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Where did all the trouts go.........
Last fall WB and I caught quite a few dandies *Note: The fish I'm holding in my avatar. WB gave me a flytying lesson last week on buggers, I tied about nine or so ratty looking things that only a mother could love, but do the trout know the difference?
Fished the run for a solid hour, no hits, maybe a bit cold, water feels cold, air temp sure is cold.
Left run and hiked upstream in search of stockies to fulfill the need to catch something.
BWO's, caddis, and maybe hendrickson's are flying about. The swallows were having a field day up high in the air and swooping down to catch some mayfly for sure.
Found a nice cozy spot and had a sandwich, a sip of coffee, and nodded off for a bit.
Awoke to the sound of humans across stream, a father and son. Hiked back downstream, the wind sure picked up, wonder how Sero and Pondhopper are doing on the ponds?
Wonder how WB is doing on his project, email last night was almost a tear jerker.
Flipped a coin: Help WB or go trout fishing. You know which side came out.
Fished a nice spot that was pretty good to us last year, no hits, are there any trouts in this dang river?
Well ,got back to THE RUN. Wait a minute, maybe I should try across stream. Waded across through heavy current, made it without a tumble.
Started at the head of the run. Third cast, line stopped, all hell broke loose, a VERY LARGE FISH broke the surface and through my fly. Which fly did it hit, my own woolly bugger or the dropper, a WB nicely tied black w/rings soft hackled nymph kind of like a Quill Gordon or something? That fish won't hit again for sure. Dark, large frame with brilliant red stripe.
Down a bit, another nice hit and miss. Wow, four hours of fishing and finally some action.
Silly fish, they crossed to winter on the OTHER side. Not too bright angler, only took me 4 hours to figure that one out. A bit slow, but better late than never they say.
Down a bit farther, another hit and finally a hookup. This fish flies out of the water also. Not too shabby either. Jumps 3 or 4 more times. A nice fight, didn't bring my net (the Sero net curse you know) so took my time a bit.Took WB's dropper, I'll be darned, didn't want my meaty bugger, took the little piece of fleathers instead. Feesh, go figure. Taped out at 16" and chunky.
Fished down without any hits, crossed below to try the other side again.
Fished the whole run with nothing.
Crossed over to the dark side of the moon again.
Chubby will NEVER hit again. No way....but maybe there's another smaller fish nearby that want's my bugger. Some poor soul has got to be hungry enough to want my bugger, please.
Third cast, line goes down, fish on. Doesn't feel too heavy, definitely not chubby. Fish skyrockets off the dark side of the moon. It's Chubby, she's back, wow. She looks like she's been through the Micky D's drive-thru a few times at the very least. She's at least 20" and at least 5lb (trying hard not to exaggerate, I want people to believe me when I tell a story) and a meatball. No, I didn't mean football, a meatball. She's almost as big around as she is long. We play for awhile, 3 or 4 spectacular jumps and then one last leap. Somehow the 5X tippet breaks (imagine that) and we part ways. No hard feelings it was nice to meet you, maybe I'll see you again sometime.
Just stood there for a bit looking at the spot where she left me. Went to the bank, sat and tied on another WB soft hackled nymph that looks even more like a quill gordon or red quill or whatever.
Waded back out, 2nd cast, wicked solid hit. Took the whole dropper line this time. I think I've had enough of the 5X, so I tie on another WB special with 4X this time. Old dogs can learn new tricks, sometimes.
Fish through with no hits, think I'll call it a day.....
Wait, the stories not over, sit back down until I finish please.
The other side still looks good, why aren't them trouts over there.
So I go just above where Chubby was and try to get my flies over across current into the slack water.
Don't quite achieve my goal, as usual, but that's ok 'cause there's another fish on and this fish feels heavy too. He's staying down and oh, oh he's heading downstream, better follow. He never jumps, wonder if it's a brown. It is and he doesn't look that big at first, but he's fighting very hard. Finally he tires and yes you can see my self-tied woolly bugger in the corner of his mouth.
The "almost" part of the title to this thread was a teaser, sorry.
He wasn't huge, 14", but another tub. These fish sure like fast food for sure.
Now it's about 1:30PM and looks like some Hendrickson's or something coming off the water and Sacco, Proto, and Sero have been hitting afternoon hatches......Maybe next time.
Pictures may follow, they came out great, but something must be wrong with my USB cord because my computer won't recognize my camera, but the pictures are there. My cord to the tv works good, the fish look great, and fat.
Last fall WB and I caught quite a few dandies *Note: The fish I'm holding in my avatar. WB gave me a flytying lesson last week on buggers, I tied about nine or so ratty looking things that only a mother could love, but do the trout know the difference?
Fished the run for a solid hour, no hits, maybe a bit cold, water feels cold, air temp sure is cold.
Left run and hiked upstream in search of stockies to fulfill the need to catch something.
BWO's, caddis, and maybe hendrickson's are flying about. The swallows were having a field day up high in the air and swooping down to catch some mayfly for sure.
Found a nice cozy spot and had a sandwich, a sip of coffee, and nodded off for a bit.
Awoke to the sound of humans across stream, a father and son. Hiked back downstream, the wind sure picked up, wonder how Sero and Pondhopper are doing on the ponds?
Wonder how WB is doing on his project, email last night was almost a tear jerker.
Flipped a coin: Help WB or go trout fishing. You know which side came out.Fished a nice spot that was pretty good to us last year, no hits, are there any trouts in this dang river?
Well ,got back to THE RUN. Wait a minute, maybe I should try across stream. Waded across through heavy current, made it without a tumble.
Started at the head of the run. Third cast, line stopped, all hell broke loose, a VERY LARGE FISH broke the surface and through my fly. Which fly did it hit, my own woolly bugger or the dropper, a WB nicely tied black w/rings soft hackled nymph kind of like a Quill Gordon or something? That fish won't hit again for sure. Dark, large frame with brilliant red stripe.
Down a bit, another nice hit and miss. Wow, four hours of fishing and finally some action.
Silly fish, they crossed to winter on the OTHER side. Not too bright angler, only took me 4 hours to figure that one out. A bit slow, but better late than never they say.
Down a bit farther, another hit and finally a hookup. This fish flies out of the water also. Not too shabby either. Jumps 3 or 4 more times. A nice fight, didn't bring my net (the Sero net curse you know) so took my time a bit.Took WB's dropper, I'll be darned, didn't want my meaty bugger, took the little piece of fleathers instead. Feesh, go figure. Taped out at 16" and chunky.
Fished down without any hits, crossed below to try the other side again.
Fished the whole run with nothing.
Crossed over to the dark side of the moon again.
Chubby will NEVER hit again. No way....but maybe there's another smaller fish nearby that want's my bugger. Some poor soul has got to be hungry enough to want my bugger, please.
Third cast, line goes down, fish on. Doesn't feel too heavy, definitely not chubby. Fish skyrockets off the dark side of the moon. It's Chubby, she's back, wow. She looks like she's been through the Micky D's drive-thru a few times at the very least. She's at least 20" and at least 5lb (trying hard not to exaggerate, I want people to believe me when I tell a story) and a meatball. No, I didn't mean football, a meatball. She's almost as big around as she is long. We play for awhile, 3 or 4 spectacular jumps and then one last leap. Somehow the 5X tippet breaks (imagine that) and we part ways. No hard feelings it was nice to meet you, maybe I'll see you again sometime.
Just stood there for a bit looking at the spot where she left me. Went to the bank, sat and tied on another WB soft hackled nymph that looks even more like a quill gordon or red quill or whatever.
Waded back out, 2nd cast, wicked solid hit. Took the whole dropper line this time. I think I've had enough of the 5X, so I tie on another WB special with 4X this time. Old dogs can learn new tricks, sometimes.
Fish through with no hits, think I'll call it a day.....
Wait, the stories not over, sit back down until I finish please.
The other side still looks good, why aren't them trouts over there.
So I go just above where Chubby was and try to get my flies over across current into the slack water.
Don't quite achieve my goal, as usual, but that's ok 'cause there's another fish on and this fish feels heavy too. He's staying down and oh, oh he's heading downstream, better follow. He never jumps, wonder if it's a brown. It is and he doesn't look that big at first, but he's fighting very hard. Finally he tires and yes you can see my self-tied woolly bugger in the corner of his mouth.
The "almost" part of the title to this thread was a teaser, sorry.He wasn't huge, 14", but another tub. These fish sure like fast food for sure.
Now it's about 1:30PM and looks like some Hendrickson's or something coming off the water and Sacco, Proto, and Sero have been hitting afternoon hatches......Maybe next time.
Pictures may follow, they came out great, but something must be wrong with my USB cord because my computer won't recognize my camera, but the pictures are there. My cord to the tv works good, the fish look great, and fat.
You have accomplished a huge milestone!!!!Congrats big brother.... 
Savor that feeling of outsmarting a trout with your own creation.Its a very special moment.I was thinking about you out there today while I was working, hoping that you would connect on one of your own tied flies.Sounds like they were`nt in the same area as they were last year.Smart thinking ,to try fishing that run differantly.It sure paid off!!Sounds like you almost had a couple of wappers too. 
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