A Good Day of Fishing
Moderators: pmcroberts, uniphasian
A Good Day of Fishing
#1Got out to my river today, and, despite high winds, I had a ball. The blue-wings were hatching all afternoon, and an #18 traditional adams was all I needed to fool 'em. The wind was sometimes hard to even stand up in, but I got my "wind casting" chops back in shape and began taking trout. If the breeze was neglibible, I could've taken at least 20. But getting a good cast and a dragless float was tough going. I caught maybe 10, but that's good enough for me. Nice sized fish for a Midwest creek, spanning between 10-14 inches. I love dry fly fishing. Great day was had by moi.
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#2
I'm going out fishing in the cold tomorrow. It could be windy. I'm going to fish some new flies I tied, so even if I don't catch anything, it will be fun. I'll be trying out a new cold weather jacket, as well: a Patagonia Tough Puff Insulated Hooded Jacket. I hope I don't get ice in the guides.
-
adrien schnee
- Bamboo Fanatic
- Posts: 2346
- Joined: 11/10/11 19:00
-
Hellmtflies
- Bamboo Fanatic
- Posts: 8056
- Joined: 01/14/12 10:27
- Location: Bozeman, Montana
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#5Good on you, Bill. Sounds like it was a great rust-buster of an outing.
I had to take a lawnmower down to Beisswenger's in New Brighton on Saturday...after I dropped it off at the shop, my Ford Ranger took matters into its own hands (steering wheel?) and instinctively headed east on 96 and then I-35E to I-694 and finally eastbound on I-94...there was nothing I could do to regain control of it. About 40 minutes later, my trusty steed parallel parked in downtown RF and allowed me out...I then dutifully dropped a Benjamin plus on fly tying materials at my favorite fly shop and then drove to see an old friend north of town. I went for a walk with her downstream and she was flowing high but well within her banks -- water clarity was slightly stained but otherwise good. Clouds of black stoneflies hovered over the water and pods of trout were rising eagerly. I listened to red-wing blackbirds and robins thrill and the laughing gurgle of the riffles. Not even a puff of breeze Saturday afternoon...no fly rod within 50 miles of me, but my soul was rejuvenated and I was happy.
Judging by the forecasts, it'll be a couple weeks before I'll even think about getting out. Next weekend I'll summerize the snowblower and iron storage wax on 5 pairs of xc skis and split some more birch and oak if it's not snowing/raining...maybe tie some flies...spring is almost here. Bill, it was so nice to chat with you at the Expo, I hope we can share a riffle together sometime.
I had to take a lawnmower down to Beisswenger's in New Brighton on Saturday...after I dropped it off at the shop, my Ford Ranger took matters into its own hands (steering wheel?) and instinctively headed east on 96 and then I-35E to I-694 and finally eastbound on I-94...there was nothing I could do to regain control of it. About 40 minutes later, my trusty steed parallel parked in downtown RF and allowed me out...I then dutifully dropped a Benjamin plus on fly tying materials at my favorite fly shop and then drove to see an old friend north of town. I went for a walk with her downstream and she was flowing high but well within her banks -- water clarity was slightly stained but otherwise good. Clouds of black stoneflies hovered over the water and pods of trout were rising eagerly. I listened to red-wing blackbirds and robins thrill and the laughing gurgle of the riffles. Not even a puff of breeze Saturday afternoon...no fly rod within 50 miles of me, but my soul was rejuvenated and I was happy.
Judging by the forecasts, it'll be a couple weeks before I'll even think about getting out. Next weekend I'll summerize the snowblower and iron storage wax on 5 pairs of xc skis and split some more birch and oak if it's not snowing/raining...maybe tie some flies...spring is almost here. Bill, it was so nice to chat with you at the Expo, I hope we can share a riffle together sometime.
-
Brian K. Shaffer
- Bamboo Fanatic
- Posts: 3646
- Joined: 03/03/06 19:00
- Location: EARTH
- Contact:
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#6Fish and feel fit!
" There's no such thing as a fly fisherman wholly satisfied with his casting performance. " ~ Jim Green (1971)
" Just once I wish a trout would wink at me. " ~ Brian Shaffer
Step up to the plate with any lumber you want.
" Just once I wish a trout would wink at me. " ~ Brian Shaffer
Step up to the plate with any lumber you want.
-
flyfishingpastor
- Bamboo Fanatic
- Posts: 5057
- Joined: 07/12/07 18:00
- Location: Eastern Washington State
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#7I'm glad someone got out. The weather has been very warm (for a Washington spring), so we decided to drive to one of our favorite small streams. The temps were in the high 50's and the sun was shining. We made it as close as nine miles short of our destination. The road was closed with 3+ feet of snow and ice. Oh, well. It was a nice drive and stopped at a way off the beaten track pub and had a nice lunch (elk burger). It was well worth the trip.
Glad you had better day!
Pat
Glad you had better day!
Pat
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#9Holy cow. Windy and cold with dark clouds, but with enough short periods where the wind died, and some intermittent squalls with light rain. The Patagonia jacket worked well. I wasn't sure whether to wear the jacket inside my waders or not, but I ended up wearing it over my waders, with my vest on top of the jacket. I tucked the hood under my vest, so that the hood wouldn't get in the way of my magnetic net keeper on the back of my vest. At some point, I pulled the hood on over my head for more warmth. The hood isn't adjustable but it has elastic in it, which kept the hood snug against my head without being tight. Very nice.
When I got to the river, the first couple of spots I checked were occupied, so I kept walking further down river until I found a long straight section of the river, where I couldn't see anyone in either direction. I waded in and I cast up river backhanded, and the wind was blowing my casts into the middle of the stream and to the far bank. After an hour, I decided to wade over to the other side of the stream, then the wind was pushing my casts at me. In addition, I had to deal with tall brush/small trees on the stream bank, which required roll casts or casting straight up stream. About two hours after I started fishing, there was a massive midge hatch. For about four hours, the fish were rising. Through bouts of wind and intermittent rain, the midges kept coming. At times there were only a few rises, and at other times heads were poking up all over the river. In one spot, when the wind died, the brush provided just enough of an angle to cast up and across to the other bank where there was some nice subsurface structure--albeit across the current of the main channel.
I fished some wet flies, which I had recently tied, on top with not much success, including a Syl's Midge, before switching to dry flies. I never really found the magic fly, but I kept rotating to different dry flies, and each new fly seemed to fool one or two fish. My best dry fly was a size 14, with a peacock herl body and grizzly hackle cut off on the bottom of the fly. I cast it at just the right angle in the low light that allowed me to see where it landed on the water, then I could figure out where it was while drifting. I hooked my biggest fish across the current and up against the opposite bank. I could tell by the slow gulp, rather than a splashy take, that it was a bigger fish. I figured I was going to get dragged downstream, but the fish came across the main current and into my net with me only having to take a couple of steps down stream. The fish was in the 14-16 inch range. The bigger fish didn't seem to be rising.
When I looked to my right, the light was such that I could see into the water. I watched midges either buzzing along the top of the water, or floating on the surface, then a ghost would leave its lie and rise up the water column and snatch the midge, then descend back into obscurity.
I was fishing a JD Wagner 8'6" 3/2 5wt with a 3 1/2" Hardy Bougle reel:
The rod weighs 4.8 oz, and with the Bougle reel on there, which weighs 6.5 oz (with backing), the rod is still tip heavy. I must have gotten used to that because I didn't think about the rod being tip heavy all day.
I seemed to have more problems than usual: I had several massive tangles when my silk leader wrapped around the tip of my rod, then a couple of fish unhooked themselves and my bent rod rebounded sending my line into the tall brush on the bank, and a couple of times the brush grabbed my line on a backcast, and I had trouble getting hooks out of the fish's mouths. Also, my Zen silk furled leader has become a sink tip after using it three times last season and using it two times this season--despite it being guaranteed to float for the life of the leader. Over the winter, something changed because both times I used the silk leader this season, it didn't float. I could still fish dry flies, but picking up the line for another cast was more difficult and setting the hook seemed sluggish.
In the evening, I quickly waded upstream towards where I parked, and I passed through some stunningly beautiful stretches of river, and I didn't see another person. I found a beautiful, wide, crystal clear, light green, slow moving pool with a faster eddy down the middle. There were no rising fish, so I tied on a Blue Dun flymph, and I cast to the opposite edge of the eddy, and I let it drift along the edge of the eddy, then I swung it through the eddy, and a fish hooked itself, but just as quickly it was gone.
I fished from noon to 7pm, and just when I started the drive home a storm hit and it started pouring rain, which quickly turned into a blinding blizzard, and soon the road surface disappeared, so I could only drive 15-25 mph on the freeway the whole way home, which made for a long, tense drive.
What a day!
When I got to the river, the first couple of spots I checked were occupied, so I kept walking further down river until I found a long straight section of the river, where I couldn't see anyone in either direction. I waded in and I cast up river backhanded, and the wind was blowing my casts into the middle of the stream and to the far bank. After an hour, I decided to wade over to the other side of the stream, then the wind was pushing my casts at me. In addition, I had to deal with tall brush/small trees on the stream bank, which required roll casts or casting straight up stream. About two hours after I started fishing, there was a massive midge hatch. For about four hours, the fish were rising. Through bouts of wind and intermittent rain, the midges kept coming. At times there were only a few rises, and at other times heads were poking up all over the river. In one spot, when the wind died, the brush provided just enough of an angle to cast up and across to the other bank where there was some nice subsurface structure--albeit across the current of the main channel.
I fished some wet flies, which I had recently tied, on top with not much success, including a Syl's Midge, before switching to dry flies. I never really found the magic fly, but I kept rotating to different dry flies, and each new fly seemed to fool one or two fish. My best dry fly was a size 14, with a peacock herl body and grizzly hackle cut off on the bottom of the fly. I cast it at just the right angle in the low light that allowed me to see where it landed on the water, then I could figure out where it was while drifting. I hooked my biggest fish across the current and up against the opposite bank. I could tell by the slow gulp, rather than a splashy take, that it was a bigger fish. I figured I was going to get dragged downstream, but the fish came across the main current and into my net with me only having to take a couple of steps down stream. The fish was in the 14-16 inch range. The bigger fish didn't seem to be rising.
When I looked to my right, the light was such that I could see into the water. I watched midges either buzzing along the top of the water, or floating on the surface, then a ghost would leave its lie and rise up the water column and snatch the midge, then descend back into obscurity.
I was fishing a JD Wagner 8'6" 3/2 5wt with a 3 1/2" Hardy Bougle reel:
The rod weighs 4.8 oz, and with the Bougle reel on there, which weighs 6.5 oz (with backing), the rod is still tip heavy. I must have gotten used to that because I didn't think about the rod being tip heavy all day.
I seemed to have more problems than usual: I had several massive tangles when my silk leader wrapped around the tip of my rod, then a couple of fish unhooked themselves and my bent rod rebounded sending my line into the tall brush on the bank, and a couple of times the brush grabbed my line on a backcast, and I had trouble getting hooks out of the fish's mouths. Also, my Zen silk furled leader has become a sink tip after using it three times last season and using it two times this season--despite it being guaranteed to float for the life of the leader. Over the winter, something changed because both times I used the silk leader this season, it didn't float. I could still fish dry flies, but picking up the line for another cast was more difficult and setting the hook seemed sluggish.
In the evening, I quickly waded upstream towards where I parked, and I passed through some stunningly beautiful stretches of river, and I didn't see another person. I found a beautiful, wide, crystal clear, light green, slow moving pool with a faster eddy down the middle. There were no rising fish, so I tied on a Blue Dun flymph, and I cast to the opposite edge of the eddy, and I let it drift along the edge of the eddy, then I swung it through the eddy, and a fish hooked itself, but just as quickly it was gone.
I fished from noon to 7pm, and just when I started the drive home a storm hit and it started pouring rain, which quickly turned into a blinding blizzard, and soon the road surface disappeared, so I could only drive 15-25 mph on the freeway the whole way home, which made for a long, tense drive.
What a day!
Last edited by flyty2 on 04/14/22 17:48, edited 18 times in total.
-
steeliefool
- Bamboo Fanatic
- Posts: 1679
- Joined: 09/07/16 15:28
- Location: Jersey
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#10Any day when you can get it!
Just got "fumped" from a float weekend on the WB of Big D.
Record flows. Went from 2500cfs to 10300cfs almost over night.
Talk about a raging river. We could have put in and floated home to Jersey in about 45Mins.
Part of the game.
Just got "fumped" from a float weekend on the WB of Big D.
Record flows. Went from 2500cfs to 10300cfs almost over night.
Talk about a raging river. We could have put in and floated home to Jersey in about 45Mins.
Part of the game.
-
5Stringtrout
- Sport
- Posts: 30
- Joined: 05/03/20 17:19
- Location: Elkton, VA
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#11Yesterday I fished a stream in a Virginia Wildlife Management area. The Trout were very cooperative. I alternated between a Hendricksons and Red Quills tied in the Catskill style and in Henry Ramsay's CDC Thorax style. The first part of the day I rock hopped after lunch I fished some of the same water and sat on a log by a pool drinking coffee and waiting for fish to rise. Both methods were successful. A nice 75 degree day and the Trilliums were just starting to bloom. An Orvis Flea was the rod of choice.
Re: A Good Day of Fishing
#12flyty2 your leader is guaranteed to float, but the very tip is going to go sub surface a tiny bit because of the tippet ring. I do warrant them to float, so I'm more than happy to clean and re-treat the leader at no cost to you. If the leader somehow got dry (if stored in such a way that the floatant leeched out of it), or the tip got dirty, it won't float. Also, adding a tiny bit of any paste floatant to the tippet ring will generally do the trick. If you want me to re-treat it, send me a PM and I'll take care of it.
Jaime
Jaime