Date: May 18th Weather: 50-60 Rainy Time: 4:30- 8:30 p.m.
Once again the sky is gray. Fine by me. Trout won't be able to see me coming. Tied up some new creations and I decided these new prototypes need to taste the wind and the water. Today I will head to the part of my stream where I live closest to. I have yet to fish this section this year and figured it would be a great cloudy day for some field testing. Did I mention yet that it is cold enough out that I have to wear a hoodie and a fleece jacket. In the middle of MAY!!! Oh well at least I don't have to use the air conditioning. Once I arrived at the stream I tied on my set up and grabbed my gear. Off I go.. downstream from my house. The first hole I decided to fish was the bridge hole that I parked near. I have had some luck catching good sized rainbows in this hole, so I decided to throw out a sparkly treat for a deep dwelling bow.
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| Used peacock and pheasant feathers with some Maribou twisted then wrapped. |
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I decided to just sit for a few minutes and see if there were any fish moving around. Didn't see anything. The hole looked like glass. I cast a few times up under the bridge letting it drift down and deep into the deepest part of the hole. The key for me when fishing like this is patience. I have caught most fish from this hole just letting it sit deep, giving a twitch bit by bit. After about 10 minutes of this with no bites, I did a 180 and decided to fish this log by casting about 4 ft in front of it and letting it sink to where it was about directly under the log. I slowly retrieved my line letting the nymph rise then sink, then rise then sink. About a foot up then a foot down. Next thing you know my line goes tight and the fish is on.
Here is a pic of the log that looks like a perfect trout hideout. Hotel Rainbow.
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| If I were a fish I would live under there. |
Here is the product of my new creations and some gray sky conditions, plus one heck of a nice trout hotel.
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| I set the timer on my camera while still fighting the trout. Not the smartest technique could have lost it. Fortunately I was able to land it and get this picture. I was wearing my new lucky shoes from my younger bro. Thanks Bone! |
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| This was about an 18"-20" female rainbow. Caught and carefully released to swim another day. |
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| The beautiful colors of a rainbow. |
Apparently the new fly was a big hit. The fish was happy and so was I. Well that was a great start to the day. After splashing around in this hole I figured it would be best to continue on my way. After all I was mainly fishing this stretch to see how it is looking this year. So far so good. Again I fished each hole the "correct way" and then drifted and sank flies into each hole trying to coax out what seemed to be some pretty inactive fish today. Again I had a lot of hits drifting down in and missed a ton of fish. When fishing this way, hooking up with the fish can be extremely difficult because of the way the trout is striking your fly. I lost a bunch of fish after actually hooking them because of a bent hook. Those can be killer on a hook set. It kept sprinkling off and on which made sneaking up on the fish a lot easier. It also made for some nice pics.
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I always make sure to strap the camera around my neck so that way I don't get to caught up in just catching the fish. There are so many different things in nature that get passed by because the mind is set on just one thing. Having my Nikon with me forces me to stop and enjoy something as simple as rain drops on a blade grass. Sometimes I can't decide whether to fish or just take pictures. I guess I will just have to do both.
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| Just about tried to see how waterproof my camera was. |
By the time I made it down to my predetermined stopping point I had caught some fish, but missed about twice as many. I fished the last hole longer than I probably should have, but figured that the holes would be less spooked on the way back upstream to my starting point. I was determined to go back to some of these holes and get those flashes of gold and acrobatic leaping trout. This stream is smaller than some and the fish can be quite finicky so I wasn't quite sure of my chances, but I knew a few spots I fished lightly where the fish wouldn't be able to resist a hand tied treat. It was about 7:00 p.m. and dinner was served. I just want to take time to thank these next few trout for taking some time out of there busy schedule to pose for my blog post. They were all caught then released to tell their little trout buddies about their 8 seconds of fame.
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| This one was in pure disbelief that I took his dinner back. Or super stoked to be on Blogger. |
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| Getting Kypie! |
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| This one was probably thinking what everyone thinks when a flash burns your retina! Where am I? |
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| The Classic Drifter had to represent. For all the little guys! |
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| This Rainbow was nice because this is the farthest down I have caught a Rainbow in this stream. |
The stream was flowing nicely with new deeper holes. Some of the old holes are gone and some of them shallower. The fish were looking healthy and in good supply. This part of the stream is Catch and Release only and also artificial lures only. It is well pastured and makes for some great fly fishing. A great place to take your child to learn how to cast a fly rod. Of course if you do decide to bring the kids along make sure to always keep an eye out for cattle and horses. Many a time I have been chased by a horse or bull. But that is a story for a different time. So today was rainy but I still was able to enjoy it and test out some new flies on some finicky trout. I think I will be heading back as soon as I get a chance.
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| Follow the Eagle to the fish. |
Until Next Time......Tight Lines to all!!!
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