Put Your Finger On The Trigger

Well Henry - I guess Craig has finally lost it!!!  Rumor  has it, that he's given up the "Long Rod" and resorted to searching for trout with guns????

Wait a minute, wait a minute, - odd maybe !!!!!!!!!!!

But not crazy!!

Hear him out on this one!!!!!!!!!

        Thank you for that vote of confidence. Over any given month, trout see hundreds of standard impressionistic patterns offered to them. Over the course of time, to some extent, (in my opinion) they become conditioned to recognizing the fake. Or, recognizing that combination of factors which causes your fly to be so different from the natural, that they refuse it. I believe, that if they are offered a pattern which is (in certain respects) closer to the real thing, or has characteristics or attributes which mimic the real insect - chances of a strike are increased.

 This obviously takes into account size, silhouette, and color. But here's where I differ. I strongly believe that in certain patterns specific things can be incorporated that will more closely mimic specific attributes of the real insect.

To digress for just a moment: All of the thoughts stated here are based on some general premises! First; we must assume that the presentation is completely devoid of drag or micro - drag. That we are using both a light enough tippet and long enough to not spook the trout.  In reality - I do believe that presentation is probably THE MOST CRITICAL factor in getting the trout to ingest our offering. That being said; on heavily fished waters ( which seems to be most rivers these days) incorporating details that trout see regularly in the naturals can have definite advantages!!!

        To begin with - let's re -assure everyone - we're not talking about triggers on guns!!!

However, we are talking about  TRIGGERS !!! There are many "triggers" that entice trout  to take our offerings. And they are different on each style of fly, ie. dries, wets, nymphs etc. 

What exactly is a  "Trigger" ??

        Well,  I'm not sure that I've read a definition of exactly what a trigger is in any Fly Fishing  literature.  But I'll try to define it - in it's basic sense.

    " Trigger"-  A specific stimuli (a thing or group of things) that stimulate the trout  to ingest  a particular offering. An easily recognizable (to the trout) characteristic of  an insect or stage of insect in a particular environment, which is relatively common for that species. A feature  or features of  an insect that will elicit a natural feeding response, prompting the trout to feed on the counterfeit with little or no hesitation. A specific feature or detail that will provoke the natural  opportunistic tendencies of the trout to SLAM  a particular pattern.

Whew!!!  Glad that's over -  Certainly happy my job isn't writing Dictionaries!! 

O.K., well if that's the definition, let's see if I can explain this in terms that all of us can understand and use.

       Triggers - obviously - will be quite different depending on the Genus, and Species of the particular insect that we are trying to imitate. They also will be affected to some extent by the environment that is existing at that particular time or day.

       Triggers will be different as well, within the given genus, and species, with regard to specific stages of the insects development.  So at this point your saying, "Ok, Ok, now that you've gotten so technical, what does all this have to do with ME  catching trout ???"

Let's take an example: Ephemerella invaria (Biology)  /  Sulphur (Picture)     

       It's probably clear to most of us that, in different sections of the stream, different fish will be keyed in on different stages of the hatch. In the beginning of the hatch, the trout may be porpoising , likely taking emergers. Think: What is the feature or characteristic that causes the trout  to go after that stage of the insect.

(Yes I know, you haven't spoken to any trout lately, in order to be able to determine what in the world they like about that particular stage!!)

        BUT  - you can make some educated guesses. Could it be the violent wiggling of the nymph as it nears the surface? (Movement!!) Could it be  the dark color of the nymph, along with the silhouette against the blue sky? Could it be the Halo effect (ala Gary LaFontaine) of the light passing thru the split shuck at the thorax as the insect struggles in the film.? Could it be the light brownish shuck hanging off the fresh yellow abdomen?

       It could be any of these - so - when tying, look for ways to imitate some of the features that the insect has and incorporate them into your patterns.

Food for thought:

       For the Duns, could the trigger be the imprint that the insect makes on the surface film.? Of course. Could it be its wing silhouette? Could it be the yellow color? For each kind of insect, there is likely to be specific attributes that the trout key in on. 

        For emerging caddis, it might be the glistening effect of the air inside its pupal shuck. It might be that -- in combination with its bright green body. It might be all the movement from legs and antennae etc. One point that should be noted: It is probably already evident - that size of the imitation has to be taken into consideration, and may very well be considered as a key trigger in a great many scenarios. BUT - I do not believe that size is necessarily the only key trigger in any given instance.

        Here are some rambling thoughts that might  TRIGGER some ideas for you!!

        Adult Caddis - Wing  Silhouette ? Leg movement? Wing movement? Color? Antennas?  Egg sac?  Twitching? (sorry - I know this has nothing to do with tying, but I couldn't resist!)

        Emerging Caddis - Soft Hackle movement??? specific materials that will hold the air bubble around the pattern? CDC drying powders that will enhance that aspect ??? Materials that will imitate the segmented look of the insect, or the bulbous look of the abdomen? Wing buds?

        Mayflies - most we've covered.  Imprint in film, wing silhouette, size, color etc.

        Emerging Mayflies - Some such as Epeorus pleuralis (Quill Gordon) release their shuck underwater, and come thru the water column as a bedraggled wet fly. Again soft hackle type movement? Wing material that might partially duplicate the translucent sheen of the wings - (a fairly prominent feature of this insect?)

        Nymphs - a material that might suggest a splitting wing case,? a black head? Something that might suggest gills? Materials that would give the appearance of greater leg movement?

        I could go on and on, and I very sure that many of you, even as you were reading this, mumbled to yourselves, some suggestions that I haven't even thought of. That's the spirit

KEEP  MUMBLING

Keep Thinking!!!!

The main thought is this:

        It's quite possible to be more effective, if when tying our patterns, we think in terms of triggers. What kind of materials can I use that will mimic aspects of the insect I'm trying to imitate? Each time we sit at our bench, if we think in terms of tying our patterns in such a way as to attempt (to the best of our ability) to duplicate some of these naturally occurring triggers -  Then you too - WILL BE ABLE  to

" Put your finger on the trigger"

Tight Lines

Craig

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