VACATION FISHING II
The next day the weather started to get warmer. We did some more hiking in the morning, and I found more blackberries. I also found a lot of gooseberries. When we got back that afternoon I headed out to the stream again. I headed to end of the campground and went back to where I had got out the day before.
There was not a breath a wind today, and I tried the ant but no luck. Much of the stream was just shallow flats so I moved until I found another pool. I could see that there were a few fish here. As I watched them for a while and noticed they were feeding deep in the water.
I ran a PTN and a Hares Ear by them and they were not interested so I decided to try something else. I put on a Griffith's gnat and cast it out. Fish would rise toward it, but not take it. I kept casting it and one cast went too far and was going to get caught in a tree limb. I pulled the fly back a little and it went under the surface. I decided to continue the drift. The fly was near the end of the pool when a fish took it. Not sure where this fish had been, but it was fun. The fish headed down into the flat and I moved down to fight the fish there. This fish was about a foot long and fat.
I went back to the pool and tried again. No luck if the Griffiths Gnat was on the surface but I hooked fish if I pulled the fly underwater. Finally one fish stayed in the pool to fight and that quieted the pool.
I moved up the stream and saw a small falls. It dropped about three feet, but there was a plunge pool under that. I had tied up a new pattern and decided to try that. It has yellow biots for a tail, silver mylar body, yellow ostrich herl head, brown hackle and bead head tied on a scud hook. I dropped this fly so it would land at the base of the falls. It had dropped when I saw the line move sideways. I set the hook and a large fish did not like the idea. The fish had to stay in the pool as I had the downstream blocked. This fish jumped several times.
I finally got the fish up and could take the hook out. Someone behind me asked if he could see the fish. I lifted it up and showed him. I then returned it to the water. He wanted to know what fly I had used. He had tried to catch that fish for a couple of years. I showed him the fly and took it off the line to hand to him. He told me that the stream for the next mile or so upstream was all flats, no pools.
I knew that I was near the end of the campground so I headed in.
The next day was hot so we decided to look at some other things.
On the way back we stopped at a neat little park and had lunch. I tried the stream there and picked up three very nice rainbows. All the fish were taken on the nymph pattern I gave away. All of the fish were deep in the pools, and I fished from shore as the pools were too deep to wade.
I did not fish after that as it got too hot. I could feel that the water in the stream was warmer. I did not want to stress the fish or the fisherman.
Hope you can get out on the water.
Rick