So I'm standing on a big rock at the edge of the creek tying on a fresh fly. About six feet above the water's surface. My feet, that is. I'm thinking I don't want to drop my 2.5 power magnifier glasses. Wrong thing to be thinking. I drop them, they bounce off the rock, and sink quickly to the bottom of the creek. By the time I can get down to the water, they are gone.

Moved on upstream a way to another fishy looking spot. Sat on another rock squinting to tie on a new piece of tippet with a double surgeon's knot. Knot all that hard to do, actually. Then came the size 16 caddis pattern. That took some serious squinting, and maybe it got done more out of habit and routine than by actually seeing the tippet go through the eye of the hook ??

Anyway, that was the real accomplishment of the day. Put that fresh little caddis on the water, got a good drift, and hooked up almost immediately with a small brown. Then another. Then another. Nice way to end the day.

Rock Creek was really rocking today - with insects. Salmonflies - got a couple trouts on a JC's Salmonfly. PMDs - got a few trouts on a CDL bodied parachute PMD. Green drakes - my best fly of the day, a furled antron extended body green drake with the tails incorporated in the extended body ( kind of ). A fly that I tied for the Western Greek Drake hatch on one of my favorite cutthroat trout streams in SE Idaho late last summer. Caddis - a couple fishies on an oversized caddis pattern, and then the last three on the deer hair wing version of Harrop's Henry's Forik Caddis. The next best thing about today, after getting a fresh fly tied on without glasses, was that all the flies I used were original patterns, given that the smaller caddis is a variation on a well known pattern.

When all was said and done, had one rainbow, first fish of the day, three or four cutts, and a dozen plus small brown trouts. Had a lot of hits, and turned a couple really nice fish that wouldn't eat the fly. The fishies today were on the small side. The browns and the bow were in the 7" to 10" range. A couple of the cutts were pushing 12". One of the fish that turned looked somewhat bigger than that.

Beautiful early summer weather. The water level has dropped noticeably in the past couple weeks. Almost perfect water temp for wet wading. Now all I have to do is figure out where the bigger fish are in the forty or fifty miles ( maybe more ) of Rock Creek. That could take some time.

Actually left the camera in the truck today. Kind of regretted that after happening on an absolutely spectacular white water stretch that pretty much says is all about ROCK Creek !! Next time I get up there, I'll get some pics of the river for a slideshow.

John