FLY-FISHING WITH JOHN AND ELIZABETH EISENBARTH

Eisenbarth's Favorite Flies

EDITOR'S NOTE: John Eisenbarth, owner of Riverside Outfitters and Fly Shop, and his wife Elizabeth, have fished the Sipsey Fork, the tailwaters of Smith Lake, for 13 years.

Question: What type of flies do you use in the tailrace to catch trout?
Answer: The dominant insect in our tail waters is the chironomid, commonly referred to as midges. They are two-winged insects that live their lives on the bottom of the river. Some people call them bloodworms. When they get ready to change or pupae, they become a two-winged insect, fill the pupae with air and float to the surface. They break out of the shucks when they reach the surface of the water, ride down stream, dry their wings and then fly off. The trout usually feed on them as they come up from the bottom and try to break out of their shells. We use ants as well because they are always in the water. In the spring, ants fall in the water by the millions when mating. Ants also wash into the water when the turbines are turned-on and the water washes into the bushes. Ants are a good food source for trout across the country. We also have occasional caddisfly and mayfly hatches take place. There are always grasshoppers, leafhoppers, shad and other minnows in the water.

Question: What are your five favorite flies for fishing below the Lewis-Smith Dam?
Answer: The Elk hair caddis tied between an 18 and a 16 is one favorite. We don't have many caddisflies, but the fly itself is a good generic pattern. My second favorite would be a CDC caddis tied on a size 20. Instead of using elk hair, this fly has a CDC feather that comes from a duck. Another favorite is a midge pattern. We call it an over-the-rainbow pattern. I'll also use my Big Ass Madam, which is a generic fly tied on about an eight or a 10 that represents grasshoppers and mayflies as a strike indicator when I drift a weighted fly underneath. Often, I'll catch just as many trout on the Big Ass Madam on top as I do on the weighted fly drifting underneath. I also like to use a variation of a wooly bugger that we refer to as a Fat-Head Bug. The Fat-Head can represent anything from a damselfly to a minnow.

Riverside Outfitters and Fly Shop is located in Jasper, off Hwy 69 N, 4 miles below the Smith Lake dam. For more information, call John Eisenbarth at (256) 287-0050, go to www.1flyfish.com or e-mail him at JE@1flyfish.com.

TOMORROW: EISENBARTH'S CLIENTELE