George, you need to try a fly that imitates a black or brown cricket at sunset, you should be able to catch a RES off the surface with your fly rod. Crickets rarely last more than a second in my aquarium before they are plucked off the surface. RES will eat things off the surface under low light conditions. This summer I watched quite a few RES eat pellets off the surface in my pond right at dusk in the shade of some trees. They will move up in the water column as the light level drops.
I will say that pellets are not high on the prefered food item list, not sure why but it could be taste, texture, or simply the dryness of pellets. They do tend to crush pellets into pieces when they eat them rather than swallowing them whole and they seem to prefer pellets that have been soaked and softened. They will also eat pellets when competition for other more prefered food items is pretty stiff.
Thanks Shorty - I have a neat little hopper fly that I can tie with black foam that will work I betcha!
I like sinking flies best however because our medium turbid water keeps our fish from getting hook shy. I don�t use floating pellet flies anymore - heavier hooks sink AQMX and Stubby flies.
I nave experimented with RES getting pellet trained and have observed them fighting over hand thrown pellets in a couple feet of water.
I just don�t fish for them - more fun for me with fly rod on CNBG and HSB.
Cheers,
George
