Trout hitting chironomids underwater footage
 

https://youtu.be/QfRxzRp_ZLE

I enjoy watching the strike indicator drop under the surface while stillwater fishing for trout but I always wonder what exactly is happening down there under the surface to produce the different types of disturbances to the indicator sitting on the surface. Why some days that float just goes down and never seems to come back up and others it just pops down quick and back up before you can even react. Or maybe just a little wobble on the surface.

That is exactly why I have underwater cameras. To see what is happening under the surface. First off Chironomids are very small and sometimes you are fishing deeper water. My previous chironomid video the camera was actually up at the surface. This one I was able to float the camera in the water column above the chironomids. Now that I have it working really well I am quite interested in trying this somewhere in a deeper lake and see what is happening deeper down this spring. Hopefully I can find some clear water where it will work for me to try.

I hope you enjoy this short video with trout taking hook clipped Chironomids. I always enjoy watching the fish to see how they feed. Best way to learn what is happening.

If you have any suggestions let me know in the comments section below.

Best of luck fishing up there this spring. Enjoy your time on the water!

Very enjoyable! Your play by play is nicely done too which is much more enjoyable than music that gets old fast.

Cool video, makes me look forward to getting out this weekend.

Nice job and post Brandon! That was interesting. I'm always throat sampling and matching, as best as possible, when chirony fishing. Always seems to make the most difference. Size I worry about 2nd.

Interesting to hear your perspective. I really haven't done enough Chroni fishing to know much from experience. Most guys I talk to do agree on the throat samples, but the guys catching the tanks in BC have told me size is the most important as well as the quality of the chroni. They say there are days when they will only hit the skinniest tied chronis in the box.

Yeah I'm a numbers guy for sure. If I ain't catchin....
Best so far is 49 casts, 49 fish on. Same hook. Teeny chirony btw. Lost #50. That is a pretty rare day but one I will always remember. Maligne lake, home bay.

From my experiences BC trout are way different than AB trout when it comes to chrony fishing. Matching the hatch has always seemed more important in BC interior lakes than it has been in trout lakes I've fished in AB. I think one reason is that those big tank trout you mention are well educated in BC lakes.
Way more chrony fisherman there educating them. And those lakes have a lot of feed in them so they have a variety of food to source thus making them even more picky I think.
I know times chrony fishing in lakes where I live and fish in AB can make anybody feel like a pro. They'll take anything you throw at them. Less feed and hatches and less educators..

Very cool footage.
I actually feel why the trout are spitting them out is because as they are inhaling the chironomids, the line is pulling the hook back so it’s not natural to the fish.
Just my guess.

I was out at sparrows egg one day and fish were jumping but I used everything and could not catch anything. float tuber nearby has catching them left and right, he wouldn’t tell me what he was using so I accused him of using bait and he then said chironomids.
I’ve tried but never any luck.

No wonder I miss so many indicator strikes!!

Good to know. Yeah I think you are right with the educated trout in BC. It even seems it depends on the lake in BC. The smalled higher pressured lakes the fish will grab and drop the chroni so fast. Other lakes that float is gone, they'll dray your whole rod down.

If it even opens up again after this post COVID area when I am back home in AB I'll have to try some Chironomid fishing.

Yes I am sure sometimes the line pulls the fly back out of their mouth. This seems to be less of an issue with a hook actually on it. They seem to hook themselves at times. Yeah chironomid fishing can be crazy action for sure.

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing.

I believe the fish feels the leader and the fish in the video are really moving so are missing the fly because their mouth is actually hitting the leader and pushing the fly out of the way.
Try moving the fly higher by a foot or two or more forcing the fish to come up under the fly and getting the fly in the mouth before touching the leader. Get rid of the top fly. If he fish are on chronomides and you find the correct fly you won't need the top fly plus there is too much monofilament around the top fly for them to hit or feel.

YOUR TIP FOR THE DAY for those that haven't already figured this out. To find the bottom to set your depth use a one quarter inch by 3/4 inch stainless bolt with 3 stainless nuts on it and get a small thin "O" ring from the auto store for the the grove between the center nuts. Put your hook under the O ring. The nut is lighter than the forcepts and fatter therefor less sinkage into the mud.
A guy showed me this tip so I got a bolt set up. Went to the lake found the depth took the bolt off the hook and promptly threw the bolt into the lake instead of the fly. Lesson learned --get 2 or 3 bolt set ups.
Using forcepts (spelling????) is not good as they sink into the mud because they are heavy and thin and therefor give a false bottom reading.

Another TIP To set my depth for the fly after I have found bottom. I reel line in until my rod tip is touching the water and my bolt is on bottom, I reach up to the first eye and pull the fly line back to the reel and wind in the slack. My depth is set.
Cheers
Bjay

Not sure if you caught it in the video. There are no hooks on these chironomids. Clipped off so no way to get hooked or to stay in their mouths. I wanted to see if there was any difference in how they treated a black vs a chromie and one shallower than the other. This wasn't attached to a fishing rod. It was a camera hanging below a float just bobbing around the lake. I'm in British Columbia so only one fly is allowed on a line anyways by law. So in reality I never use this set up.

The line can be a factor, but the line is always there. From my experience watching video and down and ice hole you don't just only hook trout that come from below and don't touch the line. I would say most of the time from the videos I watch trout try to come in almost level to the presentation and suck it in. You can try to put in higher up, but I just try to put it at a depth where I am getting the most float downs. I'm not trying to create a trout path of travel when striking by fly positioning. I mean that seems pretty beyond me at least. If you can manipulate trout travel trajectory to maximize hook up ratio then that is impressive. I'm pretty basic when it comes to fly fishing.

I find just hooking your chironomid into a rubber twister tail with a light jig head works fine for setting depth and I have a ton of them. No need to go to the hardwar store. Whatever works, many ways to skin a cat. But depth seems to be most important so I use a castable sonar to see what depth the fish are swimming by at and set it as close to the average level as possible. Seems to work.


Good luck out there.

Agree

In watching the footage it looks like the trout inhales it but likely the line hits the fish in the nose and so it spits it out.

That was really informative! Thank you!