Same Time Next Year (Day 1)

 

Same Time Next Year (Day 1)

2/28/2022

  After getting beat up wading Wilson Creek over rocks and boulders I decided to fish the catch and release waters on the Davidson River. It was still in the 30’s in the morning so I wasn’t in a hurry to get there. Besides that the Davidson River Outfitters shop didn’t open until 10:00 and I wanted to stop by to check them out. I found their shop is really stocked up with plenty of fly fishing gear and plenty of fly tying material. So much there were colors and shades of tying material I can’t even find on line. When it comes to feather hackle I like to see them before I buy them.

  Trout fishing the Davidson is definitely an experience and a lot of patience is needed. I suppose, being that the road follows the river, making it easy access, it receives a lot of pressure. The trout aren’t easily fooled. You might be able to match the hatch but most times the trout know artificial and real, like a jeweler knowing the difference between a real diamond and a cubic zirconia under a magnifying glass.

  It was a comfortable 40’s when I parked along the roadside. The same spot I’ve concentrated on in the past 3 years. I took my time packing my vest and assembling my 4 weight 7 ½’ Powell rod. The sky was a pale blue and the sun wasn’t quite over the mountain side. The air was cool with nearly any wind to speak of but the coldness and dampness of the forest air was noticeably felt on bare skin. I got to the stream it was higher than I expected but still manageable to wade. The water was crystal clear though the shady areas along the far bank was much darker. The deeper sections weren’t visible beneath either.

  I started nymph fishing a fast run that entered into the long stretch of water. I looked downriver often for any risers in the slower current. I slowly nymph fished downstream until I got just up from where I usually found trout rise. Sure enough a few noses poked through the surface water sucking in small midges that dimpled on the surface. I had an assortment of small dries I was ready to use to try and fool these Davidson River trout.

  Noticing a few small BWO I started with a #20 CDC BWO on 6x tippet. I then tried a CDC parachute and CDC gray poly para-dun. I watched trout after trout rise, with there nose up, inspecting my imitations like a pathologist through a microscope. I fooled 2 trout in about an hour and a half after showing them an assortment of #20 to #16 dry flies. When small early black stoneflies started to flutter and drifting on the surface I switched to a #18 1x long black caddis with a light tan deer hair wing. That fooled a couple more. In the meantime I watched trout gobble stoneflies as soon as they emerged upon the surface and fluttered their wings to dry them off. After a while the trout would only take a drifting bug that was fluttering upon the surface.

 

After noon the sun was bright above the mountain side and with it brought the heat. I waded out and walked back to the truck to take my fleece over shirt off and returned to the river. Seeing no more risers, and tired of them teasing me, I lit a stogie and started wade fish downriver and into the fast riffling water. 

  

 I pulled one rainbow out on a San Juan worm. I didn’t see any risers so I decided to concentrate on fishing beneath.

 

 The sunshine was putting a good glare upon the surface and the riffling water reflected sunlight and sparkled like a revolving disco mirror ball. Even with my polarized shades on it was blinding in spots. I drifted the San Juan and a small stonefly without any results. I started to pick up rocks to see any nymphs clinging to the smooth granite type rocks. Only nymph I found was a brown nymph in maybe a size 14. I dropped a BH pheasant tail from the San Juan and finally got some action. 

  An hour or so went by before I saw my first rise near the far cliff side of the river. There was a nice stream of water that flowed beneath some hanging laurel and calmed downstream from where I saw the rise. The problem was the deeper wavy current was between me and the riser. Maybe a 15 yard cast but my dry wouldn’t be hanging around in the pool long before being pulled downstream by the wavy current. I moved upstream and waded out to my waist shortening the distance. With a quick cast, of an Adams Parachute, I shot the line and dry towards where I saw the rise last. The dry dropped upon the out-flowing current from the laurel. My lines s-curved midstream towards my offering. This gave time enough for the Adam to drift perfectly with the slower current while my slack fly line started to drift downstream with the wavy midstream surface water. I knew I had to be quick pulling line back while lifting the rod fast enough to take up the slack should a trout take my offering. I saw the sudden swirl upon the water surface and quickly followed up with a hook set as previously mentioned. The fly line swooped off the water and tight lined towards the far bank. The tapered leader cut the surface water downstream as the 4 weight fly rod bowed into the mid section. The trout wasn’t all that heavy but put up a good battle in the belly of the wavy current. 

 

 I continued to try and coax a few more with the Adams. One rose to my dry so unexpectedly that I missed the hook set. It looked like a nice trout also. That got me more prepared and confident that more trout would rise to my offering though none were rising to anything else. I hooked 3 more trout casting towards the far bank in places before actually noticing the brightness of the day was failing. I looked at my watch and it showed 6:00. I called it quits and headed for the truck.

~doubletaper