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Authorized Guide with the National Park Service for the Upper Current River

and the National Forest Service

Is it a Wild Trout or a Hatchery Trout

Can you tell the difference between a wild trout, one that has lived its entire life in a stream, and a hatchery fish? Hatchery fish will take on the coloration of a stream born fish after it has been in the river a long time, but there are some clues to look for that will help make the decision. Stream born trout will usually be slim, shaped like a torpedo. The have an orange spot on the tip of the dorsal fin, white tipped pectoral fins and anal fin AND, this one is important, perfectly shaped fins, especially the pectoral fin. A hatchery fish will have a rounder shape, washed out color, the nose may be bald from rubbing on the cement in the concrete holding bins, and the pectoral fins with be rounded off on the edges. Which, from what I have read and been told, will remain that way for the life of the fish. When you hook a wild trout, they go crazy and will fight twice as hard as a hatchery fish. Wild rainbow trout, after a hard battle, will lay pretty clam as you release the hook, because they will use up almost all the energy they have trying to get free. Hatchery rainbows will fight a little while, then let you reel them in and squirm around like a night crawler while you take the hook out.

This is a male wild trout in spawning colors.                                     This is a female wild trout

Notice the lack of spots below the lateral line on both of these fish. This is a characteristic of the McCloud strain.

Hatchery Trout                                                                               Hatchery Trout

This is a photo of a trout that was attacked by an Eagle, Osprey or Otter. Notice the orange spot on the dorsal and white tips, but the pale colors and heavy spots below the lateral line. This is a hatchery fish that is taking on some of the characteristics of a wild trout. Check out his pectoral fin below.

Wild trout pectoral fin should look like this, triangular shape             Hatchery trout pectoral fins look like this.

Smelly Fish              Does Color Matter?             Movement                    Location

Smelly Fish

Sam Potter TightLine.Biz

    Do fish smell?  Yes they do, if you leave them in the sun for a couple of days.  Seriously though... fish have a very keen olfactory system that allows them to interpret food, danger and other life preserving things. Salmon and Steelhead travel hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles to return to their home waters and their sense of smell helps them with their migration. Fish that live in deep water or feed predominately at night depend a great deal on their sense of smell. It has been stated that certain fish can detect odors in parts per billion. I learned a long time ago, from fly fishing expert Dave Whitlock, that masking human odors would significantly improve my streamer's ability to catch fish. Up until then I had never thought about it much. Since then I have attempted to cover up the human odors I have on my hands prior to fishing. I have done a lot of research about the sense of smell in fish and came to the same conclusion that 20 years ago Dave was 100% correct.

 What odors do you have on your hands when you fish?  Gasoline, nicotine, sunscreen, insect repellant,  after shave, cologne. The odors you have on your hands are transferred to everything you touch including your fly. You can detect most, if not all of these odors because they are very strong. But a fish has a sense of smell that is 4,000 times stronger that an humans. What can you do to "mask" those odors?  Rub your hands in some of the moss or silt on the stream bottom. Not sure if it will work? Next time you go fishing, smell your hands before and after you do this and I guarantee you will smell the difference.

What about applying insect repellant, how do you avoid your hands?  I use the sleeve of my shirt and then rub it on my face, neck and the back of  my hands (never on the palms). I never spay insect repellant on my hands and then rub it on my face and neck. It really doesn't take that much to repel the bugs, so you don't have to soak yourself down. 

Keeping chemicals off of your fingers and palms will improve your fishing success and it will also help to prevent transferring those chemicals to your rod and reel finish. I don't know about you, but I take very good care of my gear and I don't want bug spray on my rods.

"A Bad Day Fishing is Still a Great Day"

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Authorized Guide with the National Park Service for the Upper Current River.

Does Color Matter?

Sam Potter TightLine.Biz

          I am not talking about the color of your truck, your girl friend's hair or the color of the fly you are using. I am talking about the color of your fly line, and the color or your clothes.

If you don’t think color matters, try fishing on the Current River or the wild trout creeks in this area with a white hat or a white T-shirt and yes those bright red fly lines. You will swear that there isn’t a fish in the stream. Unlike most of the fish in Taneycomo, especially up by the hatchery, or in any of the trout parks, the trout in the Current river, and the wild trout in the creeks, are very aware of their environment and the dangers they face every day, most notably fishermen. Yes we have lots of otters, and we see eagles and osprey all the time, but the #1 threat to the fish are fishermen. If your favorite hat is white, or better yet one of those florescent orange jobs, you might get lucky enough to catch some of the smaller fish, especially the rainbows that come down out of Montauk Park, but you will have a difficult time catching anything of size especially the stream born rainbows and the browns that have lived there for several years. They will get lockjaw and look for a place to hide at the first site of anything resembling a fisherman. If there isn’t a place to hide, I have watched them lie on the bottom of the stream and not move, just trying to “blend in” and they will not hit anything you throw at them. Bright colors against a dull background stand out like a deer hunter in a tree stand. If you start waving one of those bright red fly lines over the trout down here, don’t expect to catch very many fish, especially over shallow flat water.

The next time you are out on the water take a look up or down the stream sometime, and notice what you see first, the bright colors some of the fishermen wear especially white or bright red. Those are the first colors the fish see when you are wading, and especially walking the banks. My advice for clients is to wear colors that match the background colors where they are fishing. Because the upper Current River and the creeks are narrow, and totally surrounded by trees most of the colors are green and turn to browns in the fall and winter.

Color may not make a difference where you fish, but if you are planning a trip to the Current River, or the wild trout creeks in this area, match the background colors for more success. Should you wear camouflage? Have you noticed some of the newest fishing shirts on the market?

“A Bad Day Fishing is Still a Great Day”

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Authorized Guide with the National Park Service for the Upper Current River.

“Movement Is More Important Than You Think”

Sam Potter Tightline.Biz

In an earlier article I talked about the color of a fishermen’s clothing making a difference when you fish for wild trout. Movement in the water is just as important.

Most of the people today are always in a hurry. Computers that take 10 seconds to load a site are too slow, the speed limit on the highways is a joke and always too slow. If the limit is 70 MPH, most of the traffic is traveling 80, especially in Missouri. Meals are consumed in 10 minutes, the boss needs the plans on his desk yesterday.... you know what I am talking about. This hurry up mentality is carried over to the steam.

        Getting in a hurry on a stream will cost you a lot of fish, especially big fish. I have watched guys wade out into the middle of the stream at Bennett Spring and almost step on 4 and 5 pound fish and never even know that they were there. I have watched the same thing happen at Taneycomo. It seems like these guys are more interested in getting to a location than they are in catching fish. The same guys complain that there aren’t any fish, or that the fish are not biting, or they can’t seem to catch anything other than small ones.

        I know that it probably doesn’t matter at Bennett Spring or Taneycomo, because there are plenty of other fish to catch. BUT it does matter if you are interested in fishing for wild trout.

        First of all think about the environment where the fish live. There are NO clocks, no dead lines to meet, no place to go, no one to visit, nothing to do but survive and reproduce; the only two major things that drive these fish.

        Survival depends on a lot of factors, some being: Food, water temperature, oxygen content, breeding habitat, and hiding from predators. The only three that the fish can control is catching food, breeding and hiding from predators. If a fish needs to hide from predators, then they must be in tune with their immediate surroundings. The better a fish is with this behavior the bigger and older they get. Hence, if you want to catch fish and especially big fish, then you must very adept at concealing your presence.

        If I see fishermen wading, and they are creating a wake in front of them as they move through the hole where they are fishing, then I know that every fish in that hole knows that there is a dangerous presence where they live. The movement of water by a fisherman does not fit within the “natural” condition of the stream. If you sit on the bank and look at the water, is there a wake? You may catch some of the smaller fish, because they are still in kindergarten and they have not figured out that the water displacement is dangerous. Just like the trout that follow you around in Taneycomo or Bennett Spring. Man means food not danger…...In the wild man means death.

I have actually heard fishermen wading in a stream 200 yards away… don’t you think the fish know they are there. These same 3 guys walked past me a few minutes later and complained that they had not caught a fish all day. I wonder why?

The next time you are out on one of our wonderful wild streams take a few minutes to look, listen, smell and feel what is going on around you. I promise that you will become a better fisherman and a better person for it.

I try to get clients to slowwwww down and not miss the events of the day. The sight of mink, or otter swimming along the bank, the sounds of the eagles as they circle overhead, the sounds of the Kingfisher flying by, and if they listen very carefully the sounds of the trout slurping spinners off the water. This is what I enjoy when I am out on the water and what I want to expose to my clients.

Slowwwww down, move without a wake, be careful what color you wear and you will be rewarded.

“A Bad Day Fishing is Still a Great Day”

TightLine

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Authorized Guide with the National Park Service for the Upper Current River.

“Location, Location, Location”

Sam Potter TightLine.Biz

We have all heard this before; Location is the #1 most important thing about business. Or at least that’s what I’ve been told. You couldn’t prove it by me, if you consider the location of my website in that category? Now, if you could consider the location of my guide service in that category, then I have a GREAT location. From my home in Rolla, which is in South Central Missouri, I am 10 minutes from the Little Piney Creek, 20 minutes from Mill Creek, 30 minutes from Spring Creek, 30 minutes from the Meramec River, 30 minutes from the Big Piney River, and 40 minutes from the Current River. Hey, I have a GREAT location, if you love to fish with a fly rod.

        BUT this article isn’t about a business location, this is about the location a fisherman chooses to cast from. Upstream, downstream, across, a quarter down, are all good if the situation calls for it. BUT I am not going to get into these types of locations either, because they depend on the type of fly you fish, the type of water and the preferred method of each fisherman. I am talking about the fisherman’s location according to the sun, the depth of the water, and the bank along the stream.

        Location #1:

How many times have you seen fishermen, or put yourself, in a position to cast a shadow on the water. What happened, did you notice any change occurring in the stream? If there were fish around that shadow, they spooked. Why, because a moving shadow means danger to Wild Trout. Osprey, Eagles, Herons, Kingfishers and fishermen hunt fish from above the stream, and the fish learn, especially if they are large fish, that danger comes from above. It is just like Pavlov’s theory, ring a bell and the dog salivates in anticipation of a meal. SEE a moving shadow and one of your relatives disappears, or a close encounter with death happens. If you are a smart fish, you figure out that a moving shadow means danger.

        Approach pools in the shadow of the trees. Make every effort to cast from the shadow of the trees; this type of awareness on the part of the fisherman, kind of goes along with my last article about movement. Take the extra time to observe your surroundings and try to blend in with the natural environment.

        Location #2

What does the depth and type of  water have to do with location? The deeper the water is, the larger the viewing window can become for the fish. It depends on the depth the fish is holding. If he is on the bottom in a deep pool the viewing window is greatly enhanced. If he is holding on the top the viewing window is very narrow. It is this location of the fish that we as fishermen, must be observant about. I will not get into light rays, reflections and refraction angles, that is another long article in itself. Noticing the location, and depth where the fish is holding is very important in fishing success. A fisherman can actually get very close to a fish in fast, tumbling water, because the fish cannot see very well above him, in this type of water. This is straight stick nymphing-indicator type of water, where you catch fish at the end of your rod. This is where novice fly fishermen have most of their luck, because it does not require much casting, a fisherman can get close, and the rush of the water conceals movement and noise. BUT if you are fishing a slow pool, your technique needs to change if you want to be successful. Be aware that fish can see much better, so you will have to keep your distance, move slowly and keep a low profile. The shallower the water, the spookier the fish become, because they are nearer the surface, their sight window diminishes and the closer they are to danger. Depth provides protection from above and enhances vision and awareness to danger. The large fish have learned this and obviously have adapted their movements, feeding patterns and such allowing them to survive for a long time. These are the fish you see in the middle of the day at the bottom of a deep pool. Just lying there resting and waiting for the sun to go down for dinner time.

The long and short of this paragraph means: Your location should be a long cast away from the fish you are after, if you are fishing a slow pool. And Side Casts should be made, if possible, keeping the rod low to the water, where the fish cannot see very well. A rod sticking up in the air and waving back and forth is like a flag, especially if you have that nice bright red fly line.

        Location #3

        Standing on the top of a stream bed allows the angler to get a better view of the stream below. He can see where fish are holding, how big they are and all those neat things that Polarized sunglasses provide. If you don’t own a pair, buy some. It will open up an entire spectrum of fishing that you have never seen before…get the pun? OH well, I never have been much of a comic. Anyway, when you are standing on this bank looking at the fish, realize that the fish are looking back at you. Remember what was mentioned about fish vision? The deeper the fish the larger the sight window becomes. Standing on a stream bank places the fisherman very high above the fish, even if the fish is holding at the surface, and provides an opportunity for the fish TO SEE YOU. If you are fishing for Wild Trout and they see you…. Good luck catching them.

IF you like to observe fish from the top of a stream bank, to find out where they are holding and how big they are, keep a low profile, move very slowly, avoid casting a shadow, and you will be rewarded, especially if you have those polarized sunglasses to help out.

I hope some of this helps improve your fishing success.

“A bad day fishing is still a Great Day"