August 24,
2005. This happened yesterday in the afternoon. It's mostly true, too.
There are a few fishing tips near the end of the story, which I hope you
will enjoy and use to fulfill your fly fishing dreams, but to the
detriment of the fish. Dale
This is a quick one. I just wanted to let you know that
it is time to get out and fish. The water levels are wonderful right now,
and the fish are looking up for dry flies.
Tuesday afternoon - after writing the newsletter,
making a mistake in sending it out without the link attaching to the web
page where it's found and then trying again, without success, I think,
Dale and I went to the stream for an extra hour of fishing.
We went to a new spot that I had not fished and it was
lovely! The water contours here are fabulous and both of us landed in
different spots. I moved several fish, and I'm pretty sure Dale did, too.
I was thinking of stopping - we'd fished for a couple of days already, and
while Dale had not had enough and was chomping at the bit to go more, I
was sort of ready to sit on a rock or head home to see my wife and
daughter. Maybe you know that feeling.
I decided to tie on one more fly. It was a big hopper
pattern with a hi-vis post of chartreuse - we have them in the shops. I
cut the leader back to 4X and checked the knots. They seemed fine. I tied
on the fly and began
casting it along the near bank. The water moved along
at a good clip though this area and I'd fishing along the seam with a
little Royal Wulff, not moving any fish. I made pretty short casts - I was
using a 2-weight and that's a bit light to cast this size of fly - and was
keeping the line out of the fast water. The fly was just sitting on the
water, bobbin along and drifting in the slow current.
Lovely.
I made the next cast near the confluence of several
current seams. These are always good spots for fish to hold because the
water brings them food from several angles. The fly landed and sat,
bobbing as it was wont to do. Suddenly, a very large fish - let me repeat
that VERY LARGE FISH!!! - came up and attacked the fly with violence and
guile in its heart. If trout have such a thing, that is.
The fish attacked this fly - did I already say that? It
was a VERY LARGE FISH!! too. As soon as it took the fly I set the hook
hard. It was a big fish, I had on 4X tippet and I flat out nailed this guy
in the snoot. And it was not happy about it at all. I don't think fish are
used to being stuck in the mouth by the critters they eat, and this VERY
LARGE FISH was no exception.
The fish swam upstream into the fast water with vigor
that matched its VERY LARGE SIZE. It was bulldogging and ripping upstream.
Well, as line was ripping out of the guides I felt
something odd passing through and knew there was something with the words
'Not Good' attached to it. I looked out of the tip top and lo and behold
there was a huge knot in the fly line. Of all things. This used to happen
to me all the time.
Isn't the mind wonderful? While it will at times betray
us with its honesty,
at other times it can review the near past at the
speed of electricity. I guess that means the speed of light. Instantly I
remembered that my line had gone back through the tip top - I almost
always keep some fly line out of there, but it had slipped back through -
and when I pulled it out I did so by casting it, rather than pulling it.
Somehow, I knew that something bad had happened and that we were now
sharing the fruits of my carelessness.
Cool. I've got this fish throbbing and fighting for its
life on the end of my line, attached to a big old fat hopper pattern, and
a big old fat knot in the fly line! What do I do now?
I walked back to the bank and set the butt of the rod
on a clump of grass. I was holding the fly line that was between the fish
and the knot in my left hand and decided I'd try to untie the knot in my
right. The fish was neither happy nor patient about this and continued
thumping. I could feel its life in the line as it tried again to rush
upstream, against the fast current it was in. I had a straight line hold
on it, though. The knot was tough. The fish was VERY LARGE and very
unhappy about the entire affair.
It shook its head hard, made a blast toward the other
bank and broke off. There's not a lot of give from one's hand to the fish.
The bending of a fly rod and screaming of a fly reel are better, but alas,
when a knot is knotted in the fly line, the fish story becomes large, and
the grief one will take considerable.
There. Sometimes I suspect the stories I tell seem so
idealistic and unreal. Of course, I never lie about my fishing exploits;
I'm an honest angler - perhaps the only one left.
In this case, I made a mess by making a basic mistake,
and I lost the
largest fish I've seen in the Big Thompson this year.
I'm going back.
I want my fly so I can try again.
Hope you are well. Enjoy the day.
I'm going to add a link here to this story with some
pictures and fishing tips. Hope they'll help.
From mid-July and
well into September, the Rocky Mountain Fly Angler - that's us, my friends -
should be carrying and fishing with terrestrial patterns. They work.
It’s the middle
of the summer and water levels are fabulous, trout are
hungry and bugs are active. This makes for a good time to be on the water,
fishing. There is a virtual cornucopia of insects and food available to
greedy trout. In addition to mayflies, caddis, stones and midges,
terrestrials are present and ready for duty, which is to be both server and
entrée to dining trout.
Terrestrials make up a significant portion
of the biomass of our planet. At least that’s what National Geographic says.
In Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West there are lots of insects that live
life on land and lose it in the water. They include grasshoppers, beetles
and ants as well as cicadas, bees and so on.
All terrestrial insects go through their
growth process on land, including
that
found along the banks of streams and lakes. Many are clumsy and fall off
limbs, rocks, grasses or leaves into the water, which is not their place of
choice. When they are in the water terrestrials make lots of racket,
thrashing about in their attempt to return to terra firma. Or, they drown.
Summer days are likely to be hot and bright.
Trout don’t like either and seek out shelter from both. Streams and lakes
have areas that are shady at different times of the day and many are found
along banks. Clumsy terrestrials on banks, falling into the water, plus
opportunistic trout lying
along shady banks equals angling opportunities for us!
During the middle of the day, when surface
and other apparent feeding activity of the morning subsides, look for the
shady side of a bank, rock, log or other cover; tie on a hopper, ant, beetle
or cicada imitation and fish the water. When I see terrestrials they seem to
vary in size. For example, hoppers along streamside growth may be anywhere
from a size #6 all the way to a #14 or even smaller. However, the shape of
hoppers, ants, beetles and so on is similar. Hoppers are long and boxy, ants
have three well-defined segments and beetles are chunky and somewhat round.
I tie and fish all of them in various sizes, depending on the depth of the
water and how I see fish reacting to my fly. I do think fish are greedy and
want to get fat, so I usually go with larger patterns first. This seem
somewhat odd after
fishing
the morning with small spinner or caddis patterns, but it feels great when a
big old brown takes a size #8 hopper drifting along a bank.
Adjust leaders according to the size of the
fly. Divide the size of the fly by 3 to determine tippet diameter. When I
fish a size #8 I use 4X at a minimum, but 3X works fine as well. Thinner
tippet will result in the fly twisting the tippet during the cast, and
fixing twists and tangles takes away from fishing time. This is bad. If you
like fishing two flies try a large parachute hopper and a smaller beetle or
ant below. The fish will usually eat one or the other.
Work slowly upstream or along the bank of a
lake, looking for shady spots that might hold a trout. Fish may be in very
shallow water as long as they feel safe and cool. At times I see a dorsal or
tailfin out of the water’s surface as I fish the edges of local streams. A
well-placed cast just above the fish’s position often results in a take, and
then the battle is on. I’m particularly careful when approaching branches
that hang over the stream as several trout may be holding in one area of
shade, and the chance to hook fish in these spots is both challenging and
fleeting.
When I approach an overhanging branch I like
to make a sidearm cast that allows the line, leader and fly to travel
parallel and close to the surface of the water. As the loop finishes and the
line straightens I want the fly to travel past straight so it moves under
the overhang while the tippet, leader and line is outside of both the
obstacle and the drift lane. This cast takes practice and is effective and
useful.
Be sure to include a few terrestrial
patterns in your arsenal of flies, and when the day is bright and hot and
the fishing slow, look to shade and bank side cover for always-hungry trout.
Feed them a hopper, ant or beetle and build good fly fishing memories.
Grasshoppers are abundant, often
large and very interesting for trout.
This
pretty brown trout fell for a foam ant pattern. Can you see the bright green
post on the front of the fly in the fish's mouth?
I was fishing
pocket water along a bank and under overhanging willows when this large fish
sucked in the fly.
Ants work.
Beetles work.
Hoppers work.
Cicadas work.
Go fishing, and
use a terrestrial soon!
For more info,
please buy and read my Terrestrials!
Solution Booklet. This book has fly patterns, fishing tips and much
more. Enjoy!
casting it along the near bank. The water moved along
at a good clip though this area and I'd fishing along the seam with a
little Royal Wulff, not moving any fish. I made pretty short casts - I was
using a 2-weight and that's a bit light to cast this size of fly - and was
keeping the line out of the fast water. The fly was just sitting on the
water, bobbin along and drifting in the slow current.
FISH!! too. As soon as it took the fly I set the hook
hard. It was a big fish, I had on 4X tippet and I flat out nailed this guy
in the snoot. And it was not happy about it at all. I don't think fish are
used to being stuck in the mouth by the critters they eat, and this VERY
LARGE FISH was no exception.
at other times it can review the near past at the
speed of electricity. I guess that means the speed of light. Instantly I
remembered that my line had gone back through the tip top - I almost
always keep some fly line out of there, but it had slipped back through -
and when I pulled it out I did so by casting it, rather than pulling it.
Somehow, I knew that something bad had happened and that we were now
sharing the fruits of my carelessness.
tough. The fish was VERY LARGE and very
unhappy about the entire affair.
largest fish I've seen in the Big Thompson this year.
hungry and bugs are active. This makes for a good time to be on the water,
fishing. There is a virtual cornucopia of insects and food available to
greedy trout. In addition to mayflies, caddis, stones and midges,
terrestrials are present and ready for duty, which is to be both server and
entrée to dining trout.
that
found along the banks of streams and lakes. Many are clumsy and fall off
limbs, rocks, grasses or leaves into the water, which is not their place of
choice. When they are in the water terrestrials make lots of racket,
thrashing about in their attempt to return to terra firma. Or, they drown.
along shady banks equals angling opportunities for us!
fishing
the morning with small spinner or caddis patterns, but it feels great when a
big old brown takes a size #8 hopper drifting along a bank.
This
pretty brown trout fell for a foam ant pattern. Can you see the bright green
post on the front of the fly in the fish's mouth?