Hi Everyone;
I was hoping to understand a little more about fluoro and the advantages it has over traditional leader/tippet material. I'm going to the Fryingpan next week for 3 days and heard fish are eating size #24+ bwo/pmd/caddis patterns, tandem-rigged to a large green drake or caddis.
I was curious if I should consider fluoro 7x or even 8x for these setups. I've never fished the Pan and heard the pressure is significant so the fish are more spooky. Any help on this subject would be great!!
Thank you all in advance!
Chris
7x will work down to a size 24. I've never had a need to use 8x. But you shouldn't need to fish that small. You'll lose a lot of fish or stress them out by using such small tippet. Save your 7x for winter fishing. The Pan is just as pressured as any other tailwater but fish will eat. Stop by Taylor Creek Fly Shop in Basalt and they will get you the flies you need. A size 18 bubble back PMD that they recommended was a hot fly a few weeks ago, and I'm not sure if the drakes are still around or not. Caddis are still out and about but I would nymph unless the fish are consistently rising. Get some 6x fluro and you should be good to go. Also try a 3 fly rig. mysis/pmd/rs2. High stick nymph it, or use the smallest indicator you have. The palsa stick ons work great.
Don't forget to fish the toilet bowl. Get there early (right at sunrise or before) and stake your spot. Use 3x leader with your indicator almost at the top of your 9 ft. leader, a couple big split shots and tie on a craven's mysis, guide's choice hare's ear or a soft hackle pheasant tail with 4x or 5x tippet and hold on! There be big boys in there! If you're still fishing the toilet bowl around noon, or if you had to wait to get a spot, fish the same flies a little more traditionally without any weight and you'll actually catch fish, compared to most guys that are dredging the bottom.
But don't spend all day there...there's lots of good fishing on the flats, and bend hole and further downstream. Switch to a 5x or 6x leader and use 6x tippet. Sight fish on the flats and in bend hole, and fish the faster riffles down stream.
Just don't forget to stop by Taylor Creek, those guys fish it on a daily basis and will know what flies are working.
Fluro sinks faster because it's denser, and it's almost invisible underwater compared to nylon. For heavily pressured waters, fluro can make or break your day. I almost excusively fish fluro no matter where I go. Don't buy it in the little tippet rolls though. Get it in bulk and refill your old tippet holders with it. $20 for a little 20 yd roll is a steep when you can get a 150 yd roll for about the same price.
Also, if you have a chance, fish the Roaring Fork. It's best fished from a boat, but there's access between a lot of the private stretches. A favorite spot of mine is the boat launch right at Carbondale and upstream from there.