Insects in the Cape Streams...

[bryce12]

Last season I was fishing on a cape stream and after catching a few fish with my brother and we thought it would be a good idea to try something new so I decided to try out a beetle pattern after hearing that they are very underated. To my brothers amusement, the beetle pattern was getting refused everytime by the trout..I didn't understand because the trout weren't feeding selectively that day..any reasons or thoughts that you might know of for this incident??

[smallstreams.co.za]

was it a dung-beetle?

[bryce12]

haha no it wasn't! After seeing a 16 inch brown I changed to an ant pattern and lets just say my brother wasn't laughing at me anymore!

[bryce12]

Basically what I want to know is do the trout really eat beetles that often?? because how often would one fall into the water and quite honestly I don't know why that brown took an ant pattern cause I don't know why a non-flying ant would end up in the water in the first place like is it blind or something??....to sum it up I think that the trout eat what ever they can and only pool trout become very selective on an average hatch day whilst trout in faster water can't afford to do that..

[shector]

Hi Bryce
You are right in saying beetle patterns are underrated. You only need to look at stream side vegetation and you'll be overwhelmed by the amount of different beetles you'll find. Western cape trout rely a lot on terrestrials for food making beetle part of their menu. I have seen summer days where trout go crazy over tiny black beetles. We fooled them on size 20 patterns. However, our success depended a lot on how these patterns were tied and how or when they are fished. I fish mainly black foam beetles to imitate the ones found most commonly on our streams. The most important aspect of beetle patterns should be the underbody that should have specific triggers i.e. legs, some iridesence and as a option maybe trailing wings. I have seen over the years that flies with slimmer profiles elicits a more positive response, so patterns should mimic smaller silhouettes. Terrestrials such as beetles are best fished on windy days with a drag free drift. To add I think the presentation might have been your problem on that specific day. I suspect you fished in low flows where finer tippets would have produced to goods. Hope this helps.

[bryce12]

That helps me understand it a bit better, I was fishing when the water was pretty low with a black foam beetle that I think was a bit too big, I was also using a 6X leader so I don't think that would have been the problem...I think I'm going to invest in some Good Doctor's beetles and maybe the different variety can help match the terrestrial life on the banks of the streams...Another question..how well do hoppers work in slow moving pools?? also what sizes would be more effective?

[shector]

Hi Bryce
Although those beetles look good I suspect they'll only work in the ealy season when flows are up. However, your success rate will drop as the season goes on purely because they are too big. So you'll be stuck with the same problem. Those flies were designed specifically for Sterkfontein yellows. If you intend fishing beetles successfully smaller flies are better and restrict to fishing them when there's a slight wind. The same goes for hopper patterns.

[bryce12]

Thanks shector thats probably right, I saw the wide variety of them and thought it probably would be a good investment because if they work for yellows then they should work for trout. What insects are in the Cape streams at the moment?? I'm currently in Grahamstown writing my Matric finals so I'm curious...is it the usual mayfly hatches? or are there also a lot of caddis's around?

[shector]

Hi Bryce
Read Tim Rolston's recent CPS newsletters, they contain all the info on the current status of the streams.