Lucky days; we all need them!

[Van_Cleaver]

Ok, so work got called last min. and I happened to have my fishing gear still in the truck. I left home at the usual time and arrived at a Chester Co. stream a little after nine. (no pms for location please). Took forever to rig up since my leader to line connection was shot and I had to cut a little cracked fly line and redo pretty much everything. Got to the water which was dead clear, and took two casts to find the range since I was under a fairly low canopy. My second drift resulted in a fat foot long rainbow as did the following cast. Took several more from that run before moving on. Caught multiple fish from pretty much every run, and then went back through with an ant dropper on my caddis pupa. More mayhem. There had been a contest here last weekend and there were plenty of fat fish still in the water and feeding. (Though not on top) At one point early on I pulled off a fighting fish and flung into a tree above. Hoping to get at least my indicator back I hooked the branch between my tip and the line and managed to grab the branch. Got everything back but since I was using a weight and a beadhead it looked like time to retie. Amazingly I got everything untangled in under a min. and got back to business. Only lost a few flies and most were cut off, or nicked leader breaks. My brother called since I was to meet him at his place nearby, and I hooked (while still on the phone) and landed yet another 14'' rainbow, though I did hang up on him! Took several more fish and then left; the stream was deserted, and got blown out by a thunderstorm within the hour. Not only did I have my most productive day in terms of numbers this year; I hooked and rolled some impressive specimens. The ones I brought to hand were generally 11-14"; mostly rainbows and Brook. Instead of the usual meat hounds that haunt these stretches, the three guys I talked to were letting every fish go; a pleasant surprise. Only real bad luck was driving back home in a monsoon; but I was really hoping for rain, so I can't complain. So far this trip is still under the spousal radar; am I a bad man?

 

[salmonoid]

What happens on the stream, stays on the stream.

 

[dc410]

You gotta take 'em when you can get 'em. Sounds like a good time. Sometimes they really tie on the feed bag right before a front like that moves through. Being at the right place at the right time is sweet. Nice job.

 

[lv2nymph]

Not luck, absolutely right place right time like John has said. You made the best of it and had a banner day. Congrats to you.

 

[timmyt]

I could use a day like that. Its amazing what days like that will do for the soul isnt it. Every once in a while the spirit needs a recharge and sometimes the universe gets it to you right on time!

 

[mute]

Van, the crowds seem down almost by half from last year that i noticed on this stream. And the numbers of fish still left in the stream are up a lot more then the previous years as well. Even though a few days there were 3 guys who had a huge tub who put their whole limit of 15 fish in to relocate at their pond. In which they were backagain the next day.

 

[Van_Cleaver]

I wish I had a bucket so I could have moved a few downstream where their life expectancy would have been longer. Did intentionally drag one Brookie into the fast water below the contest area. I'd much rather see guys restocking trout elsewhere as opposed to dragging them to death on the stringers. Sometime we make our own luck; but as the saying goes: sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And maybe having some skills doesn't hurt you chances either.