Bat pool1.jpg

I was casting in to this pool for trout yesterday, standing at the bottom of the pool letting my back-cast tail out over the stream behind me. I happened to look over my shoulder to watch my Woolly-Bugger as it started accelerating forward and to my surprise an orange colored bat was hard on its heels after it and headed right at me. The Woolly-Bugger sailed on over my head but the bat just kept coming at me - I cringed, he slammed in to my shoulder - POW! I looked around to see where he went and then looked in the water - there he was - knocked out cold, floating head up with his wings stretched out. He didn't move, just drifted down stream on the current, on over a riffle and about 20 feet in to the next pool below me where he fluttered his wings and took off... my first bat hatch!