50 SELECTIVITY
Selectivity
Beau Beasley
we’re blue in the face and fishless; always thinking upon his publisher to send readers of Matt Supinski’s book Selectivity: The Theory there is a monster lurking around the next bend is not Southern Trout Magazine an excerpt from his & Method of Fly Fishing for Fussy Trout, the appropriate way to fish. Here, each piece of water book. I believe this will give you just a Salmon and Steelhead delves deeply into the newcan hold a large trout—in habitat-rich spring creeks taste of what this book is lying all about. history of fly fishing and the thoughts behind and tailwaters, the exciting sheer amount of fish in total likeiswhat you’ve read go of outfish Supinski’s approach. He explores and defines If you’d disguise amazing. There are here, hundreds local fly shop andundercut purchase copy. what steps you can take to easily determine to your among all the weed growth, banks,aand dark If you’d like to meet Matt Supinski in person which tactic and approach is best for your channels. You often walk past sections of a fertile and habitat get anand autographed of for histhe latest situation. Are you fishing a spring creek, or trout lies whilecopy looking honey book you’re in luck. Supinski is a featured hole. On one of my favorite spring creeks in Wisconfreestone stream? Are you tossing streamers, sin, it at tookthis an electroshocking fish survey to teach me speaker year’s Virginia Fly Fishing or swinging nymphs and bead head this lesson. The biologists came downstream Festival www.vaflyfishingfestival.org heldand in patterns? In this book, Supinski discusses shocked a section of river I thought was fishless— Waynesboro, Virginia, April 12th and 13th. If presentation methods that work, but more to 24-inch browns appeared out ofone nowhere, leavyou 16move fast you may get into of the importantly, why they work. If you want to ing me completely baffled. coveted slots in his Advanced Tactics for read a book that is just as entertaining as it is hunting, plain and simple. BilatSpringSight-nymphing Creeks class being offered at this is informative, then go to your local fly shop eral and extremely acute vision is required. Stalking at year’s festival. The class may have sold out, and purchase a copy of Selectivity. Gentle sipping rises occur to spent caddis or floating crippled a low profile out of the sun’s shadow is a must. And but if you do get in the class, I hear a bottle pupae that have just turned into adults. JOHN MILLER having the patience to study the patterns and behavof good Scotch and smoked salmon goes a As a personal favor to me, Supinski ior of a large S/R trout nymphing is paramount to suclong way prevailed My friends Carl Richards and Gary LaFontaine cess. to endearing you to the instructor. came up with some highly specialized imitations. In ity s that the ctivheavy le e ge trout, know S r averarivers—another e fo th e an th these caddis-infested being the or is Pra lective, the water Aggressive, Se more time on . find them— at he is, with Tips for Trophy Fish nt disposition An Elk-hair in which you ski, guide th statetailwater—exactness Missouri matters. their curre e th to on ing “Matt Supin s rd nd co s ac balance right h depe tic fis at tac th of d r ts an ge vio s i sk flie ur pin yo Su t . jus feeding beha ion or ad tat d, to en it. When the elhea key in on a trout Timing is everything here. The power of cloudy days proper prescut that you needCaddislecoften salmon, ste tion, half won’t Passive—and trout, Atlantic fly pattern se your catch of always half increase like to r de or Imitation is in specific phase the pupa, which comprises 75 perwith light rain is amazing on these rivers, which are en what to do wh es and tells you after.” thor, Trout Fli au be , t es gh gh mi u Hu ve e e yo cent of theDafeeding during this hatch, dead drifting or broad and wide open without shade. Often when you t. Relianc whatever els fined the spor s that once de er methods of the traditionpupa will d othyou m an g fro twitch-and-go drifting give many looks fish them on sunny days (the Delaware is one examhin ed fis ay between fly y as fishing has str into jeopard rred the lines st 30 years, fly reasingly blu ort’ has come sp inc “Over the pa pt s n’s ke ha ma ich on rejections. the ple) you could swear there isn’t a trout to be had. Big inking But whenreq and wh is on heavy, al innovatiand often uired hatch elf as ‘the th on technologic ods once Selectivity, of angling its ditional meth Supinski, in the tradition y. Mattkey. stery of tra ncthe ma cie e sheer numbers of naturals is Eventually the and selective tailwater trout are always on the hunt for effi angling. Even e lik g ut ntit Ze hin r bs ercial fis its forme s come to su t from comm n’s sport in technology ha thinking ma quite differen ate ing .” th im ed ult me ain e so att th trout make mistakes in these situations after you have for food, comfort, and feeding handouts and they go as ective as cts erwise to be sport fishing torical persp d Other Subje levels not oth hing into his stery of skill e Steelhead an ma Lin e y th Dr has put fly fis to or, life consistently and monotonously presented your fly through all the selectivity phases in direct correlation , auth ep devoting one’s Bill McMillan May the Rivers Never Sle attractions of thor, for and co o live dozens wh rs over and over to-authe same ssifish. It might take with the conditions. They can traverse many miles of he fis fly for those rtain cla c ust read,’ a ce ‘m a is , ok y of casts, but you should stick with one good fish river in several weeks due to the stable hydrodynamlatest bo g as to wh tt Supinski’s understandin “Selectivity, Ma cts in e and effect’ salmon. bje us tic su ‘ca lan e his At let of d s mp itsesbehavior will pay off. A ics and flat river terrain. For the most part this dictates ead, an despite refusals. the activitie ovides a coObserving trout, steelh ed and haviorist, pr ok. He organiz havior observ e lifelong be sis for this bo nt. Every be Supinski, th is the ba orma at /D Th ve . ssi do mid-depth suspended trout jittering from side to side their mobility, and so the angler must be also mobile. Pa ey ; what th Reflective salmonids do st ve; Selective/ gressive/Acti . himself the mo i Ag ies sk or er: pin teg nn Su ca ma e d n usually feeding towiascending pupae or driftIf you’re a hatch-matching dry fly nut like me, it’s thes ll fin a clear ws fromindicates fisher must ow els, but most the author flo nce every fly on many lev explained by the one refere with readersrises. Quick onate larvae become resing to ll slashing rises usually indicate critical that you know a stream’s aquatic insect hatches d wi ne sti ity de tiv is Selec . This book rt of the book . d Fly Fishing on ea lm elh interesting pa sa Ste d an or, as well as the percentage of mayfly, caddis, stoneflies, feeding on emerging pupae or ovipositing females that th , au ut, steelhead, Trey Combs major if targeting tro e for the first ne mi no my nchironomids, and midges that make up each hatch, so climbed underwater to lay are now ski, iseggs and wi tter credeswimide Matt Supin riter th be ofessional gu d any angler-w owner and pr d compelling be hard to fin Often lodgeming ose an uld pr by wo y, ely that you have a basis for fly selection. No two tailwaback to the surface. trout will leap comIt vit liv y. cti ur his “Sele first cent nced by ard in its a new stand of the twentysubject, enha is sure to set complicated angling book is ity th tiv to lec e Se tic . ters have the same emergence schedule; the hatches pletely or partially in the air when A/A attacking t to do jus photographers tials or talen contributing m Matt and ts fro sec y In ph m gra ea Str photo egg-laying females. are dictated by climate zones and seasons. Some tailauthor, Trout on Dick Pobst, field.” at trout, salm the world’s gre on g e waters, such as the San Juan River, will have many hin tiv fis more selec ng and fly today are far time of guidi ut we fish for ated. In this through a life , uc tro e ed red . th ve : .D co rn Ph lea year-round emergence schedules, with concentrations s dis the survivors we all should “Supinski ha g has made ucci/Nastasi, ers, something d rivSight-Nymphing aro, Flick, Ca d-release fishin and steelhea plains re. Catch-an nnings, Marin ex Je yo i of midges and tiny Blue-Winged Olives occurring daily. of of sk ys pin ion da Su dit ts— re in the tra entomologis than they we c—written in ing amateur havior in their atching classi ad) becommon fly-fishcrystal-clear -mWhen er lhe tch tee oth ha /s d rn an on , I am nymphing water, in During a hatch, I recommend fishing upstream of de lm in mo ert, Meck ut (and sa your teeth ards, Schweib nt) or gnash eam. Learn tro Swisher/Rich ssive/Dorma w face onstr Pa no d d an we an , g— ms ve din ru nd tailwaters andSelecspring creeks, I approach the fish, so that you can present the fly with a downconu tive/Reflecti g understan slowly and the modern tch-matchin sive/Active, in modern ha viors (Agges an instruction each piece of the river into feeding beha cautiously, is ok dividing small and-across reach cast. The greater distance you can bo an is rm Fly Fishe stration. Th d grow.” er emeritus, onstream fru ans, read it an olph, publish ndrivers r. By all me Ra vio hn ha Jo be fly ) parts. Our tendency on is to roam and wade till keep from the fish the better. Be careful not to produce ting (angler the most exac
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SELECTIVITY
st-read for er written. It ould be a mu e volumes ev king. This sh rtant referenc at an underta po wh im d st an mo ok e t a bo one of th “Wow. Wha that it will be ing would guess Fly Rod Trout fisherman. I many times.” or, Ed Shenk’s d rea red Shenk, auth d an rea Ed be ld ou sh
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