covered with foam as well as clipped deer hair, still need to perfect it, but it was working. Do you know the size and shape of the pellets they use?

[Rip Tide]

The pellets are cylindrical shaped of about 1/4" x1/4". Roughly the size and color of small rabbit poop. They smell strongly like dog kibble

I still have a bag of trout food left over from when I worked at the state hatchery.
One of my duties at the hatchery was running the state pay-to-fish ponds on weekends.
That was a fun job and I was privileged to observe fly anglers of all skill levels from first time casters to the expert.
A lot of beginners would come to the ponds preseason to practice and one thing I really enjoyed there was helping kids with their casting.
If I saw that a kid was struggling, I'd "chum" for him with big handful of trout chow to help boost his attitude.

Understand that it took a handful, not a single pellet
I had plenty of opportunity to test this theory.

After I threw in my chum, I'd have the kid cast his fly into the middle of the pellets. It didn't matter what fly they used. Dry or nymph, wet or worm. It only mattered that the fish saw it.
And the fish did see it.... They were attracted to the sound of the pellets hitting the water not to the individual pellet itself

---------- Post added at 10:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 AM ----------

I should add that these fish were not stocked prior to the seasonal opening of the ponds. They were all hold-overs from the previous season when any surplus trout from the hatchery needed to be cleared from their tanks to make room for the next season's fish.

[attila]

Originally Posted by Rip Tide

Hatchery trout are not attracted to a single pellet fly as such, although they may mistake your imatation for a bug.
What they're conditioned to respond to is the sound of the pellets hitting the water and the strong liver-like smell.

Maybe I'll rig up a ten fly dropper Seriously though should they float or sink ?

[gt05254]

When I ran the American Museum of Fly Fishing, a gentleman donated some 16mm tape of Arnold Gringrich at his club, talking and fishing the "ponds" behind the club. He was emphatic that you really need to make whatever pellet imitation you're casting really slap the water, and there is footage of him doing just that. Not my cup of tea, but who am I to argue with Arnold Gringrich?
Gary

[theboz]

Right on the money Rip. When my son was small used to take him to a local developments lake on opening day. We would go right on the beach in front of lines of hardware and bait fisherman. The lake was stocked the night before and I'd have him get ready to throw a cast out as soon as I threw a handful of wet sand in the water . Didn't matter what fly as long as it landed in range of where I'd thrown the sand. Always caught plenty of fish then walk back to the car leaving the other anglers dumbfounded .