I had the day off today and went north looking for some fish. I had hoped for an early start, but my dog killed a skunk last night. I slept very poorly as a result and got out of bed at 9am. I did stop at a fly shop and got some new gear, and some advice which payed off. Finally I got to one of the spots I wanted to try around 2pm. I didn’t have the energy or need to go anywhere else.
I had the “new to me” spot to myself and found chilly water and trout rising. After a few misses and getting used to a new rod I proceeded to land 14 ish trout from 2-6pm. Probably a dozen little brookies 4-8” and 2 good sized rainbows maybe 10” with a TON of missed fish.
I missed two good fish three separate times after waiting them out. I think these were larger fish judging from the shadows I saw, and unlike the others they only struck once before requiring 10-15 minutes to hit again.
I landed 7 fish on the first fly before I decided to “retire it”, and another 3-4 on the same pattern before I snapped the hook off somehow.
The hookless fly resulted in a hilarious situation where I must have made the same rainbow rise 15 times in a row. A few times totally out of the water. I repositioned, tried anticipating the strike, waiting after it hit to set the “hook”, and everything I could think of. It got to the point where I knew where and when it would rise. Finally I pulled it in and looked at it only to realize what was going on, and had a laugh. I think when I snapped it of with my pliers on the previous fish. Wouldnt you know it when I put on something with a hook the fish was all set.
Although I tried to get some pictures the fish just were not cooperating. Some of them looked like they could be wild so I tried to handle them as little as possible.
I really had a great time, and thanks to those who pointed me in the right direction. I caught more trout on dry flys today than I have all summer I think.
