A Little Class Action

                                                       A Little Class Action

                                                                    5/08/25 

 

 I had my Eddie Bauer Expedition fishing jacket on and Trout Unlimited bugger cap. Wearing Frogg Toggs chest waders and Orvis wading boots. A Hardy Demon fly rod, L.L. Bean reel and a custom made net. I wasn’t high class but I wasn’t low class. I was just ready to do a little classy trout fishing! 

  The gobblers weren’t gobbling but I hoped that the fish were biting. By 10:30 I was all dressed in my fishing attire ready to do some trout fly fishing. 

 It started off slow. A section I’ve caught many stocked trout before but they just weren’t biting. I got to thinking maybe they didn’t stock this section this year yet? When I finally caught my fist rainbow, that escaped before I was able to net it, I started thinking maybe most have been caught? I was puzzled! I tried different color Woolly buggers and Triple Threat streamers. Except for the one that got off I didn’t even get a strike. It was if the escapee told the other trout “don’t eat!” Come on now, Lent is over with!

 I waded up creek from where I started and decided to try my skills in the faster riffling current. I was casting a woolly bugger when I finally got a good solid hook up. I could tell he wasn’t a biggy but he was a trout and I got him netted. I was kinda surprised it was a brown trout. Most of the trout I had caught in the creek way upstream the other day were rainbows.

  Continue fishing the fast current I got a sweeping tugging take. The 7 footer rod bent good and the fish on the other end wasn’t appearing to let go, tugging, wanting the choice food he grabbed. He pulled towards the far bank and the little Quest reel unrolled line that slipped through my tensioned fingers. He was a heavy match for the 3 weight, which I didn’t expect such heavy weights in fast current, but it wasn’t something Demon and I hadn’t fought before. He stayed below the surface which I figured was another brownie. He was a struggle to get to the net but I was successful. A nice brown trout that looked like more of a hold over than this years stocked trout. Man did he have a mean looking face? He surely wasn’t happy to see me! 

 I continued to cast and swinging the bugger in the faster wavy current and caught one more brown trout before wading back down to where I started. 

 I started casting the same Woolly Bugger I started with in the same area and I’m sure within sight of the same trout below in the clear water. I’m not sure if the trout moved in from below stream, the lunch bell rang, or the trout just all of a sudden got hungry? I started to hook up with vicious strikes all of a sudden. I missed some hard strikes that I knew I should have had. The trout I did hook up with were battle ready. Though the surface water wasn’t wavy fast the undercurrent was fast enough to make each struggle a battle to get the trout to the net.

All of a sudden it was the rainbows calling! And they were hearty weighty trout with lots of energy.   

  I made a long cast over towards the other side of the creek. It looked deeper over there so I let some more slack line fall so the bugger would drop deep before swinging. I felt a pull even before the line started to swing. I yanked the rod across my body down creek to tighten the line and then brought it up fast while pulling in line. I saw the flash of a fish, as it was turning down creek, so I knew he was the one that grabbed the bugger. After swimming down creek I got him turned my way. He put up a decent, creek bed, fight and I got him into the net. He must have been on a diet cause he looked pretty thin compared to the other trout but another nice brown trout he was. 

 Well, that deserved a cigar. I pulled out a RP Scorpion fuma and lit it up.  

 After catching a couple more I decided to head down creek to another spot I’ve done well at. I drove down creek and no one was parked where I wanted to fish. I got my fancy gear back on and headed to the creek. I crossed in the shallowest water for a better drift the way the current was flowing.

 Getting comfortable where I stood I pitched the bugger out midstream and let it swing down creek. The second cast something hit it so hard like it swung bat hitting a piñata. I missed the take but couldn’t understand how by how hard it struck the bugger. I kept on drifting the bugger through the middle of the creek and caught a couple of smaller trout and lost one. There was a big fallen log half in the water half the width of the creek. I had to make sure my swing didn’t end up catching the log. I made a long cast towards the slower water on the far side. The bugger swung and I sort of moved my rod with the drift trying to keep the bugger near the far slower water. Down, on the swing mid creek, a trout swiped at the bugger pulling the line towards the far bank. I pulled back just enough to get a good hook set. He fumbled around near the far side but not getting loose he turned down creek in the deeper water. He was headed towards the down log so I lifted the rod up and not giving him any more line. He shot up half out of the surface splashing water every which way before going under. I had no choice but pull the bending rod upstream to keep the frisky trout from getting under the log. The rod was bent to its limit I felt and the line was as tight as a violin string. If the fly line could make noise I’m sure it would of been twanging out a tune as the trout swung/swam back and forth with the tight line. I got him tired enough, I guess, cause he came in quietly after that ordeal.  

 I wasn’t ready to test the 3 weight rod strength again trying to keep a fish from getting tangled in the log so I waded around the tree and log and started to cast the Woolly Bugger again. It was a little tougher to get line out because I didn’t have much back casting room. One thing I do love about the Hardy Demon is it is easy to wrist cast without a full arm swing back cast. 

 I flung the bugger out as far as I could and let it swing into some wavy water down a bit that looked shallow maybe a foot or so deep. I felt a nudge but not enough thinking it was a strike. I figured I bumped a small boulder beneath the surface when all of a sudden a fish grabbed the bugger with a hard tug like he engulfed the whole thing in one gulp! I think he set the hook himself but I yanked back just for the heck of it and he didn’t like that one bit. He took off out of the shallows up creek staying near the far bank. Fly line shot through my fingers so quick I loosened my grip on the line fearing my fingers would have gotten friction burned. The trout continued up creek and slowed a bit with the bent rod pressure. I tightened my grip on the line again and turned him down creek. He swam down with a couple of tugs but nothing too harsh. Down in the shallow water again he started head shaking like a head banging guitar rock star. After his head shaking I had him coming towards me. That quick flurry and hard tugs must have used a lot of his energy. I was reeling in line with the rod bent pointing at the oncoming trout. He stayed near the creek bed till I let him pass me. I squeezed the fly line again the cork grip and took out my net with the other hand. As I lifted the rod the trout rose splashing the surface as I swept the net below him and slid him into the net. He was another fine looking weighty brown trout with my bugger in his mouth as if he wasn’t, in any way, letting me have it back! 

 Tired of bugger fishing I went back up where I started here. I decided to give nymph fishing a go before leaving. I ended catching one smaller brown trout and one rainbow on a small wet fly and caught another bow on a nymph.  

 My belly was trying to let me it’s passed launch time and getting near dinner time. I had enough fun for the day and decided to call it quits. 

 Back at the truck I took off my classy attire and cased my classy rod and laid my fancy custom net on the back seat. It was a fun day.

 Maybe you’ll see me around fishing the ANF. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out who I am by the clothes I wear!

~doubletaper.