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Author Topic: Cutthroat Fly Patterns  (Read 20249 times)

Colersmom

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Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« on: March 10, 2024, 03:50:48 PM »

What patterns would work for cutts now that the fry are going to start emerging, and if you could give me recipes for patterns that would be great.
Thanks!
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2024, 04:45:29 PM »

« Last Edit: March 10, 2024, 04:50:46 PM by RalphH »
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Jelly_

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2024, 06:14:58 PM »

Isnt it still a tad too cold? I hear there are very few salmon hatchlings in the systems right now.
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2024, 07:41:31 PM »

Isnt it still a tad too cold? I hear there are very few salmon hatchlings in the systems right now.

yes but it's forecast to hit 20 degrees next weekend. It could happen quickly. Pink fry also emerge earlier than chum and last year was not a stellar year for chum returns. My bet would be the first week in April at this point for chum fry migration.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2024, 10:03:39 PM by RalphH »
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Jelly_

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2024, 09:01:16 PM »

yes but it's forecast to bit 20 degrees next weekend. It could happen quickly. Pink fry also emerge earlier than chum and last year was not a stellar year for chum returns. My bet would be the first week in April at this point for chum fry migration.

Any fry patterns or spinners should be effective for trout right?
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clarki

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2024, 10:04:36 PM »

Isnt it still a tad too cold? I hear there are very few salmon hatchlings in the systems right now.

It is a little early for fry emergence and migration, but the cutthroat know that the time is coming and now can be a good time to fish fry imitation flies or hardware before there are schools of fry in the water.
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jim

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2024, 06:26:14 AM »

I fish the Vedder for Steelhead. Pacific Angler blogs says the fry will emerge next week.
I have tried my Skinny Minny and my Hildebrant spoon with no success so far, in the last couple days.
Might try some #12 spin glos in a chrome finish, they have worked before, also.
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2024, 09:21:09 AM »

I saw a few fry (likely pink salmon) the week before last on the Fraser. While this is not unusual it doesn't mean we'll see trout slashing fry quickly. It depends on water temperatures.

Recall the life cycle of salmon. Eggs in the late fall then hatch as alevin in winter which remain in the gravel and slowly turn into fry. The fry will borrow out of the gravel once the egg sack is absorbed. Trout can smell their presence though not necessarily access them readily. Once out the will congregate in the shallows as water warms up be fore schooling and migrating downstream. Over the years I have taken a lot of temperature readings and usually temperatures are  around 9 to 11 degrees when this takes place. 

Matt did a good video on this a few years ago : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anNTFV4jwI4
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jim

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2024, 06:27:28 AM »

I watched the Matt Sharpe video, it was good. thanks.
The temps you took, Ralph, were they water temps in the Fraser?
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2024, 08:34:09 AM »

No - in a number of tributaries with sizable chum returns. The Vedder was not included.
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Jelly_

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2024, 04:30:36 PM »

Is it too late to use alevin patterns?
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2024, 06:49:06 PM »

Is it too late to use alevin patterns?


certainly not!
« Last Edit: March 12, 2024, 09:52:57 PM by RalphH »
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clarki

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #12 on: March 12, 2024, 07:50:15 PM »

Is it too late to use alevin patterns?

Unless Ralph mis-stated, I’ll disagree and say that it is not too late to use alevin patterns. In fact, now is the perfect time. And since trout can exhibit a “hangover” and be attracted to a fly pattern long after the natural is no longer present, alevin patterns can be effective well into spring. In fact, since an alevin pattern is just a type of streamer pattern, and baitfish (stickleback, NPM, coho fry…) are cutthroat prey all year long, an alevin pattern can produce  outside of the traditional spring months.
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Jelly_

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #13 on: March 12, 2024, 08:10:07 PM »

Its going to be my first time fly fishing for these trout, do you fish them in smaller tributaries, or can they be found throughout systems such as the squamish/vedder or even the fraser?
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RalphH

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Re: Cutthroat Fly Patterns
« Reply #14 on: March 12, 2024, 09:53:58 PM »

Unless Ralph mis-stated, I’ll disagree and say that it is not too late to use alevin patterns.

Exaxctly. I meant certainly a good time to use them.
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It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so!" ...Mark Twain