Mystery River Report...

[Poke 'Em]

Decided to go try out a new place for a couple of days. Since it was a little bit of a drive, I decided to camp out and fish two days. It was a balmy 12? when I woke up... there was a nice layer of frost on the inside of my tent...

As for the fishing...

Day 1 was tough. Started out throwing a PT nymph, but nothing was taking it. There also wasn't any insect activity to speak of. I saw one blue-winged olive all day. I wasn't seeing any fish nymphing either. So I tied on an olive egg-sucking wooly bugger, and got a couple of missed strikes right off the bat. Made it to the next hole, and got nothing casting up stream. I moved to the top of the hole and cast down and across, swinging the bugger through the current and stripping it back up. BAM! First cast that way landed a nice little 12" brown.



Made another cast through the hole and on the first swing what looked like a nice 15" brownie came out of the water chasing my fly. No dice. So I swung my fly through there again. He chased it again! But couldn't get it. I made 20 or so swings through there, stripping it fast, stripping it slow, holding it still in the current, swinging it wide, stripping it straight upstream... I saw the fish swipe at it at least a dozen times without getting it. Finally, he got a little too much of it and I missed him, and that was that...

The rest of the day was tough, a couple missed strikes, but that was it. On the way back downstream, I tried that same hole again, this time with a black egg-sucking bugger. First cast got him this time!

Next day started out much better. I switched to a plain bead-headed wooly bugger after netting this little guy, and the bite was on!

[Poke 'Em]

In the afternoon, a massive caddis hatch started, and the fish looked up. If anything, it was too big of a hatch, as it's hard for your fly to stand out when there are a dozen real caddis floating through a pool at the same time...


(And I know see at least two caddis that I didn't get circled)

The fish of the day was a nice, fat, 17" rainbow that took probably the best cast I've ever had to make to hook a fish. There's a rock wall that runs along the river's edge at one point, and the last foot or so above the water is undercut and covered in moss and vines. I saw this fish rising to caddis that were falling right against the edge of the rocks. The fish never took a caddis more than 3" off the edge. And because of a tree behind me, I had to make a backhanded cast under the overhang, without hitting the wall (or I'd get caught in the moss/branches), within 3" of the wall. I did. He rose. And it was beautiful. (I'm not saying I could do it again - at least not on a consistent basis, but it was a beautiful thing when it happened).





And I leave you with this...

[shortcaster]

I went last thursday to my secret spot that only me & 2000 or 3000 other folks know about. The fish were semi cooperative & i took & released 7 or 8.

Never saw so many game wardens there. Also a lot of folks fishing. Thought to myself, "Don't these people have jobs?" Guess the econmy is bad in NW AR also. Did get to meet & talk to some good folks.

[Lew]

Nice report. Great photos. You're makin' me antsy.

[BruceSmith]

Excellent photos. Good report.

[popperfly]

Nice pictures, and thanks for sharing that adventure on the river

[Panfisha]

Hey, that fish is trying to eat your reel! You better have stopped it!

[Grubb]

Hey Poke 'Em, thanks for taking us along, maybe next time get a pic of your camp site, great fishing pics...

[JohnScott]

Hi Poke 'em -

Interesting couple days - wake up at 12F, have some caddis around later, snag a sculpin, make a once in a lifetime cast ( not really, I hope ) and catch some nice fishies, in a mysterious place that looks like a medium size slightly stained stream in deciduous tree country. Hmmmmmm ..... The brown trout did it in the pantry with a tent stake ???

John

P.S. Nice pics. But about those caddis you missed .... !!

[JeffHamm]

Great report. Sounds like a really good time. The fish you hooked on that best cast will be remembered for a long time. Those are the moments of memory, when all things come together like that. Nice.

- Jeff