Fly fishing is a sport enjoyed by millions of American anglers. There are several different reasons - all valid - for choosing a fly rod over conventional tackle.
A fly rod is a superior tool when casting extremely small offerings, such as flies.
Fly Fishing is Challenging
Fly rods come in an amazing range of size - called weights - that allow the angler to scale up or down their tackle to match the size of the quarry. A small sunfish caught on conventional bass gear isn't a very thrilling catch; however, substitute a light fly rod into the scene and the fun factor goes off the chart.
Fly Fishing is Something New
Fishermen who use conventional tackle discover that fly fishing is enjoyable because it is something new to learn about. New tackle, terminology, and techniques broaden your angling education.
Fly Fishing is Pleasurable
There is no limit to where you can fly fish - rivers, streams, oceans, bays, and lakes. Painted with a broad brush, these areas are majestic and inspire the senses. Even a fishless day leaves one dazzled by Nature's beauty. When you get to this stage in your angleing career you readily connect with Norman Maclean's closing words of A River Runs Through It "I am haunted by waters".
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Why Fly Fish?
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Salmon - includes related articles on salmon fishing on the West Coast
The West Coast's wonder-fish is staging a comeback . . . or is it? Here is how and where to go fishing. And here is how to understand the salmon dilemma
"Fish on!" the deck hand shouts, staring hard in your direction. For an instant no one moves, then everyone moves at once. Angling pals back away as you scramble for the dancing rod, feet sliding on the pitching deck. Reeling for all you're worth, you quickly feel the power of the salmon at the other end of the line.
Will the 20-pound-test hold, will the hook stay put, will your prize be lost at the net? The battle has been joined, but the outcome is never guaranteed. That's part of salmon fishing's appeal, and why so many of us in the West can't get enough of it.
After decades of decline in salmon's fortunes, some runs are rebuilding, offering good fishing from California's Monterey Bay to Puget Sound, Is this the beginning of a general turnaround, as fisheries managers contend? Or do recent increases, welcome as they are, only mask fundamental problems?
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On these eight pages, we survey the nascent West Coast salmon comeback. You'll find tips on where to fish and when, how to book a charter or go on your own, and (on page 196) how to bleed, clean, and ice your catch.
But not only sportsmen have a stake in salmon and their fate. This legendary fish affects all of us in one way or another.
Salmon means food for the table and a livelihood for commercial fishermen. It's the spiritual centerpiece of North Coast Indian culture and a barometer of the health of our streams. With so much at risk, we review what's being done (or not done) to protect salmon on their two most important rivers in the West--the Columbia and Sacramento.
Born to roam, salmon begin their lives in Western rivers
Five species of Pacific salmon, or Oncorhynchus, originate in fresh-water streams from Alaska to California or, increasingly these days, in hatcheries.
In the wild, the miracle begins in gravel beds beneath the waters of clear, cold, fast-flowing streams. Battered and exhausted after their long journey from the ocean, their bodies transformed by the onset of spawning, salmon pair up, mate, then die.
With her powerful tail, the female digs out a nest, or redd, about 18 inches deep and deposits up to 5,000 eggs. The male-back arched, jaws booked, teeth enlarged to ward off other suitors (see box below right) fertilizes the eggs with a milky liquid called milt. More gravel is layered over the eggs, and the cycle begins.
Young fish typically feed in fresh water for 3 to 18 months before migrating to sea. Most spend two to five years roaming the North Pacific, generally in a counterclockwise direction.
Finally, salmon return to the streams of their birth, sometimes traveling across thousands of miles of ocean to reach our coast. They school at river mouths before ascending their natal streams, often for hundreds of miles, to spawn.
When salmon meet fresh water, they begin to lose their silvery brightness and gradually take on darker spawning colors.
Big chinook, tasty sockeye, feisty coho
Salmon boast a string of common names and aliases. Starting below, we describe the five West Coast species (a sixth is native to Japan). All but pink are shown in their sea-run stage; the pink's spawning dress is typical, but the male boasts an exaggerated hump, hence its nickname"humpy."
Pink (O. gorbuscha) are smallest (1-1/2 to 12 pounds) and, in Washington, run only in odd-numbered years, such as 1989.
Chum (O. keta), or dog salmon, range from 3 to 35 pounds and are largely commercial fish. You'll know them by their pattern of faint vertical stripes.
Coho (O. kisutch), or silver, spend one to two years at sea, and average about 8 pounds (30 pounds tops). But coho are great leapers, famous fighters, and much prized by sportsmen, Look for a whitish
gum line and tail with few spots.
Sockeye (O. nerka), alias red, spend a year or so in a fresh-water lake before heading to sea, where they roam up to four years. Average weight is 7 pounds, maximum is 12. Sockeye are often regarded as a primarily commercial species, but sport anglers swear that they're the most flavorful salmon. Most streamlined of the species, sockeye have prominent eyes and soft, almost toothless jaws.
Chinook (O. tshawytscha) earn the nickname "king" (also tyee or spring) for their enormous size-average weight is 20 pounds, the world record 126. The most important salmon to sportfishermen, chinook are bigger because they spend up to five years at sea; "five-salt" salmon are always bigger than two-salt fish. Look for a black gum line and flowing tail covered with round spots.
What you catch, and where
Upriver migrations begin in spring in many areas, with successive runs continuing through summer, into fall, and even into early winter on some streams.
Ocean sportfishing begins in February in California, as late as July in parts of Oregon and Washington. Legal fishing seasons vary widely, but the ocean is often finished by Labor Day, while action continues until winter in bays, river mouths, or farther upstream. In Puget Sound, you can fish legally year-round.
Alive and Fishing - organization Casting for Recovery's efforts on behalf of breast-cancer patients, survivors
With the threat of breast cancer looming ever large, increasing numbers of women of all ages and backgrounds find themselves coming face to face with their own mortality. And for the survivors, a normal life is often elusive. One unique program offers pristine streams, a caring community, and a chance to return to the land of the living.
Fellow GoodLetter readers,
The image of a fly fisher casting a line over a luminous sapphire-hued stream evokes deep sentiment for me. It reminds me of day trips with my father in the deep waters of the Atlantic, where he'd cast out a fly and let it drift for a moment before deftly stripping it in, the line gathering in a pile at his feet. It also reminds me of a trip to Montana, where - entering the pages of Norman McLean's "A River Runs Through It" - my husband and I fished the Missouri, pelicans hovering overhead, where we floated the Blackfoot, not a soul in sight, and where the river water swirled around our raft, so radiant, so full of life.
Quite literally, I was hooked.
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Fly fishing is an art. Form is essential for each and every cast, as is the patient spirit it requires to stand in the cool waters of a trout stream, to cast and cast and cast again. It's not a flick of the wrist; it's a strong and focused movement of the bent arm. "Keep it eleven to one, eleven to one," a guide once told me, using a perfect hands-of-the-clock metaphor. So, these days, I keep it eleven to one, hopeful that my line truly curls and releases like it does in my mind. But, if it doesn't, I don't mind. The strength and vitality I feel, water rushing all around, leaves me content, which is why when I learned of Casting for Recovery, I thought to myself, "Why, yes, of course."
Founded in 1996 by former host of Orvis Hooked on Fly Fishing Gwenn Perkins and breast reconstructive surgeon Dr. Benita Walton, Casting for Recovery is an organization born of hope, one that serves as a therapeutic retreat for women only. The only qualification for attendees is one thing they all share: breast cancer.
That the fly fishing retreat would aid in the strengthening of weakened muscles, that it would bring renewed energy and boost dampened spirits; these were viable prospects. But that it would cultivate lifelong friendships and a love of nature, that it would instill new passions was another. Casting for Recovery has accomplished that, and more.
"I saw fly fishing and breast cancer as...a match made in heaven," Perkins has said. "For me, fly fishing...has been a source of being able to just go out and forget whatever might be bothering me."
She's right. This isn't throwing in a bobber and waiting for a nibble. Tying a fly, casting a line, and hooking a fish require tremendous focus from an angler. Besides, fly fishing is not a game between woman and fish: it's respect for the land, the water, and the life beneath the surface. (Credit is due to the conservation efforts that make fly-fishing primarily "catch and release"; once a fish has been hooked and brought in, a moment is taken to admire its splendor and then, while holding it underwater, its mouth facing upstream for maximum oxygen intake, it is let go.)
Put simply, fly fishing is about living.
Thanks to monetary and equipment donations, not to mention the abundant number of volunteers, Casting for Recovery has held retreats for 600 breast cancer survivors in thirteen states across the United States. Selected from a diverse pool of applicants, participants gather in the streams of places like Maine, Vermont, Illinois, California, or Alaska, to name a few, where they learn techniques such as knot tying, casting, and, hopefully, the landing of a fish. Medical professionals and therapists are also on-site both to teach and to contribute physical and mental support. Still, participants are free to read, relax, swim and enjoy a hot tub, if they choose, for this weekend belongs to them. But, most women, like schoolgirls, can't wait to dive in to the retreat's activities.
All fun and games aside, there is good reason to link fly fishing with breast cancer recovery. Similar to exercises recommended post-surgery, casting helps to build mobility and strength around the arms, chest and shoulders, which can ward off lymphedema, an unwelcome buildup of lymphatic fluid, or other perilous aches and pains.
Perhaps even more profound for the survivors is the time they experience together. When stories are shared, there is laughter and there are tears. There is an understanding between the women. They have all endured, and many will continue to fight.
"My body is tired," said one recent participant, "but my spirit is renewed. I leave with memories of strong, beautiful women and a new experience to build on. I leave with the information that will help me to continue on as a survivor."
If retreat participants enjoy the sport and continue to fly fish in the years to come, then one of the organization's goals has been fulfilled. But its hopes for the survivors extend far further. The greatest triumphs of a Casting for Recovery participant are simply to breathe in the fresh air and engage in the pleasure of the outdoors, to begin to restore physical strength and to build lasting relationships, and to feel whole -- free of fatigue and sorrow.
Caddis Fly
by Davy Wotton
March is the time of the year that we start to see the emergence of caddis fly here on the White river system and many others around the country. This is a time of the year that I always look forward too. The caddis fly brings about a feeding frenzy very unlike the slow deliberate rise forms associated with a emergence of may fly and midge. And in many cases the caddis will be the larger of the invertebrate species that are available to the fish in that particular water system.
Early season fish are hungry as many of the other food sources are not as yet in great abundance and it is not unusual for trophy fish to lose a great deal of caution that they will naturally attain as the season progresses. I have in my time caught many great fish during the caddis hatch. In the early season the majority of caddis will emerge during the hours of daylight. As the warmer weather takes over then the caddis emergence will take place during the dusk to dark period and at times way into the small hours of the morning. If you are out at such times you can really have a ball I can tell you, and again those big Browns just love to feed at such times.
The only main difference between species of caddis is size and color orientation so far as its relationship to a catching fish is concerned. You have a number of ways that you can deal with a rise to a caddis emergence from fishing pupae imitations to the adult winged insect. Some of the techniques that I use allow for all three stages to be fished at the same time.
The fly I am going to introduce to you is generally known as the green tail. This fly has some past historical aspects. It is one of the best soft hackles you will find to fish with during a caddis emergence regardless of the species. Back in the UK this fly is used when the Grannom sedge fly emerges, the female does carry a very distinctive green egg sac, which is why the fly is called the green tail. Regardless of the caddis species that is abundant at the time, you will not go far wrong with this fly. I have introduced some variations to this fly over the years and for that purpose I will give you three green tail patterns to tie. You may of course fish with more than one at a time by techniques from up stream dead drift to slow retrieve pulls and pauses.
Size of the fly can be determined by the species you have on your water and you can of course alter the overall color tone of the fly by body and hackle combinations.
Hook Size: From size 10 to 18. 12 and 14 being the most useful
Tying Thread: You may use brown, tan or green.
Tag: Fluorescent green or chartreuse.
Body: Natural hare fur from the mask of a hare or other dubbing to suit your species color.
Rib: Gold oval tinsel
Hackle: For the lighter shades brown partridge for the darker species English grouse. You may
also use a real soft webby hen hackle, from light ginger to dark ginger.
To tie the fly run a thread wrap from midway of the hook shank to the bend. Here build a not too large butt of the green thread. Take the length of gold oval tinsel and tie this in below the hook shank with three thread wraps. Build a neat dubbed body of the hare fur. Then make the 5 spirals of gold rib to the thread and cut off the excess. Take the Partridge hackle and strip all the base waste fiber off. Tie in the hackle by the tip and make 2 or 3 full winds. When done secure the hackle and cut off the excess. Whip finish and varnish.
The second fly pattern differs from the first by having a light ginger hen hackle palmered down the body of the fly before the Partridge hackle is tied in at the head of the fly.
The third fly pattern differs from the first only by the fact that it has a tail either from ginger hen or Partridge hackle.
Tying The Sowscud
by Davy Wotton
Scuds and Sows
Almost all freshwater systems in the world will contain freshwater shrimp of some kind. Sow bugs may be localized in some cases. Water systems with a good PH are generally the most favored for high concentrations of scuds. Those with a high acidic content, less so. Either way, both are important food sources for many species of fish, not just the salmonids.
For the fly fisherman they form a very important part so far as the artificial is concerned, and also will enable many fish to be caught. Fly fishers generally refer to the fishing of such flies under the generic term of nymph fishing though this, of course, is not true in this case as scuds and sows are not nymphs. There are many fly patterns that exist that represent both scuds and sows but many more so in the case of the scud.
The naturals do vary in coloration and also size, overall shades in the light tan to tones of olive and olive gray will cover most needs if you want to represent a natural. No scuds contain the elements of bead heads and other fancy colors that are sometimes used, but as we know they will catch fish at times.
The White River system here in Arkansas has a massive population of both species and in consequence form a staple diet for the trout in the system. It makes sense to fish such artificial to catch those fish.
I am going to give you, for this month, a fly pattern that will work for both scuds and sows. Fish will not choose one over the other. If both species are found in the same body of water then the fish will eat them accordingly as they are found. This pattern essentially represents both. Overall the majority of scuds and sows will be of a olive/gray coloration and the basis for this fly represents that factor.
So far as hooks are concerned, it is popular to use curved bend hooks for scuds. The only real advantage is that a curved hook is less likely to hook up on the river bed. So far as the fish's eye is concerned l have yet to be convinced that it makes any difference, and l doubt that l ever will. Out of choice l use a regular straight shank of a given size and weight. Hook sizes between sizes 12 to 16 for scuds and 14 to 18 for sows.
Tying the Sowscud
Over the years l have messed about with many variations of scud patterns and have come to a number of conclusions so far as the artificial is concerned. I do not now consider that any material is necessary for the back of the fly such as plastic film or any of the other products sold for that purpose. Neither do l adorn the fly with a wound hackle or forward hackle fibers to the eye of the hook. The naturals of scud and sow bug are simple forms of life and are easy prey for fish to feed on. Overall a good representation of the size and color will work fine.
You have, of course, options within the general tying, which may include the addition of weight or bead heads. Ribbing mediums may be of thread, wire, crystal hair, etc. and the choice of dubbing, color and texture, being the two factors to consider. I have available my own specific sowscud dubbing blend that 95% of the time covers the general color tone found. It is a dubbing blend that contains the elements of a olive gray with sparkle and a soft texture.
Tying the DW Sowscud
Thread shade should be either of a olive or gray tone. Hook is of your choice size and profile and wire weight. If you intend to weight the hook then do so before you commence the tying of the fly.
For the tail I use some of the fiber found on the feather from a jungle cock neck but if you do not have those available then a dark shade of grizzle or dun hackle fiber will work. After the tail has been tied in, tie in at the tail end of the fly the material you have chosen for the rib of the fly.
Next stage is to form the body definition with the dubbing of your choice to a position behind the hook eye. The legs of the fly are represented using ostrich herl. You will need the shade of natural which is a dark dun color tone. Tie this in at the head end of the fly and wind it back toward the tail, when you have reached that point the ribbing is brought back in the opposite spiral to the head of the fly. At that point the material is secured and the head of the fly is finished.
You may choose now to cut the ostrich herl only above the fly body close to the body, you may also tease out some of the dubbing to the underside of your completed fly. It is a very simple fly to tie but as you will find out a very effective one to fish with.
If you would like to obtain my SOWSCUD dubbing it is available from me at a cost of $3.50 per pack inclusive of mailing cost. Click here for mailing address.
The White River Christmas Tree Wooly Bugger
by Davy Wotton
Wooly buggers are popular type streamer flies and certainly do catch many fish. This pattern of mine is based on the standard wooly bugger fly but contains other elements which trigger responses from fish, essentially mobility and colour coordination. It is not a difficult fly to tie and should not present too many problems for the beginner level tier. Note the appearance of little lights in the tail from which this pattern draws its name.
Materials for the White River Christmas tree are:
* Marabou turkey - Olive-Red-Orange
* Pearl chenille - Olive or Peacock
* Tinsel chenille - Gold
* Hackles - Regular rooster or grizzle dyed olive.
* Ribbing tinsel - Oval gold
* Crystal flash - Olive or Gold
* Hook - Any size of longshank. Size 10/8/6 the most useful.
* Additions - Cyclops or Cone head in gold.
Tying Instructions
Place the hook in the vice. Run a thread base to a position above the hook point. Tie in at this point a short section of either red or orange marabou. Above the lower marabou tie in a longer section of the olive marabou, take the thread to the tail end of the hook shank.
At this point tie in about 6/8 strands of either gold or olive crystal flash. Here also tie in a section of the gold oval tinsel and also the olive or peacock chenille which ever color you choose. Take the thread to the hook eye position and wind your chenille body. Secure and cut off excess.
Prepare now your hackle. Strip off all waste fiber and tie in the hackle below the hook shank by the hackle stem not the tip. Wind the hackle with two turns at the head end of the fly and then continue with 5 equal spaced turns to the tail end of the fly body. Bring back toward the hook eye the oval ribbing tinsel. This will secure the hackle palmer style.
When you have reached the tying thread secure the oval tinsel. Cut off excess hackle tip and tinsel ribbing material. Finally at the head of the fly tie in and make one or two full turns of the gold tinsel chenille. Make your final whip finish. Good job!
Davy's Tying Tips
If you use the practice of ribbing a palmered hackle it is far more secure and will not be broken so easily by the fishes teeth. When you come to make the final whip finish to the fly add your head cement to the thread just below the hook eye. When you make the final whip finish you have the head completed and do not have to mess around after with the fly is complete. This is by far the most efficient way to do it - particularly for real small flies when you run the risk of clogging up the small eye with cement.
Your Most Memorable Fish
by Davy Wotton
I guess for all of us there must be a fish, regardless of species, or size that will remain as a memory so long as you live. For some of you it may have been the first fish that you caught, it may have been a specimen of a given species, it may have been a fish that you saw another person catch, or it may have been a fish that pulled every bit of knowledge and skill from you before you hooked it.
For my self there are two particular fish that l will never forget, and for two very different reasons. Sometimes you may only have one opportunity to get it right, other times you may be in a position to return on many occasions to pit your wits against the adversary. So l would like to tell you my two stories.
The first took place in Chile. That all started when my friend Marcus and myself took a group of clients to fish in Coyaquie southern Chile. On one of the days l had with me Carlos Vergara a noted photographer from Chicago. Our day started with a typical drift boat scenario down the Rio Baker river system, along the down stream drift catching plenty of fat Browns and rainbows.
As we came to a wide angled bend in the river l noticed a very big bow tucked up against the shore line in the back eddy facing in a direction other than the natural flow of the river. There was no way this fish could be approached with the boat. I requested John to pull the boat to the shoreline to allow me to get out and see if there was a way l could get closer to this fish.
That he did and on closer investigation, walking around that bay of the back eddy, very quickly established that it could not be done due to shoreline vegetation and rock structure. There was only one possible position to be able to see the fish and secondly a remote possibility that l could get the fly to that fish. I will try to explain if l can the situation that existed .
The only point that l could see the fish was from a high bank of something like 20 ft above the water. This big bay was off the main steam of current and the fish was positioned to my left along the rock wall shoreline at least 80 ft from my position looking out to the main body of the river. There was no chance at all from a lower level if l climbed down to be able to reach that far as l had no room for a back cast of any kind, and a roll cast at that range was totally out of the question also. Yet I was not going to be defeated as yet by that fish.
A number of times over the years l had cast to fish from high points above the water surface and hooked and landed many fine trout. Two factors come into play here so far as the cast was concerned. The first was the actual distance of the fish, the second was the amount of additional line required to allow for the elevation that l was at. Ok, I pretty much new that the whole fly line and a bit more would be needed to pull this one off.
Off came my jacket which was placed on the grass, that to avoid my fly line getting caught up during the cast. A hares ear nymph was attached to the tippet. My leader length was increased, line was stripped off on to the jacket and l was ready to go. All of which was photographed by Carlos.
The line was worked out the length l needed to be able to shoot the remaining line and backing. Away it went, and it seemed an eternity before it all became subjected to the force of gravity. Right on target within a few feet, enough for the rainbow to move forward and take the fly, and she was hooked.
The next problem was to be able to get down the bank to a low level and be able to release the fish. That took two of us. First l had to climb down and have my rod handed to me. All was well, she was still connected. Before too long this great beauty of a rainbow around 6lb slid slowly on her side toward me for her release back into her watery world. I will never forget that fish, and thanks to Carlos l have a photographic memory of that time.
My second fond memory of a fish was back in Wales on the river USK. This river was a short distance from my home and one l fished very often for both Atlantic salmon and the indigenous Brown trout that also are found in this river. This particular river has its name engraved in fly fishing history as many of the then notables of the past ventured to fish this natural wild water, which at one time contained countless 1000s of salmon and trout.
It is even known that the Romans who settled in this part of the world some few 1000 years ago took fishes from this river, in fact the very name comes from a Roman word. Like many other rivers today sadly the numbers of anadromous fish species have declined dramatically and that is certainly the case so far as the salmon is concerned. So too the Brown trout population has dwindled, not from the effects of overfishing, but from the other unfortunate influences of man, such as water abstraction, the filtration of agricultural chemicals and so on.
I would have loved to have fished that river back in the 1800s. Such river systems that contain relatively small numbers of trout are hard to fish and l know many persons who fished that river gave up on it for that very reason. So too the Brown trout is a creature of habit and you have to be on their terms to be able to catch them consistently. They are a different breed than the rainbow. Many times l would fish that river and not catch a fish and l knew a great deal of that water like the back of my hand. I knew how those fish would move up and down the water as the season changed and the food sources changed, from mayfly to caddis and whatever else was important to the diet of those fish at the time.
I never did catch a fish over 5lb in weight and l caught many 100s over the years in this river, but one particular fish l will never forget. One of the most important of fly fishing skills is your power of observation and not to be deceived by what your eyes see and how your brain sees.
Often l would sit and scan a zone of water watching for fish that would cruise around as they do on patrol looking for food. In may cases here it could be stonefly nymph, caddis larva or some of the mayfly and baetis nymphs that were abundant. A brown trout will root around and disturb rocks to find food this way and l have seen them go through the act of dislodging caddis larva that have fastened in their cases to rocks prior to pupation.
On this day a big brown came into view in the shallows, moving back and forth to a fast water run close to a number of big rocks. At that position l could not see the fish but was pretty sure l knew his place. My problem was to be able to get a cast to that position without the fish becoming aware of my presence, if he did he would be way down the river like a shot. There are times that you had better think hard before you rush into that act of fishing, this was certainly one of those times.
I knew that the presence of dusk and darkness would allow me to get closer to that fish, but l also knew that he would not likely hold there at that time, he would go on his patrol looking for food. Therefore l had to have a plan of action. I knew well enough what l needed to catch that fish so far as the fly was concerned, and there would have been a number l could have used to do that.
If you take the time to watch a individual fish he will normally have some kind of routine, and a zone that he likes to move around in, his territory if you like, such is the way of a Brown trout. They will in the early season be hungry and move around a great deal in the day time period, as food becomes more abundant and more active during diminished light conditions so his feeding patterns will change.
Brown trout have a very keen sight and a sense of smell, and l have seen them many times refuse a fly because of those senses. I figured out that l would have to lay in ambush to catch this worthy quarry. Many times l went to the river to look for this fish and many times l did not see him but as many l did. I could map out his chosen route.
My first method of approach was to find the position that l could cast without being seen, l had only two choices for that, one of which was not ideal the other was ok but it would restrict me with what l could use so far as the fly was concerned, that was what l thought at the time. I do not recall how may times l did fish from that position but sufficeit to say on one of those days the trout began to cruise around.
Gold rib hares ear nymph was one of my top 10 for fishing this river and so it was that this small fly was cast in a way to intercept this fish, he took it first time he saw it, took off down stream and he was lost with the fly, oh well l did catch him. Now l know that a Brown that is caught very close to his safe lie may never return to it, but if he was hooked and lost some way from it he will likely return to it. And this was the case with this fish.
A Brown trout also does appear to have some kind of memory bank for bad things that have happened to him and to catch the same fish again l know would take some doing. At that time the caddis were becoming active, both the stages of larva forming cases on the rocks and the emergence of the adults in the dusk to dark period. This can of course be a golden time to hook a good Brown trout. So it was that l walked to river bank path to the fishes location.
Knowing that this fish was in this zone my approach was a cautious one, and there before my eyes was the trout foraging around over the shallow gravel and small rocky structure to my side of the bank, which was the position that became my 2nd choice.
I knew what he was doing, and in consequence of that rigged up with a caddis larva, a cream bodied fly with a dark ostrich herl head. I frequently fish with long leaders way more than 9 ft and this was certainly the case for that too. I waited until the fish was way above me, which gave me enough time to first get down to a low position, and second to be able to set that fly out over the gravel. In fact it laid there static, that was the tactic.
A number of times he came to the zone but not close enough, eventually he did as he neared my fly l gave it a fraction of a twitch and he took it good and felt the sting of the hook. This time he was mine, a fish of about 16 inches. The hares ear nymph was gone from the previous encounter. Good luck my dear friend as he was released again, this time from my hands and not the hook that he took with him.
I have had many encounters over the years when more than the act of fishing was part of the game to hook a fish, most of those over a short period of time, in this fish it was very many weeks. A fish l will never forget.
