Sometimes this stuff is just too much fun.

I have recently moved to a new town, a couple of hundred miles south and west, and so I am beginning the process of learning a new home area. Inquiring of everyone I meet, ?Do you have any farm ponds that have fish? Know anybody who does?? ?How?s the fishing out at the reservoir? Know anybody who fishes their regularly?? I?ve scoured the internet, made impulse stops at every sporting goods, hardware store and bait shop I see. The warm-water fishing is just getting ready to get interesting, and of course with my profession (see my name) I will be kind of busy for the next couple of weeks. So that is all a long introduction for?

I went out yesterday to the seep-stream below the dam on our local reservoir yesterday. They stock this stream with trout all winter, and intend for the fish to be removed and consumed because the water will soon warm to unacceptable levels.

I got there just a bit before sunrise, and strung up. I had learned a couple of weeks before that it might be necessary to get their early and claim squatters rights on one of the better spots, and this being the last day of spring break, well, better safe than sorry.

Even in the twilight, I noticed that there were rise forms on the small pool at the end of the stream.

Too darn dark to see what they were eating but, it had to be midges right? After struggling with a size 22 midge for 5 minutes in the dark, I made an un-pastor like comment, put the dumb thing back in my box and pulled out an 18 PMD parachute. Got it tied on as I heard the first car drive up.

I staked out a spot on the concrete dam that lies at the tail of the last pool and looked.

The sun was coming up now, and it was a perfect overcast morning, with just enough light and just the faintest of breezes to create a riffle. There was pod of trout cruising in this pool, and a number of other groups of fish cruising around together. I knew this because even though the water was stained and a bit murky, they were right on top ? dorsal fins sometimes cutting wakes. They were eating something all right, and right on top.

As I made my first cast, a young man and his sleepy eyed girl friend crashed through the trees and joined me at the stream. He brought worms for himself and a jar of power bait for her.

I cast to the center of the large pod of fish. One by one, the fish came by and ?sniffed? my fly (gotta remember to wash my hands before tying), and then sip, and I had a fish on. Was clumsy trying to land it off of the dam and lost it.

The fishing went on like this for a couple of hours. The fish were feeding on top, to a small (few) and tiny hatch of some kind of midge (I finally caught one, it was about size 28 chubby and dark olive). But if I put my fly in their face often enough, and there was just the slightest of riffle to give it some life, I had a strike.

I caught 6 fish between 12 and 16 inches by 9:30, kept 2 nice ones for my self, and gave the kid?s girlfriend the other 4, since she (and her boyfriend) hadn?t caught anything all morning. And I went home with a smile on my face.

Ate fish for supper last night too.
Coated the fillets in a mixture of wheat flour and masa flour. Served them with hash browns and a corn and green chili relish that was darn tasty.


Sight fishing for cruising trout on a warm March morning. Yep, this is just too fun sometimes.

I hope you all can get out and have too much fun sometime soon.
Ed