Woods to Water

Disclaimer: I am not by any means a professional fly fisher nor do I actually know what I’m doing. So if you are a seasoned vet at the sport bear in mind that I am new to this.         

From the woods to the water I go.  My yearly fly fishing expedition (more like a few hours in a river) was here and I was ready. I headed down to the river around 8:30 in the A.M. and after a few practice casts in the water (harder than on the lawn) I had my rhythm down. There are multiple cast types and techniques but I stuck the only one I knew. I was doing well and felt good working my way up stream. I was casting in the general vicinity I wanted to and getting out a good amount of line versus the coiled handfuls at my feet that usually happens every year. This year was different for a couple of reasons; one, I had practiced and studied the cast, which areas to fish, and habits of the trout. Second, I usually bring a regular fishing rod and reel as my back up for when I get frustrated after twenty minutes of bad casting and hang-ups in trees but not this year, I only had my fly rod. I was in a wider part of the river that never went past my knees but wasn’t catching fish despite my descent casts. I decided to move spots so I worked my way back down stream climbed in my car with wet waders and moved on.

I made my next spot after a few minutes on some back roads and it looked even more promising than the last. I headed down the bank and into the water. The water here was deeper, up to my waist in some spots, cool and flowing through a tunnel of older trees that hung over the river leaving a skylight about a third the width of the river and closed off completely in some spots. There was a light fog coming off the surface as the day was warming up. It was perfect for trout. At least by what I read it was supposed to be. I moved to one side of the bank and fished towards the other while working my way down stream towards a riffle in the river that stretched from one bank to the other. I fished past the riffle into a few pools below but again, no fish. A little aggravated but not beaten I headed back towards the car to move again. When I climbed out and up the bank I was greeted by two older gentlemen, Pat and Jack. These two men were decked out in the best gear; proper waders, vest with all the dangly necessities one needs to catch trout, expensive rods and fancy hats. Looking at me, I’m sure they could tell right away that I was a newbie with my old hunting waders, small shoulder pouch with very minimal stuff, old rod, and no fancy hat, but they didn’t look down on me. They chatted me up for about ten minutes and were even kind enough to give me some flies that Pat said, “Worked last week.” I thanked them and headed to my next preplanned spot.

I spotted my first fish at the third spot of the day. It was a small trout (brown maybe?) sitting a few inches below the water hanging in a small pool. He sat there for a bit laughing at me as I tried to get a fly in front of him. He seemed uninterested and darted off after a few, well placed, casts. At least I knew there is at least one fish in there. I moved down stream and around a bend working the deeper water on the far bank. I spotted a large rock at the bottom of a riffle just out of the bend and nestled behind the rock was the silhouette of a fish. Here was my chance. I placed my fly right in front of the rock with such a perfect cast it would have made Pat and Jack proud. The fly, actually an ant, floated over the rock and dipped down right in front of the fish then BAM! I should say that right before the fish I was calm and steady then after he hit the line, which I was quick enough to set the hook, I lost all coolness and fumbled around trying to work the rod and line. In my excitement I completely forgot everything I read on how to work the fish but I somehow manage to land him.  He was a beautiful brown trout about eight inches. I admired him for a brief moment then released him. I stood there with the biggest grin and sense of success for a minute before coming too and realized there is more fish to catch. I fished for another hour or so but didn’t catch anything but wasn’t disappointed.

 I finally got my first trout and my first fish on a fly rod so I can check that one off my list but I’m not ready to put down the fly rod for another year. I plan to head out a few more times this summer and some in the fall. Hopefully I’ll bag a few more fish and get some photos. I also have decided that I need a fancy hat, which I’m sure will help to catch fish and keep the sun off my ears and nose so if you’d like to contribute to my Fancy Fishing Hat Foundation I will  gladly  accept any and all donations, if not at least keep reading.