Swattie87
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 3, 2011
- Messages
- 5,582
I'm sure everyone that regularly posts on here remembers their first day with the fly rod when it all finally "clicked." Today was that day for me...just thought I'd share the story a little.
I haven't posted much yet, but I've read a ton of the threads on here...so in a way thank you to everyone out there for the knowledge, tips, and tactics I have picked up from the site. I've had some success catching Sunnies in ponds and lakes so far this Spring, but this was my first real triumph with the fly rod in moving water. Thanks again...
This was on a SC stocked over natural repro stream. Between the PFBC and various clubs it gets Brooks, Browns, and Bows stocked, but I love it for its wild Browns. It actually tends to fish better for the wild fish in the Fall, once the stockers have been cleared out.
Excuse the copy and paste from my PAAnglers post...for anyone who frequents both sites.
--------
I got out a bit with the fly rod today and successfully managed to bring my first trout to hand with the long stick. Ended up with 9 stocker Brooks and one small wild Brown, all on small black and olive BH Buggers.
Flows were higher than normal, but certainly manageable. Pretty much ideal for this stream actually...it's pretty small and when flows are low the fish are skittish and are all stacked up in a couple of the deeper holes. When there's a little more water in it, the flow produces some very nice riffle areas. Water temp was 57 and still had a little color from the recent rains, but was definitely working toward getting clear again. Air temp was upper 60's and skies were cloudy...just started to sprinkle as I was getting back to the truck. Fished from 1:00 to about 4:00. I didn't notice any steady hatches but I did see one fish rise twice to something...not sure what it was though. Saw some midges and an occasional size 16ish lighter colored mayfly in the air.
The Brooks were taken at the end of a dead drift in the deeper, slower holes...pretty much when the fly was at it's deepest. The Brown hit on the swing and was in shallower, faster water. I had a good bit of hits on the swing in the riffles from Browns that were too small (3-6") to get a good take on the fly in the heavy current. Probably should have worked those areas with a smaller BH nymph in hindsight. I dropped the one Brown I did get to hand...wish I got a picture of him, or got a few more of them to hand, but still a great day. Definitely learned a lot about getting a good drift and detecting strikes on the drift. Have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so I probably won't get out again until June sometime.
First Trout on the Fly Rod...several of the hatchery Brooks appeared to have injuries/disease to their gills/gill flaps. One was much worse than this guy...the gill flap was almost completely missing leaving the gills exposed. Not sure what the deal was there...probably wouldn't have hurt to keep a couple of the worse looking ones, but all fish were released. They all fought well and looked to be otherwise healthy.
I haven't posted much yet, but I've read a ton of the threads on here...so in a way thank you to everyone out there for the knowledge, tips, and tactics I have picked up from the site. I've had some success catching Sunnies in ponds and lakes so far this Spring, but this was my first real triumph with the fly rod in moving water. Thanks again...
This was on a SC stocked over natural repro stream. Between the PFBC and various clubs it gets Brooks, Browns, and Bows stocked, but I love it for its wild Browns. It actually tends to fish better for the wild fish in the Fall, once the stockers have been cleared out.
Excuse the copy and paste from my PAAnglers post...for anyone who frequents both sites.
--------
I got out a bit with the fly rod today and successfully managed to bring my first trout to hand with the long stick. Ended up with 9 stocker Brooks and one small wild Brown, all on small black and olive BH Buggers.
Flows were higher than normal, but certainly manageable. Pretty much ideal for this stream actually...it's pretty small and when flows are low the fish are skittish and are all stacked up in a couple of the deeper holes. When there's a little more water in it, the flow produces some very nice riffle areas. Water temp was 57 and still had a little color from the recent rains, but was definitely working toward getting clear again. Air temp was upper 60's and skies were cloudy...just started to sprinkle as I was getting back to the truck. Fished from 1:00 to about 4:00. I didn't notice any steady hatches but I did see one fish rise twice to something...not sure what it was though. Saw some midges and an occasional size 16ish lighter colored mayfly in the air.
The Brooks were taken at the end of a dead drift in the deeper, slower holes...pretty much when the fly was at it's deepest. The Brown hit on the swing and was in shallower, faster water. I had a good bit of hits on the swing in the riffles from Browns that were too small (3-6") to get a good take on the fly in the heavy current. Probably should have worked those areas with a smaller BH nymph in hindsight. I dropped the one Brown I did get to hand...wish I got a picture of him, or got a few more of them to hand, but still a great day. Definitely learned a lot about getting a good drift and detecting strikes on the drift. Have a busy couple of weeks coming up, so I probably won't get out again until June sometime.
First Trout on the Fly Rod...several of the hatchery Brooks appeared to have injuries/disease to their gills/gill flaps. One was much worse than this guy...the gill flap was almost completely missing leaving the gills exposed. Not sure what the deal was there...probably wouldn't have hurt to keep a couple of the worse looking ones, but all fish were released. They all fought well and looked to be otherwise healthy.
