HENRY'S WALKING AND WADING REPORT BY HENRY SEAY

 Probably everyone who fishes has run into the situation that allows one angler to land a trout after another angler gave up and left in frustration.  The fish could be called a hard to catch fish.

By hard to catch I mean one that has been often fished over and probably caught many times especially if you fish in a catch and release section of a stream.  Such trout can drive you mad.

Hopefully some of the following suggestions can be of help.

Use smaller flies.  Yes, there can be a lot of exceptions to this rule-of-thumb, but hard to catch trout are more readily caught on smaller flies.  Often times on our Ozark streams we run into situations where a #16 & 18 were too large.  However, when trout are sipping they will take a #26, 24, 22 or a #20 while turning their nose up at an #18.  Likewise, 8X and 7X tippet take many more trout than 6X or 5X especially in clear water.

If your # 18 fly or smaller is tied on a hook that is not offset, you should widen the gap and offset your hook, by using a small needle nose pliers to slightly bend the hook.  This will give you a greater hooking ability with small flies.

On our Ozark Tailwaters only a few type of flies are necessary --midges, sowbugs/scuds, soft hackle, woolly buggers, eggs and worms.  Certainly many other flies will work but you can pretty much rely on these year around.

I carry a fairly big assortment of midges because they catch so many trout.  I have also used them in the lakes to catch sunfish, bass and crappie.  Wading up and down the banks of lake Norfork and Bull Shoals using a Zebra midge has kept me busy with bream and small bass when nothing else seemed to work.

When fishing the tailwaters don't just carry a few zebra midges, carry a fly box filled with midge larva (red and brown work well), midge pupa, I like zebra, pt (pheasant tail) midge, rainbow warrior, ruby as well as Andy Kims Yong special in #20 and 22.  As a matter of fact the Yong special, pt midge and red midge larva have become my go to flies on Ozark tailwaters and also work on our freestone rivers.  

I currently have a new midge that is undergoing testing and tweaking right now and all the material is coming out of the Ozarks.  It is looking very good.

When fishing for hard to catch trout, the basics become more important than ever.  Drag free drifts, correct size tippet and leader and length, making a good presentation and keeping a low profile are all part of the game plan. 

By all means try to keep your flies simple.  I believe trout have tiny brains, so don't get too complicated with your fly selections.

LIFE IS GOOD IN THE OZARKS                                 

TAKE A CHILD FISHING...YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!

Henry is a guest writer for Blue Ribbon Guides serving the White, and Norfork Rivers in Arkansas as well as Dry Run Creek, and many other nearby rivers and streams.