I did it! My first trout on a fly I tied!
A friend of mine asked if I wanted to fish a river in a nearby town yesterday. A local sports club stocks the "Yough" every Sat. at 1-1:30PM from April through May. My buddy and I planned on meeting around 3:30 and hit 'em hard.
Friday night I told my wife that I felt like a little kid again. During the week, everytime I felt pressure at work or looked at the amount of work I still have for my Master's degree (I finish in Sept.--thank goodness!) I would think about the upcoming outing we had planned.
Friday night I sat down at my vise and decided to tie a few Wooly Buggers for Sat. I added some Flash-a-bou to the tails of some and left the others plain. My wife commented about my "young" attitude. I was really looking forward to Sat.
Early Sat. afternoon it started to rain. My buddy called to make sure Dad and I were still coming. The rain turned into thunderstorms and Dad called to see if we were still going. My only reply was "I think it'll blow over. Worst case, we'll sit in the car and look at the river." There was nothing keeping me away from at least trying to get on the river for my SECOND fly-fishing attempt.
The weather did blow over. I met my buddy in the river and Dad sat on the shore. I was the only one with FF gear and my buddy was getting hits left and right. I had a few problems with my casting and was starting to question why I wanted to FF over spinning. I cought the tip of my rod at least 5 times and had to untangle the mess. Twice I lost me fly and tippit. (broke below the knot?)
The river was very fast. I had a hard time trying to keep my line mended, but all of a sudden I felt the line in my left hand (I'm a right handed caster) get tight. I gave it a little pull and felt the "wiggle". It's been 16 years since I felt the fly rod have a fish on it, and back then there was always live bait at the end of my leader. A little fight and I had a nice rainbow in my net.
I admired the beauty of the fish as I took the Bugger out of it's mouth. I guess my novice tying skills can produce a fly that a fish wants to eat. As I watched the fish swim away, I pulled out some line and prepared for the next cast--realizing why I wanted to FF.
I probably had a lot of hits, but I'm still learning. It was the only fish I cought all day, but I will remember it forever. A 9-10 inch Rainbow Trout. A Wooly Bugger I tied the night before. My first fish on a fly!
Sorry I rambled on, but I wanted to share the experience.
Brad
[This message has been edited by Weasel (edited 08 May 2005).]
Reply With Quote
