Wet Lines & Good Times: First For 2013

Great outing today. Limited on time, I ran out the door with Tess to grab what little river time I could get. The first fish came quickly, and although it was small, it was that wonderful first fish of the season that seems to set the precedent for the rest of the season. Nothing beats that first take, that first tug - especially when it's still early for a hatch, and yet you manage to get them to take a dry. Today's magic was the ubiquitous Adams parachute indicator - one of my favorite go-to flies. I did see, and subsequently try to fish, some small cream midges, but to no avail. The brown pictured was my second fish, and if it's any indication of the healthy life in the river, this season's going to produce a lot of good fish and great memories. I'm sure with the coming week's warming weather, the bugs should be emerging and the fishing is sure to heat up.

Freestone First

 

Just got back from an amazing vacation in Lake Pacid - one of my favorite places on Earth. I managed to get in one good evening of fishing with my friends at The Hungry Trout, on a private, catch-and-release, fly fishing-only section of the Ausable River. This freestone river was vastly different than my home tailwater and was as equally challenging as it was exciting. I now understand why so many fisherman were so bummed when felt soles were banned, as my rubber-soled, carbide-studded boots did little in the way of traction. I relied heavily upon a wading staff to navigate the combination of current and slick rocks. I caught four nice browns and lost as many (plus two I missed on slow hook sets at the start). The Adirondacks provided a gorgeous backdrop, despite the pouring rain and thunder.

A Man, His Dog and Some Fish

Another incredible night on the river. Weather cooled off just enough and I headed out after dinner to fish until it got too dark to see. Had Tess with me and she enjoyed full run of the trails and river. I have to leash her when I'm fishing though - trying to keep a Lab out of the water is like trying to have the sun rise in the West. She was not pleased being restrained. I caught a few good fish and somehow lost my Dr. Slick clamp (argh!). I toggled between a rusty spinner, sulphur spinner and sulphur. Much of the action came right at sunset and I even fished in the dark for a bit trying to hook up just by listening for the take.

Father's Day Browns

Awesome Father's Day fishing jaunt. Headed back to the same hole as the other day - this time with my headlamp - preparing to stay until I couldn't see my fly anymore. Early on, things started off slow and I picked off a few smaller ones here and there using sulphurs, spinners and caddis. The action picked up two-fold as it got closer to sunset and I caught some really nice-sized browns using a size 16 Royal Coachman.

Rusty Spinner - It's What's For Dinner

Hit the river tonight from 4:00 p.m. until dark. I spent the first chunk of time feeling things out - looking for bugs, rises, etc., but it was slow going for a while. A few sporadic takes from mostly small browns like the two pictured above. I lost quite a few fish too - hook sets were too quick and I even had some issues with fish trowing the hook (lost what was probably THE biggest brown I've ever caught just as I was about to net him). I switched it up a lot between orange-bodied sulphurs, spinners and rusty spinners. I was expecting more of a spinner fall, but not much was going on bug-wise. The action picked up around 8:30 p.m. and I was getting into bigger fish (it really is true when they say the big boys come out to play when it gets dark), but ultimately had to bail since I was in a new non-trail area and forgot my headlamp. Gorgeous evening though and I shared the river with a huge beaver and a heron, who were only feet away.

Sulphurs and Spinners

Another gorgeous night on the river. I hit a new spot around 5:30 p.m. and fished until 8:00 p.m. Despite not seeing any naturals at the outset, I still fished a sulphur dry and after a few casts, they started to rise. I noticed some small cream midges and ultimately some big orange sulphurs. I hooked but lost four or five initially (due to bad knots and dull hooks - argh!). I settled in, however, resharpened some hooks and laid into them with sulphurs and spinners. 

The Gunpowder Ghillie

Hit a new section of the river last night with friend and guide Jason DuPont, for a solid four hours or so of fishing. Despite the reports of severe thunderstorms, it turned out to be a gorgeous evening. We started off swinging nymphs/emergers in the shallow riffles for a few takes, then switched to sulphur dries and absolutely laid into them. We even saw a few caddis. Lots of naturals and lots of big takes, replete with loud slurps and big jumps.

Out With Hendricksons, In With Sulphurs

I stopped in my local fly shop, Backwater Angler, this morning to pick up some flies after seeing a report on an early Sulphur hatch. As always, they were dead on and I had an epic morning. If I brought to net every fish I caught, I would have made it to eighteen. The takes were awesome too - super noisy and aggressive. I can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful spring Sunday morning and plan to hit the spinner fall later!

San Juan Special

Went to some new spots along a catch-and-keep section of the river tonight with Coke and caught a few nice trout. The weather was gorgeous and we wrapped up just before a big storm. I had some luck with a light pink San Juan Worm. We had a few suckers and fall fish as well. And despite the general lack of quality substrate in this area, there are a few holds and there is a bit of structure. I turned over some rocks and even found some Mayfly nymphs.

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.

Sulphur Hatch

Hit Glencoe tonight with Coke for some evening fishing. Nymphs and streamers weren't producing, then noticed sulphurs and some risers as dusk approached, so I switched to a BWO (covered in Dri-Shake to look white) and got this nice Brown (and a Fall Fish). Also saw a baby beaver - must have been days old. He was having trouble in a current, so I brought him back to his dam. Pretty cool night.

 

Browns-n-Bows

Another great night fishing with Coke. Hit up Blue Mount Road and caught a nice Rainbow, Brown, and two fall fish. Rainbow was 12" and Brown was a solid 8"-10".

First Dry Fly of The Season

Headed out around 3:00 p.m. today. Nymphed for a while and didn't have much luck. Around 4:00 fish starting hitting the surface, although I couldn't figure out what bugs they were eating. I tied on a BWO and second drift caught this nice native Brown. Cast a few more times and missed a strike or two, then switched over to a Mr. Rapidan and caught a monster Brown. Threw the hook just as I was about to net him. Argh! The "movie" below is a test with my cool new Flip camera/software.

Trifecta!

What a morning! Hit the dam end of the Gunpowder on Good Friday - not one other fisher. I caught 11 fish and lost at least twice as many (not sure why - hook set was too slow I guess). I caught the big three - Rainbow, Brown and a Brook. Figures though, the day I slam 'em I have no camera. I tried to use my wife's cell phone to capture the slaughter, but barely caught a few.

Sulphurs on the Gunpowder

Great mid-day action on the Gunpowder. Caught five decent Browns on a dry fly (Sulphur). They weren't just sipping either - they were hammering the fly! The new Scott S4 cast like a dream and the Bauer M2SL reel had the smoothest action of any reel I've ever owned.

Browns On The Rise

Went out on the Gunpowder today and had a great time fishing. Started off nymphing with tandem midges and hooked up with two - lost two others jumping the hook. Switched to a small black stone as they started hitting the surface. Caught another and probably missed about twelve.