Foul hooking muddies whilst fishin for yellows

[Michael]

Most guys who fish with a strike indicator foul hook muddies, 'cos the strike too late. a Muddy will take a fly and reject it very fast. So...he takes the fly...the indicator shudders, by the time you strike he has spat it out, the fly now "jigs" up and you foul hook him. Some guys who short liine nymph or czech nymph are cathing muddies in the mouth more consistenly, because the "feel" the take more than "seeing" the take.

Yellows tend to hold on to the fly longer, or take it and run...so there's a lot more time to strike or lift the rod and set the hook. Sometimes they set it themselves with a big take.

My advice is...watch the indicator like a hawk...if it slows down significantly, dips under the water, or just stops...then strip-strike immediately. Time on the water is invaluable...the more you fish the more you will get "in tune" with the takes of fish, being able to distinguish largely between takes and underwater snags. But still...you will never get that 100%, ever...never...ever. So strip-strike at any indication that a fish may have taken the fly. This should also improve your yellowfish catch rate of course, as you are probably missing a lot of their takes too.

Regards
Mike

[Scythe]

Muddies don't just feed head down.

Perch yourself on a high spot, you will see muddies on their sides, pectoral fins poking out the water as they scour the sides and undersides of rocks. You can often see the round circular depressions their mouthes make on the algae on the rocks.

More likely than not it is to do with timing and not with how the fish feed, I've seen yellows feeding facing downstream too. You have to remember a muddy has it's eyes more or less on the top of the head and their mouth is underslung, so between the time they see something yummy and swipe at it to suck it in there is always a delay. With a naturally drifting nymph or caddis, this would mean the item being swiped at would stick around for a little longer due to the turbulence created by their movement allowing them to suck it in, unlike your flies which are weighted and keep on moving along chasing your line and indicator, which are again moving at a different speed than the food in the bottom layer of water so with the delay between you seeing the take to and striking, the fly has moved further on, and as the accelerating fly will hook into the first thing that offers resistance, you hook the muddy in the arse or the dorsal fin.

Follow the advice given, dump the indicators, muddies more often than not NAIL the fly they're taking and don't discriminate against the muddies. They make for GREAT fun when the SmallMouth aren't playing along and are by no means an inferior species to target.

My R0.02.

[Drenalinjunkie]

Dont get me wrong, I like the muddies. The ones I hooked fought very well and I enjoyed catching them. I just want to know what to do so as to hook them proplerly in the mouth as I hate foul hooking fish! I love being able to catch muddies at the same time whilst targeting yellows....

[smallstreams.co.za]

Which specie is stronger? Muddfish or Yellowfish (smallmouth)?

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Which specie is stronger? Muddfish or Yellowfish (smallmouth)?

Size vs size I'd go for a muddie.

A yellow is easy menuvreble once hooked all things being equal.

[Hughmeister]

Hey I would also say a muddie. I have not, however, caught a yellowfish as big as my largest muddie to date. Junkie, I am also relatively new to the art of fishing for yellows and my advice is to listen to these guys. Drop the indicator. Do a search on the forum and online for czech nymphing techniques and try it! I have found that since I have started czech nymphing and since I have started tying heavy control flies that slow down the drift, I catch mudfish a lot more consistently in the mouth. If you do happen to do a search regarding the foul hooking of muddies on this forum I am sure you will find that it is a very controversial subject - particularly where I am concerned.

[Scythe]

Which specie is stronger? Muddfish or Yellowfish (smallmouth)?

Under 2Kgs a Muddy has more weight and they fight hard but they're slow, pulling a Muddy back up the current will be harder (because they like to turn sideways and they have a much bulkier profile so the drag increases) than a SmallMouth of similar weight.

Over 2Kgs Muddies fall significantly behind SmallMouth, SmallMouth are _much_ faster and speed * weight == whoohoo !

Also Muddies don't attain the same sizes as SmallMouth do.

[Scythe]

I have found that since I have started czech nymphing and since I have started tying heavy control flies that slow down the drift, I catch mudfish a lot more consistently in the mouth.

Who taught you to fish Hugh ?

[Hughmeister]

Ahhh, you did flutter batter blink blink.....

[Hughmeister]

But you dirrnt teach me so well coz my catch rate still aint so hot!