Variety Show

Variety Show

5/17/26 

 Sunday I had a variety of offerings I took to the show. I assembled my Hardy fly rod with my Hardy featherweight reel and doubletaper line. I headed down Kettle Creek from the campground and was going to present my offerings to the trout. My first trout took a Woolly Bugger but when I saw caddis flying around and saw one rise I switched over to a deer hair caddis and tossed it out. He took it like the first shopper at my caddis offering. He wasn’t a big trout but the brown fought well in the oncoming current. 

 I lit up a cigar and I had a feeling my offerings were going to be wanted. 

 I casted out to get another taker and I sold 3 more to consumers. It wasn’t one after the other but if they saw the caddis within my showing they took it. When I couldn’t sell anymore I tried to sell them something else. I presented them with a bead head Hare’s ear and below that, I knotted on an old green rock worm that I tied years ago. You never know when someone sees an old piece they may want it. Well, I had a buyer for the old green rock worm. Not a big spender but I had to get a picture. 

 A trout rose not too far from me out in the middle of the creek. I switched to the caddis and tossed it to it. It took a couple of showings to persuade him to get him interested. I’m not sure he was expecting anything out of the ordinary but when he rose I surprised him. He turned deep and took off like thief. The reel clicked as fast as heated popcorn kernels exploding. Line shot through the eyes, of the arcing 8’8” rod, and line cut the surface water like a Ginsu knife through a tomato. I put a little more tension on the line and he turned down creek. I held the rod high enough to keep as much line out of the water as possible. He tussled with me, kicking and stammering like an ornery mule, wanting me to let the rope go. I kept the pressure on as he swam up creek still out a distance. I turned the rod putting side pressure on him. He turned towards me and started to swim down creek again. I let him have some line before I tightened my fingers on the fly line. He swam closer to my side of the creek and started really tugging and pulling. I moved the rod upstream and he followed reluctantly with head-shaking. We tussled a little more and he was losing the battle. I got him within net range and when he flattened his body on the surface water I nabbed him in the net red handed with the caddis still attached. What a nice catch! 

 I caught one more on a caddis before it seemed like the top water show was over. 

  After that I didn’t see any risers so I knotted the Hare’s ear and green rock worm again. I fished them under an indicator being the current was flowing away from me. This way the indicator flowed with the direction of the current then without one. I sold two more Hare’s ears to anxious  pickers.  

 Later on I nabbed one, I think a rainbow, on a wet fly. I nearly had him in the net before he shook the hook out. 

 It was getting hot as the weathermen were calling for 80+ degrees. I believe it had to be at least above 80 by now. The trout no longer were interested in any of my stuff. I waded out and headed up the path to my truck.

 It was another good day in ‘God’s Country’. Good thing I brought along a variety and showed them off instead of being stubborn and only showing a couple offerings.

~doubletaper