# Paint Creek info!



## Guest (Mar 31, 2001)

Trout season opener is upon us! Counting down to fishing gallore! Well, I can't wait! A few questions for all you...I was wondering what u use, where u fish, and techniques you try, just to compare them to what I use. I use a 3wt. rod and a single action reel, one that can withstand the elements. I use a double taper line, in this way I can present nymphs and dries! Breathable waders are the best, they are comfortable and in Paint Creek, u might do alot of walking like I do! I will sometimes carry a vest, but usually my wading jacket holds everything! I use mainly downstream nymphing techniques in slow water, but upstream nymphing is best in faster water. Using dries in the pocket water produces some browns for me, but I only use dries when the hatch is on! I fish everywhere, but I have a few secret areas. Hey, any of you fish the opening of paint creek and Clinton river???? Well just checkin!


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## jnpcook (Jan 19, 2000)

Dan, I hear you on counting down the days to fishing galore. I marked my calendar counting down the days to trout season.

I use an 8 foot 5 weight Pfleuger Medalist rod with a 1494 1/2 Pfleuger Medalist Single Action reel strung up with a 5 weight weight forward line. Nothing fancy but it does the job. In my opinion the rod is a little long for Paint Creek but I have managed to get by. I borrowed a nice 7 and 1/2 foot 3 or 4 weight Cabelas's rod from a friend of mine and used this a couple days on Paint Creek last September and I think a 3 weight is perfect for Paint Creek. I loved the fight of the fish on that rod. It was a real sweet rod.

I have fished most sections of the creek from Tienken Road to Kern Road and have had good luck in all sections. I have never really fished downstream of Tienken Road. Might try this year if it looks like good water. I prefer to fish in the woods and not in the park or near the downtown area.

When I first started fishing Paint Creek I mostly used dry flies like Elk Hair Caddis, Adams, Royal Wulffs and Hopper patterns later into the summer. These all worked ok for me although I have never really witnessed any major hatch activity on the Creek. I mean enough of a hatch that fish were surface feeding consistently. I have seen fish surface feeding occasionally but not a whole lot. I did see a hatch of light cahills last year. Dan what type of hatches have you seen? Were they heavy hatches? Just wondering since I haven't witnessed many hatches. Would love it if there were more and the fish were rising everywhere.

Last year I decided to concentrate more on nymph and streamer fishing and really didn't use many (if any) dries last season. This paid off as I started to catch more and somewhat larger trout. For me, a green bead head caddis pupa in a size 10 worked great all year, especially in the early season. I usually fish this below a strike indicator (I use the bio putty which works well). I used to mostly fish Paint Creek upstream but last year I found a section that worked well for downstream fishing. I learned that section well and enjoyed wading downstream and not having to fight the current. I also agree that fishing the faster riffle water it is better to fish it upstream. At least this is how I have fished faster riffles. I also used an olive wooly bugger fished downstream. This was quite effective after a thunderstorm when I caught a couple of nice 10-14" browns. 

I also have a pair of the Orvis Clearwater Breathable waders and highly recommend them or any other breathable wader. I hike around a lot as well and these are great. Seem to be fairly rugged too as I have come in contact with some pickers and thorns and as long as I carefully move the branch and don't just race through the woods, I haven't had any tears or pinhole leaks in my waders.

I wear a vest but could probably get by with one of those packs you wear around your neck. I really don't go through a lot of flies on Paint Creek and don't have to change tippet or leaders very often.

Well I can't wait to get back to the Creek this year. Only 28 days until trout season. See you on the Creek.

John


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## craig (Dec 28, 2000)

It sounds like you guys know a thing or two about Paint creek. I have always wondered how people do there. I recently got a nice 4wt rod and am anxious to give it a try there.Thanks for posting your information, it helped answer some questions I had.


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## YPSIFLY (Feb 13, 2001)

While your waiting, why not roll on over to wixom and try the stockers at Wixom road. Lot's of fish. It's a great place to try new tactics. I had great success while learning to drift egg patterns.


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