JC's Salmonfly

[JohnScott]

.... but still a bit early for salmonflies for most of the streams and rivers in this neck of the woods.

We had a really cold winter, starting in early December, with a bunch of snow. Didn't fish at all from late November until getting in just a few days, mostly getting skunked, last month.

A week ago I had to snowshoe into one of my favorite places on my home water. Yesterday I could walk in on mostly bare ground everywhere I fished.

Fished the FEB Salmonfly and got lots of action in several different places. But I guess the fish were out of practice - they hit the fly aggressively but didn't hook up. A low hook up rate kind of goes with this pattern, and other FEB patterns, which is generally fine with me, but going 0 for 12 was a bit surprising.

The salmonfly hatch, where there is one, is usually short lived. Fortunately, the near sighted, color blind, dumb and starving trouts I chase will go for the FEB Salmonfly pattern almost year round. Change it up sometimes over the course of the season with different sizes and colors for skwalas, golden stones, hoppers, and October caddis.

John

... or however it is spelled, all over again.

Yesterday was almost a repeat of this post from five years ago.

One difference is that there is still a lot of snow and I'm no longer into snow shoeing through deep snow in the woods to get to the river at a couple of my favorite spots on my home water, so yesterday was my first day out this year.

Another difference is that I started out, and stayed with, playing tag - the hook cut off well behind the barb of an FEB Salmonfly leftover from last year.

There was good access to a couple of places - one that I haven't fished for several years which produced a half dozen good hits including one fishy that just would not let go of the fly even when I gave him several chances to do so, and another where the steep bank was surprisingly free of snow which produced another five solid hits. Pretty good action for just under an hour on the water.

John