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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    Otter Creek tips

    Thinking about hitting Otter Creek one morning this week (8/15). Anybody got any tips on flys and spots to fish? I've only ben there once and the water was really high and swift so I just messed around with a rapala on my spinning rig. I guess I'll start at the main area just down from the bridge. I'm planning on Adams parachutes and maybe some hoppers/terrestrials.

    Thanks for any tips!

  2. #2
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Can't go wrong with hoppers and ants this time of year. Keep in mind the wet summer stunted the hopper cycle and most of them are undersized this year. Parachute Adams should work well if you can time it right. If the topwater flies don't do it for you try searching them out with a 12-14 Wooly bugger or a dual nymph rig. Anything that imitates a mayfly nymph should work well. I prefer size 14 bh hare's ear there or squirel tail nymphs in the same size. If they are hitting the nymphs but you know there is more going on down there try a pheasant tail. Size twelves sometimes work very well. Just check out some rocks below the riffles and see what you can see. Black or brown on the buggers work well as do white if you're looking to imitate bait fish. Now is a great time to wail on the smallies that are up there working the minnows and panfish over. Try a yellow popper with a red throat near dusk for some exciting top water action.

  3. #3
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Thanks Colonel! I'll probably go on Thursday morn so I'll let you guys know how it goes.

  4. #4
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    No problem. If some fella's hadn't shared with me I wouldn't be able to share with you. Share the love partner. Good luck to ya.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2008
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    BOWLING GREEN, KY
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Quote Originally Posted by pflyer View Post
    Thinking about hitting Otter Creek one morning this week (8/15). Anybody got any tips on flys and spots to fish? I've only ben there once and the water was really high and swift so I just messed around with a rapala on my spinning rig. I guess I'll start at the main area just down from the bridge. I'm planning on Adams parachutes and maybe some hoppers/terrestrials.

    Thanks for any tips!
    If you go with the hopper or terrestrial, make sure to drop a bh nymph below it....nothing deadlier than a hopper/dropper combo in late summer IMO. Good luck!

    -Rich

  6. #6
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    yep, I learned to fly fish in Idaho in August on the St. Joe River. We used big foam hoppers with copper johns, flashback pheasant tails, hares ears, or prince nymphs as droppers about 12 - 18 inches below the hopper. What a blast!!!

    I've never used ants or beetles so I might try those at Otter Creek. Also thinking maybe a big stimulator or caddis with a dropper.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    I try and simplify things on our stocker streams including Otter Creek. I usually use an attractor dry fly and a bead head nymph on a dropper about 12-18 inches below. Usually use a size 12 Royal Wulff or an Adams with a Pheasant Tail or Hare's Ear on the dropper. I rarely vary from this and usuallt catch my share of fish. =Oof course, some days my share is pretty small!

  8. #8
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Can't beat a stimulator this time of year. So many things the fish can mistake it for. Is it a hopper? A cicada maybe? I can't care what it is I'm eating it right now before it gets away! Oooohh, my lips, what's happening! Heh, heh, heh.

  9. #9
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Maybe the hoppers were stunted, but I was at my uncle's farm in Owen county for a few days this week and I couldn't keep them off me let alone my windshield. There are a lot of big hoppers around right now.

  10. #10
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    Re: Otter Creek tips (report added)

    I can say one thing about Otter Creek...I saw a lot of trout! Unfortunately, they were not on the end of my line. I started at about 8:30am with a size 12 Adams with a bh pheasant tail dropper (size 14 or 16, I think) about 14 inches below my dry. 5X leader and tippet. Caught 3 sunfish but no trout although I could see the trout kissing the big rocks and rolling around near the bottom. There was the occasional rise but those could have been panfish. They were definately actively feeding down along the bottom. So, I swtiched to a dual nymph rig with an indicator (bh pheasant tail on top and bh hares ear on bottom.) Fished it shallow at first, maybe about 18-20 inches from indicator to bottom nymph. Again, several sunfish and not a sniff from a trout. I increased the distance between nymphs to about 16 inches, they were only 8-10 inches apart at first, then fished them deeper and in faster water so that the bottom nymph was occasionally tapping rocks on the bottom. Same 'ol story...a few sunnies but no trout...and a few nice wind knots I even switched my bottom nymph to a midge then a brassie hoping to stir something up. Started getting frustrated so I switched to a black bh wolly bugger with zero success.

    As I was having lunch a nice juicy mayfly landed on my arm so I saw this as sign to go to a dry again. Put on a size 12 bwo since that was the closest match I had in my dwindling, poor excuse for a fly box. I spent the next two hours catching more sunnies on the bwo and enjoying a nice cigar. Packed it up at 3pm and headed home.

    Talked to a few bait fisherman down the way a bit and they were having a slow day too. I saw some nice smallmouth, some big 'ol drum or carp, and some sizeable (for me) trout. Gotta love a good pair of polarized sunglasses! I think I'll wait until October to head back to the O.C. The gate house guy told me there's been three sizeable stockings since May but I think they're all a bit hook shy this time of year. The hot water and weather ain't helping either.

    Question: when I've seen stocker rainbows in Washington and Idaho feeding the way these trout were they're usually feeding on scuds (kind of a small freshwater shrimp.) Is that what they were doing today? I assumed it was nymphs and midges but I obviously don't know what I'm talking about Crawfish? Whatever it was I didn't have it. Also, I saw schools of fish that looked to me like shad. Bigger than the sunfish, smaller than most of the trout I saw, with a kind of forked tail. They were feeding in a similar way...kissing the rocks and rooting around on the bottom. Were they shad? Just curious.

    All in all, a good day since I wasn't working, stunk like fish, and have some cold beer and another cigar here at home.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Re: Otter Creek tips (report added)

    Quote Originally Posted by pflyer View Post
    I can say one thing about Otter Creek...I saw a lot of trout! Unfortunately, they were not on the end of my line. I started at about 8:30am with a size 12 Adams with a bh pheasant tail dropper (size 14 or 16, I think) about 14 inches below my dry. 5X leader and tippet. Caught 3 sunfish but no trout although I could see the trout kissing the big rocks and rolling around near the bottom. There was the occasional rise but those could have been panfish. They were definately actively feeding down along the bottom. So, I swtiched to a dual nymph rig with an indicator (bh pheasant tail on top and bh hares ear on bottom.) Fished it shallow at first, maybe about 18-20 inches from indicator to bottom nymph. Again, several sunfish and not a sniff from a trout. I increased the distance between nymphs to about 16 inches, they were only 8-10 inches apart at first, then fished them deeper and in faster water so that the bottom nymph was occasionally tapping rocks on the bottom. Same 'ol story...a few sunnies but no trout...and a few nice wind knots I even switched my bottom nymph to a midge then a brassie hoping to stir something up. Started getting frustrated so I switched to a black bh wolly bugger with zero success.

    As I was having lunch a nice juicy mayfly landed on my arm so I saw this as sign to go to a dry again. Put on a size 12 bwo since that was the closest match I had in my dwindling, poor excuse for a fly box. I spent the next two hours catching more sunnies on the bwo and enjoying a nice cigar. Packed it up at 3pm and headed home.

    Talked to a few bait fisherman down the way a bit and they were having a slow day too. I saw some nice smallmouth, some big 'ol drum or carp, and some sizeable (for me) trout. Gotta love a good pair of polarized sunglasses! I think I'll wait until October to head back to the O.C. The gate house guy told me there's been three sizeable stockings since May but I think they're all a bit hook shy this time of year. The hot water and weather ain't helping either.

    Question: when I've seen stocker rainbows in Washington and Idaho feeding the way these trout were they're usually feeding on scuds (kind of a small freshwater shrimp.) Is that what they were doing today? I assumed it was nymphs and midges but I obviously don't know what I'm talking about Crawfish? Whatever it was I didn't have it. Also, I saw schools of fish that looked to me like shad. Bigger than the sunfish, smaller than most of the trout I saw, with a kind of forked tail. They were feeding in a similar way...kissing the rocks and rooting around on the bottom. Were they shad? Just curious.

    All in all, a good day since I wasn't working, stunk like fish, and have some cold beer and another cigar here at home.
    These were most likely Skipjack herring. There are quite a few of them in there.

  12. #12
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    Jan 2009
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    Re: Otter Creek tips

    Don't forget about the monster chubs. I've caught creek chubs seven, eight inches long there. May have been hitting the crawfish. Always worth trying them around here. Worse come to worse you'll likely end up tangling with a smallie or one of those suckers/carp you where seeing.

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