Shame on Us

 Shame on Us

5/20/24

 I got to the creek around 10. That sounds late but I found any earlier I'm dead tired with a back ache by 3 and besides that it makes for a long day. The first few days no trout were rising and no mayflies were seen till around 10:00 so I figure 10 is a good starting activity time. Sometimes I'd only see a couple mayflies around 10:00 but that's all I have to see to knot a dry on.

It was a bright warm morning. The sky was blue with no heavy cloud cover at all that would block the sunshine rising up behind me. The water was high though and flowing pretty fast with rolling waves. Two guys were using conventional rods and some kind of bait. I assembled my 9' fast action 5 weight Allen Icon fly rod and went down the bank to the water. The section I was fishing usually holds lots of trout and they always seem ready to rise to the occasion. When I stepped into the cold creek water the one fisherman commented he hadn't caught a thing. Watching the other guy downstream didn't appear he was doing any better. I knotted on a bugger, casted out and let it drift. The two left shortly and I was alone for a while. 

 Not getting any taps for about a half hour I decided to go on the dark side and nymph fish and wet fly fish. Still no hits. I was deciding what to put on next when a Sulfur fluttered by and then a March Brown in flight. I knotted on a March Brown and tossed it out. Not too far, down creek some, I saw my first rise. He wouldn't take the March Brown so I knotted on a Sulfur imitation. It took a few drifts for convincing and he got himself hooked. 

  I caught another down creek a ways just blind casting here and there like throwing acorns in a cut corn field just to see if I could scare a rabbit out.

 Well, that deserved a cigar. I pulled out a Fuente Deluxe out of my vest and lit it up.

 

 While I continued to blind cast out in the open wavy water a few fishermen showed up. They fly fished for about a half hour and left. Another guy stood on the bank looking out as if searching for a lost bobber. He didn't have a rod in his hand and I was pretty sure he was looking for trout rising or maybe a heavy hatch of some kind. Not seeing anything he was interested in, he left.

 By now the sun was overbearing. No bugs were coming off the water and I hadn't got a strike for sometime. I went up to the truck and decided to drive down creek.

 There were only two guys fishing with spinning rods in the wide section of open water. Not another soul around. The wavy water reflected the bright sun rays like stainless steel pots and pans hanging in the kitchen of a fancy restaurant under bright overhead lights. Across creek was shaded along the bank from overhanging tree branches and tall brush. There was a stream of water entering the main body of water from a creek that flowed down from the mountain side. There was no doubt in my mind that there were trout around there, out of the bright sunshine and in cooler water. I assembled the 9' fast action rod again and entered the main body of water. Knee deep to thigh high water I made my way across the wavy current within casting distance of the far bank. I saw a couple of Sulfurs come off and one March Brown. There were a bunch of tiny bugs flying just above the water surface but not causing any activity on top. Seeing the Sulfurs I knotted on an imitation. While doing that I saw my first rise. Casting out I missed two subtle takes. I brought the line in and saw my Sulfur and tippet were somewhat tangled. After untangling the mess I started casting out between me and the far bank.

 I always figured if there were a few Mayflies in the area the reason the trout aren't rising is because none are within their sight. I continued to cast the Sulfur out and made a couple of trout rise and got themselves hooked. One was a decent rainbow. The Sulfur imitation was snugly hooked in the rainbows lips.

 Not having anymore takes on the Sulfur I switched to a MB para dun. Under the bright sunlight, wavy glaring water and bank side shadows it was easier to see. During the week there were MB's always appearing. Not many but they would appear out of nowhere. Being so, I was pretty confident my #12 MB would entice a strike from a trout that wanted more than an afternoon small #16 Sulfur.

 I made a long cast and my MB landed just out from the far side bank. I watched it drift from the dark shadows into the sunlight. A trout rose and grabbed it, with a splash, like a crocodile coming out of the water at a young zebra crossing the river. I reared the long length of line back and the line tightened with an angry trout tugging and wrestling the tight line on the other end. With a little guidance I guided his way to my net.

  Casting within the shady areas and cooler water amounted to another half dozen or so hooked trout.

  When they quit rising to the MB parachute I switched to a Catskill tied MB. That amounted to a couple more gamers. It was harder to see in the distance but if I saw a splash I'd rear back on the rod to set the hook. Being there were no risers anywhere else I knew they were rising to my offering. One rainbow grabbed the MB at the end of the drift that surprised me. I wasn't able to see my dry but I knew it was out there near the end of the drift. The trout took it so quick and unexpectedly my wrist jolted downward with the heavy jerk from the take. I played him up through the shallow wavy current and another rainbow fitted in the net nicely. 

  

 After the other two guys left I continued wading downstream casting out the March Brown but had no takers. I got back to the truck around 3:00 under the hot blazing sun. I was taking off my gear when a white pickup truck pulled beside my truck. He asked me how I did. I told him I caught a half dozen or so on dries. He asked if there was a hatch and I told him no, I made them rise. He told me upstream that they saw fish feeding mid surface as if taking emergers but they couldn't catch any. I asked him if they tried a dry fly and he said no because none were coming to the surface. After they left it got me thinking about today and the last few,

 I watched fly guys constantly nymph fishing and never try a dry fly. Even if there was just a couple of Mayflies about. If they didn't see trout rising they weren't going to try one. So, if they won't try, how do they know if a trout will take their dry or not? Now, I know trout usually feed on nymphs but how does a fisherman know if the trout are feeding beneath unless he tries fishing underneath? My thought process is the same about dry fly fishing. If I know there was a hatch or I see a few Mayflies around the only way to see if the trout will rise to a dry is to give them a chance. I figure the only reason trout may not be rising is because there's no surface activity within their sight. And this thing fishermen say 'the trout aren't looking up' is funny. Any fish I ever caught has the same expression on their face. Their eyes are wide open and they never look like they are looking up, down or sideways.

 I don't come to Kettle Creek every year to see how many or count how many trout I catch. I don't consider it a competition. I don't come up here to fish beneath the surface unless I feel I have no other choice to catch fish. I come up here during Mayfly season to catch trout on dry flies. There are so many more hatches usually going on near the same time in May that I'll find trout rising or make them rise.

 Shame on us for offering dry flies when there's no big hatch and trout aren't rising. Shame on us for not deep sea fishing for trout below the surface with nymphs, wet flies or streamers like everyone else seems to be doing with a fly rod because they don't see fish rising. Shame on us for going out dry fly fishing instead of thinking I'll be just wasting my time. Yes, I'll admit I'm a die hard dry fly fisherman but I'm not going to waste my time on the bank looking over the water to wait for fish to rise. I'm going to make them rise!!

 So I will say, sitting by the evening camp fire, drinking a beer and smoking a cigar grinning, Allen Icon and I had a shameless dry fly fishing outing!

 

~doubletaper