First fish of the year. Dry fly fishing in early February. It doesn't get any better.
A couple times this week I made it a point to take some time out of the middle of the day and get an hour on the river to clear away some of the cobwebs in my head created by staring at a computer monitor all day. Yesterday it was 1:30 when I arrived at the waters edge and discovered a run that was boiling with fish sipping midges off the surface. Amazing in that it was 36 degrees out and a pretty good snow storm had blown through a couple hours ago. I had not expected to see many fish up on the surface when I headed out to the river but was rewarded with quite a show.
I have to admit though that I still managed to go fishless. No excuses but when you know you only have an hour or less to fish and the water is boiling around you with rising fish it can get your adrenaline pumping to the point where simple tasks become very complicated. It was hard enough trying to tie on a #22 Griffiths Gnat with fish dimpling the surface all up and down a short run of river. Then I messed around thinking that maybe I should tie on a little zebra midge dropper as well which may have been a good idea in theory but only made for a few big messes as the two flies kept tangling around each other. Could have been bad casting, but I was blaming twisted tippet. I am sticking with that story but the point is I got skunked.
My mistakes didn't stop with hurrying to get rigged up. I missed several fish that slurped my fly but only after I had taken my eyes off the drift. I had a problem staying focused as I tried to keep my eye on the tiny drifting fly only to have fish slurping bugs all around me. It's hard to pick your fly up after diverting your eyes to the perfect rise just 10 feet from where your standing. I had one good take that I was ready for but still missed as I tossed the fly across the slow current to a sipper just off the opposite bank. Sure enough my fly had had no sooner hit the water when the fish quietly nosed it. I brought up the rod tip and felt that brief heaviness and head shake of the fish but that's it as the fly popped from its mouth.
I left the river feeling great. I have not often been in a situation where fish where feeding so actively on the surface in such cold weather conditions. It was a sight to behold for sure. Then at exactly 2:30 pm it was like a switch was flipped and the fish just stopped. Just like that. Luckily it was time to head back to work anyway.
Now today I had a different opportunity as I headed out to the river. The midges where hatching but their were no pods of fish feeding like I had gotten into the day before. There were individual fish working large areas of water cruising around and picking up adult midges. I found one fish feeding in the foam line below a small riffle. It was moving up and down the pool sipping some unusually large sized midges. I tried the Griffiths Gnat that had worked yesterday first.
The fly was difficult to pick out against the reflection on the water and amongst the natural bugs, and foam drifting in the feeding lane. One occasion had me staring intently at what I thought was my fly but turned out to be a real bug drifting on the surface. I was fixated intently on the dark dot against the cloudy sky's reflection on water surface when suddenly a nose poked out and ate the fly. I jerked up only to watch my fly get picked up a couple feet to the right of the fly that was now fish food. It sent quite a jolt through me though as my intense concentration was broken by that subtle slurp.
I decided then that it was time to change things up. The Griffiths Gnat was not what this fish wanted. I had drifted it through the feeding zone many times and hadn't interested the fish yet. I switched to a simple adult midge pattern with a CDC wing. On the first good cast I got into the feeding lane I was rewarded. The fish took the fly and immediately bolted downstream, hooked firmly in the corner of the mouth. It felt good to have caught my first fish of the year, and to have done it on a dry fly was even better. With that I packed up my gear and headed back to the office. Lunch on the river was a success. I could get used to this.
I have to admit though that I still managed to go fishless. No excuses but when you know you only have an hour or less to fish and the water is boiling around you with rising fish it can get your adrenaline pumping to the point where simple tasks become very complicated. It was hard enough trying to tie on a #22 Griffiths Gnat with fish dimpling the surface all up and down a short run of river. Then I messed around thinking that maybe I should tie on a little zebra midge dropper as well which may have been a good idea in theory but only made for a few big messes as the two flies kept tangling around each other. Could have been bad casting, but I was blaming twisted tippet. I am sticking with that story but the point is I got skunked.
My mistakes didn't stop with hurrying to get rigged up. I missed several fish that slurped my fly but only after I had taken my eyes off the drift. I had a problem staying focused as I tried to keep my eye on the tiny drifting fly only to have fish slurping bugs all around me. It's hard to pick your fly up after diverting your eyes to the perfect rise just 10 feet from where your standing. I had one good take that I was ready for but still missed as I tossed the fly across the slow current to a sipper just off the opposite bank. Sure enough my fly had had no sooner hit the water when the fish quietly nosed it. I brought up the rod tip and felt that brief heaviness and head shake of the fish but that's it as the fly popped from its mouth.
I left the river feeling great. I have not often been in a situation where fish where feeding so actively on the surface in such cold weather conditions. It was a sight to behold for sure. Then at exactly 2:30 pm it was like a switch was flipped and the fish just stopped. Just like that. Luckily it was time to head back to work anyway.
Now today I had a different opportunity as I headed out to the river. The midges where hatching but their were no pods of fish feeding like I had gotten into the day before. There were individual fish working large areas of water cruising around and picking up adult midges. I found one fish feeding in the foam line below a small riffle. It was moving up and down the pool sipping some unusually large sized midges. I tried the Griffiths Gnat that had worked yesterday first.
The fly was difficult to pick out against the reflection on the water and amongst the natural bugs, and foam drifting in the feeding lane. One occasion had me staring intently at what I thought was my fly but turned out to be a real bug drifting on the surface. I was fixated intently on the dark dot against the cloudy sky's reflection on water surface when suddenly a nose poked out and ate the fly. I jerked up only to watch my fly get picked up a couple feet to the right of the fly that was now fish food. It sent quite a jolt through me though as my intense concentration was broken by that subtle slurp.
I decided then that it was time to change things up. The Griffiths Gnat was not what this fish wanted. I had drifted it through the feeding zone many times and hadn't interested the fish yet. I switched to a simple adult midge pattern with a CDC wing. On the first good cast I got into the feeding lane I was rewarded. The fish took the fly and immediately bolted downstream, hooked firmly in the corner of the mouth. It felt good to have caught my first fish of the year, and to have done it on a dry fly was even better. With that I packed up my gear and headed back to the office. Lunch on the river was a success. I could get used to this.
2 comments:
That's one hungry lookin' fish. Sounds fun, anyways...I've almost forgotten what fishing is like, it's been so long.
Caught one today that was not hungry looking at all. 20 solid inches with a big old hook jaw. Some of those fish get beat up over the winter and others come through it looking like they didn't miss a beat.
I am just guessing here but I think most of the skinny fish you get in the spring are the females that had to go through a spawning season in the fall then go right into winter. It takes a bit to rebuild those reserves.
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