Pretty 17″ rainbow, caught in the Yakima River Canyon in late June of 2017. I had been floating for a couple of hours, with barely any interest in various flies, so I tied on a #10 Orange Stimulator, and began landing it right along the overhanging brush, on the shore. After a bit, this became more of “casting practice” than “fishing”, given the lack of response. Nothing wrong with that, of course, as there are far worse places to be! A bit later, I dropped it within a couple of inches of the edge, and it immediately got tagged by a great looking Bow, that bolted as soon as it felt the metal of the hook. After a couple of flips out of the water, and a great view of the fish, the hook came loose. Happy to have had the chance, I resumed practice. Within a minute, this one hit the fly, and it stayed set. Great day.
So I looked up what an Orange Stimulator looks like. Looks sort of like a hopper. Is that why throwing him in shallow water (near the shore) worked? Man, I’m going to start practicing my casting so we can get out on the water together.
Absolutely. The specific stretch has a lot of undercut banks, with tufts of grasses growing above the water. The fish like to hide under that and dart out for larger food items, but not too far. A lot of trees in the canyon, at least couple with Bald Eagle’s nests. Stimulators usually work well in hopper weather, but can be effective even outside of that.