My journal shows that Black Gnats have been tumbling to the water day after day for over 2 weeks now and there’s little sign of any let up… Such are their numbers that trout are sitting out for long periods as gnats get filtered downstream, often tight to banks(right). Surrounded by topping trout, it’s easy to assume they’re a pushover when in reality having seen and eaten so many naturals they hold a PhD in detecting impostors! To fool them then, your imitation has to behave just as the real thing. Even a slight hint of drag would put them down and in many cases these fish quietly slip away a few minutes later. Introducing some sort of slack into your delivery became the key and is best done by instantly lower the rod tip as soon as you’ve tapped it forward. This partially collapses the loop allowing it to drop to the water in a series of wiggles.
Get it right and trout like this were in the offing…
Grayling too were on the cards and come this time of year they’re in peak condition
By and far my most successful pattern was the APT (All Purpose Terrestrial)…
full dressing will appear in next blog post
