FISHING STRING

Once in a while we take a break from casting and teaching and go to another of the 5 topics covered on the MCCI exams...... FISHING.

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I forgot to ask what colours and hook sizes are the shrimps that ?hatch? in your area?

Ally Gowans

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Ally...

The term "shrimp hatch" is really a misnomer. The true larvae of the Key West Pink Shrimp are tiny (macroscopic).

Here is what happens: Many of the shrimp species of the World (including the Pacific white shrimp) are in the water column during the day. Our Keys shrimp differ in that they burrow into the sand and ground stubble during the heat of the day, then emerge as zooplankton during the dark of night. For this reason, our Keys shrimpers trawl during the night hours and sleep during the day.

Our so-called "shrimp hatch" really refers to the occasional brief appearance of young adult pink shrimp on the surface near the shorelines of our islands. This is more likely to occur here during Fall, Winter and early Spring.

30 miles to our West, off Key West, the guides refer to their "Guppy hatches". In the early mornings, this refers to concentrations of minnows on the surface.

The shrimp hatch is a phenomenon triggered by certain local weather changes which I've learned to recognize over the years to predict when and where this will occur. It is usually at first light of day and may last for as long as 1 - 2 hours. These shrimp come to the surface in water only about 18" to 30" deep. They "pop" as thousands of them jump about. Most of the time, the birds (terns & gulls) swarm over them and feed as they dive. Tarpon anywhere from babies of 10 lb to 20 lb. appear out of "nowhere" to gorge themselves on them . Sometimes they are accompanied by larger tarpon in the 60 lb to 70 lb. range . Rarely, really big fish.

Most of the time, these fish will be so turned on by the foray that almost any fly used will get strikes. At other times, the tarpon key onto the shrimp and will hit nothing other than shrimp imitations. That is when we use our shrimp patterns. These are tied on hooks generally considered small for tarpon.... # 2 to # l/0 . Sometimes I use a #4 hook. Color is of no importance. The overall length of the fly matches that of the average shrimp at about 2 ". They are unweighted. I love to hook them, also, on small "gurglers" ( 1 1/2 " foam flies ). Several strikes per hookup make this fishing a HOOT !

Years of experience yields local knowledge sufficient to be able to predict the occurrence and its likely whereabouts. Even then, mother nature can fool us !

We use floating WF lines and leaders very different from our standard big game and tarpon leaders.... lighter shock tippets, etc. Tackle is matched to the smaller fish for great sport. When doing that, however, it is not unusual to hook up with a 60 lb + fish on 6 - 7wt. tackle.

Do not confuse this with our worm hatches. These are predictable in May and June as certain weather, moon / tide + time parameters collide. These are suddenly appearing vast swarms of Atlantic Palolo worms which have the effect of driving thousands of large tarpon crazy. An incredible experience to witness.

For lots of information on the latter, go to Google ( Atlantic Palolo Worms ) and surf the entries.

Gordy

PS ... Once in a while we find a "hatch" during the day. When that happens, I switch to shrimp flies which are champagne or ginger colored since in the light I get more strikes. When fishing in daylight, however, I find the fish a lot less selective.

I ran across "shrimp hatches" (as we call them) when fly fishing from the shore of the Gulf of Carpenteria in Northern Australia on the York Penninsula, below New Guinea. The local folks called them "jelly prawns". They were only about 1" in size and transparent. Concentrations of them were right at the sand beach edge being charged by many different species of fish including trevally, blue salmon, threadfins, barras and queenfish. Some I couldn't recognize. Small SW flies worked well despite the concentration of forage.

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My note to Troy Miller re. his on "poor boy fishing" :

Troy....

What in the dickens is fishing "poor boy style" ? ..... wonder if it is anything like the way we fished as kids during the Great Depression of the 30's when we didn't have any money. Fished anyway. Sold our fish to purchase the cheapest second hand tackle we could find. Used our chickens for fly tying stuff.............. and road kill. My brother, Dave, and I ran a trap line for muskrats .... sold the pelts for 25 cents to a whopping 50 cents apiece depending upon size and quality.

Hard to believe that we did that in Queens, New York City on the site now occupied by LaGuardia Airport !

Best,

Gordy

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Troy's answer :

Poor boy style is fishing the road system. It?s all relative in AK. The people who have money (or best friends at a lodge) get to do lots of fly outs, but the common Joe like me has to find the best fishing possible from the roads (which there aren?t all that many of, in actuality). I can spend my whole year?s budget on one trip to the bush, or make 70 trips by SUV to places within 5 hours drive of Anchorage. I choose the latter? Most people believe the adage ?you can fish the road system, you can fish in solitude, and you can fish where there are fish ? pick TWO?. In other words, most people think that if you fish waters on the road system with good fish in them, you?ll necessarily be standing shoulder to shoulder. They?re right ? if you fish in the daytime. I concentrate my fishing from 10 pm to 6 am and then go clean fish or sleep or pike fish or even take a shower and get human again. Now that I?ve got my own place, it gets SOOOO much easier.

My first flies, like yours, were tied from materials that you?d commonly find on the farm. German shepherd cross mutt underfur for dubbing (I even used Rit dye to make it the color I wanted), squirrel tail and rabbit fur from critters I shot, calf and cow tail (or mane) from Holsteins, Jerseys, Angus, and Charolais. We had thousands of chickens every year, so I plucked feathers from every end of the poor things whenever I needed. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention. The most amazing thing is that they actually DID catch fish, and lots of them. I?d say they were every bit as effective as the flies I tie today, with such ?superior? materials. Let?s say that the fish were that much less sophisticated that they weren?t so selective?

Troy J

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Troy... I understand. Timing is so important when fishing. Lefty has pointed out many times that you'll do better if you fish early and late as a general rule of thumb. He's right.

During the height of tarpon season in the Florida Keys, we have lots of guides and private skiffs fly fishing. Some areas are really pressured. I do best on my so-called "dawn patrols" ..... running out at "O - dark hundred" and fishing 'till after sun up. No question about it, in some of our areas we can be really successful when fly fishing on the right tides at night. A very few of our very best guides have become really expert at this.

One difference between this and night fishing where you are ...... While we may be in deep darkness, you have some degree of light during the summer months up there in Alaska.

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From Craig Buckbee :

gordy,

as a kiddo fishing with my dad and his pals in and around boston harbor, cape cod, and down into rhode island i was taught to call the sea robin the mother in-law fish !

craig

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For you scientific buffs I'll list the common names of these creatures and their scientific names.

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