Fish On . . . With Conor

Hit the river with Conor this morning after dropping Owen off at school, to squeeze in a few casts on this 71 degree March day. I caught two very nice browns, again on a 24 Adams parachute/indicator. They seemed to be hitting emergers hard, but I didn't have the right arsenal. I had Conor help reel in the fish. First one broke off at the net, but we landed the second one. Conor held it for a second then we let it go. What a way to spend the morning! On the way out, I ran into the Commandant of the US Naval Academy and we chatted about our flies and successes. He was hittin' 'em hard with BWO emergers as I suspected.

The Stink is Off

Got out this afternoon for some solo fly fishing - first time this year. Hit the Gunpowder down from the dam at a nice hole. After some experimenting with a small stonefly and then a tandem midge rig to no avail, I sat and watched the water for a bit. I noticed some surface activity around 3:00 or 3:30. They seemed to be eating little gray midges, so I tied on a 24 Adams parachute indicator and caught four nice browns in short order. Tess sat on the banks in a patch of warm sunlight and watched. Each fish got a sniff and then I let them go. Gorgeous day.

First Fly Fishing Foray of 2012

Well, I finally had my first fly fishing foray of 2012 this past Thursday. Couldn't help but take advantage of the late spring-like temps before things got cold again. Hit a catch-and- keep section of the Gunpowder with my friend and outdoor sage, Coke. I'm not a fan of catch-and-keep areas - they're stocked and attract a less-than-savory crowd who fish with worms or corn niblets, etc. There's a blatant lack of quality substrate and those that don't get caught wind up migrating to the more quality catch and release sections of the river anyway. Either way, it's still fun to get out with a good friend, listen to the river and once again polish up my casting skills after the winter hiatus - especially on a week night. Coke's seen here with three nice trout - two rainbows and a brown.