A Week Late

 A Week Late

4/29/24 

  I was ready to do some dry fly fishing so I took out my G2 Scott fly rod. There was hardly a breeze and the medium action 9' rod would be more relaxing casting than the two fast action rods I've been using in windy conditions the past couple of days.

  I looked out over the water and already I saw a couple fish rising. There hasn't been much bugs flying around lately. The Grannom hatch seems to be over but there still is a few small caddis flying around now and then. I think there was a Blue Dun hatch the past week but wasn't really sure about what the little mayflies were. They definitely weren't Blue Wing Olives.

 I was knee deep able to cast near the far bank if need be. I had a Woolly Bugger on to start with, as always. When I saw two trout break the surface I nipped it off and knotted on a section of 6x tippet. I had caught a few trout the other day on a black elk hair caddis and a few on a dark olive tan elk hair. I knotted on a #14 tan elk hair to make it easier to see. The sun wasn't quite over the cliff side forest trees just yet but it's brightness shown only half the width of the creek. The couple of risers were on the dark side.

 I pulled line out and made false casts letting more line slip through my fingers. I could feel the medium action rod load behind me and gave a relaxing cast upstream from the last riser. It took a few drifts for encouragement but he did end on the end of my line. The other riser wasn't easily fooled and wouldn't bite.

 More fish started to rise, mostly taking emergers I presume, though I couldn't see anything on the surface they may be taking. There was a few small caddis flying about but when one hit the water surface no trout nabbed it. I wasn't having any takers on the tan elk hair so I knotted on the black body elk hair caddis. This was the ticket as some would say!

 I felt like the only ice cream vendor at the county fair on a hot summers day. That little #18 caddis was just what the trout wanted, big or small. Nothing in my birthday trout range but some quality fish slurped it up as if licking ice cream off a sugar cone! I would move around, within distance of the risers, which kept me busy for some time. When the wind picked up, in spurts, it was a little harder to place my offering where I wanted it but I managed.

 

 Now, I said I hooked many but getting them into to the net wasn't a finishing touch. Many of the trout came unhooked once I got them close. Unless I had a good hook set in the side of their mouth that little #18 hook didn't grip the fish lip skin enough to hold them. No matter, I was going to release them anyhow. The pleasure is finding the right offering, fooling the fish and hooking them with a fair fight. 

 Satisfied, and not seeing anymore risers I went back to the camper. Checking the time it was only 1:30. I took a break and relaxed in the camp chair. I ate a couple of granola bars and drank a bottle of cold spring water. I know I hadn't taken many pictures but I was kind of tired doing so. Besides, except for their size, they all looked the same..except one! After a relaxing break I figured I'd drive down creek and finish the day off.

 I got down to the water and found rising trout in a fast wavy riffle across creek. I couldn't wade upstream or down stream for better casting because the water was too deep. I had to make long casts over a cross current flow. It was tough and I missed the first few that came up quickly in the fast water. There was a couple that came up downstream where the water wasn't as wavy and I was able to pick a couple up on a caddis.When I didn't see any other risers I knotted on a Bugger but that didn't last too long because nothing was biting. I thought for a moment and figured trying to nymph fish. Maybe a wet fly of some sort above a Hares Ear might attract a hit. I've caught a few trout the other day on a Hares Ear so I just thought maybe?

 I knotted on the two with a Picket Pin on top. I was casting in deep water downstream from the faster run I saw fish rising earlier. I casted upstream and let it drift downstream with a mend. I wasn't using an indicator so I kept my eyes peeled on the floating fly line to detect a strike. After the line passed me, from the corner of my eye, I saw a yellow oblong shape swimming upstream. He was very apparent in the dark water. I had thought my drift had already passed him when the trout disappeared in the deep darkness of the water. I felt a pull, the line twitched outward and I jerked the rod up and back. I knew I had a trout on. All of a sudden, to my surprise, the golden yellow trout appeared heading down creek with my tight line following. I had him!

 I know I have fought some tough battles with big trout but I just couldn't remember when. This guy was no easy pushover. Each tug was a handful that had me gripping the cork grip tightly. At times I had to let tension line out when he so desired as the rod bowed deeply with each wrenching tug. He swam outward toward the far bank and turned sharply tugging at will. I had him swimming upstream across from me a couple of times, after a fierce battle down creek, and I thought he was tired out. When he saw how close he was he turned away angrily, pulling and tugging as if trying to yank the rod right out of my hand. I gave him tension line as he swam away with the tip of the rod pointing in his direction as the line cut through the surface water like a a crating knife through packing tape. Three times I had him near me and three times he shook his head harshly and pulled away. I was in knee deep water and thought I could get him in shallower water behind me. He was downstream putting on some shenanigans when I spun my body and rod towards the near bank. He followed unwillingly as if to see what I was up to. Once he realized he was in shallower water he spun with his head up shaking the line furiously as the rod flexed and arced like a limb of a snare trap, with a wild rabbit trying the get loose. He was on too long and I know I had lost many a trout break free this long. I just had to be patient and wear him out a little more. 

 Well, I finally got him to cooperate, not to his satisfaction of course, and got my net under him when he least expected it and scooped him up. He was a handful. Trying to keep him in the net was another challenge. He was weighty and built solid like a training body builder. He flopped around heavily and didn't seem like he was going to quit. I never talked to trout before but I was trying to tell him I was going to release him and he wasn't going on the wall attached to a piece of driftwood. When he finally settled down enough I got a picture before pulling the Hares Ear out of his jaw. 

 

 I'll admit it took some time for him to swim off on his own power. I faced him into the current to revive him. When I felt good and sure he was going to make it, feeling a tail swat, I released him from my grip. He didn't dart off but easily swam away into the current and disappeared beneath.

 Come to think of it I hadn't caught my birthday trout as of yet. A week late but hey, better late than never!

~doubletaper