Prospecting

I will go on record and say that summer is here. Great on the obvious front -the fishing is currently pretty spectacular- but also concerning that time has flew by so fast. Don't know why I'm surprised with the pattern manifesting.. every year seems to whirl through quicker than the one before.

I've been doing some water prospecting and it paid off big last eve. Fish was a real toad.. heavy. Not a great pic, considerable bend in him, but I'll take it.. and gladly! Tough to get decent quick photo on your own within brief few seconds of unpinning the fly. Dusky / dark light conditions are no help.



Bugs were unreal both in amounts and variety. Spinners, emergers, terrestrials.. Maylies, Stones, and Caddis in wide range of sizes. No shortage and plenty to keep you guessing what each riser might be looking for. Fish down here seem to be quite spooky. I've put down a couple now after only one cast. Interestingly, they both false rose on the fly then left town. Ones up above seem a lot more beligerent sometimes displaying an indignant attitude towards your clumsy efforts. The ultimate 'flip you the fin' when they move up down or over several feet and continue feeding.. talk about feeling incompetent! I have a friend with a theory; "fish that have seen virtually no pressure are ultra sensitive to it. Much more so than ones living in popular sections." I whole heartedly agree.

Game on

First time out with new line for the little CND. Last fall friend Forrest had me trial his 5/6 SRO Vector on it. The line felt pretty good, as good as any tried so far. However, I was pretty curious what a Vector 4/5 might feel like on it.. but if the call had to be made I'd have chosen the 5/6 based on the satisfactory results. MJC at the Red Shed Fly Shop was kind enough to sell me one line but shipped both. I'm super glad I waited and feel fortunate for that favor.. the 4/5 is a dream on the little Speytracker!

We were hit with multiple days of steady soaking rain starting on friday 06-01. Three plus inches. I went out on Sunday 06-03 to try the lines and could barely get away from the river bank in an area thats normally knee to mid-thigh depth. Thick chocalate milk.. Heading upstream this eve I stopped at first crossing for a peek. She's still up high but much MUCH clearer.. only a modest stain. Aproaching my riffle the air had that fishy scent to it that only rainfall brings. Quite a few caddis buzzing about but not much sign of sailboats.. Tied on a #10 soft hackle pheasant tail and began working line out. Did I mention how amazing this line is? Worked down a ways and had one halfhearted roll on my fly. 15 minutes go by and I get a pluck. Haven't seen nor heard a rise.. Nice little soft water pocket on the far bank just inside the seam, the head & two rod lengths of run line reach it in good shape. Third swing and I get old familier feeling ..this is the shot.. sure enough a fish rolls on it, smacking it's lips in the film.. line comes up tight and reel starts to sing.. What the zxvxxz!! I was expecting a tiddler or bit larger fish. Out in the main flow it put good bend in the rod. After slugging it out a bit swam upstream to me, my break. No trophy but what a solid picture of health 18" chunker! Not a bad way to put the first stretch to a fresh line.

This seasons looking promising.

2wt gets bent

05/20 found me back up river meeting John Hayes near one of our usual haunt areas. Tonights hope was to [with any luck] encounter some spinner fall activity. I went down into a familier stretch that has treated me well early in the season more than once. Things looked grim as for promising rises. I brought out the 2 ounce DFR 8' 2wt that has been in my possession about a year now. Changed up reels for a lighter one and it was decided improvement. I finally got antsy enough to cast over one of the small trout rising periodically. Unsure whether it's just me but I've not found these little guys to be quite the pushover most people take them for. He wouldn't touch my fly.. Finally as the sun fell behind the treeline with the black flies & mosquitos turning it up a notch.. so did the Trout. As I slowly waded downstream coming around a prominent point on inside of bend there was a subtle rise just on slack side of seam created. A few minutes of observation disclosed two fish seperated by 15' I stalked in and made my first attempt which looked good but no go.. The trout rose again, quite tight to the grass line. Next cast was money and he sipped my Sz 16 spent wing with confidence. I lifted into solid weight, I'm not sure the fish even knew he was hooked at first. A little more pressure woke him up but he never panicked, just swam slowly and powerfully out into the main trough of the river and began head shaking. I leaned on him a bit and he ran for the other bank, line hissing off the little Loop. Getting him stopped was a mental dilema with 5x tip but it held. A few more powerfull but shorter drives were halted and he was led into the grass. The little 2wt had done well!

Old Friends

Another upper river outing 05/18 with Son [one of my oldest friends] had me feeling kind of unsure due the amount of boat traffic and at one of the camps where I've never seen anyone there was quite a shindig going on. I was 150 yards away and could keep up with all of one side and most of the other in ongoing discussion! Not really my style.. best part was as the sun went down & bugs came out FIERCE the partiers went indoors. The boat traffic all passed together [only 3] which is as much as can be hoped for with boats. Still seemed awful early for this kind of activity.. usually mid june before reaching this level. Hitting the banks and traveling a good clip upstream was best move I could have made. Arriving at bend in mind disclosed active risers. A closer inspection identified them to be Sulphers.. my 'bug of choice'. I'd dug out my old Orvis 8'6" 4wt.. another old friend that had been neglected to long. It was still just as nice casting as remembered. Really can't imagine a better rod format for this size water. The fish proved a bit finicky or my fly was caught lacking. At any rate I rose three and landed [basically] two.. the bigger one coming off at my feet while fumbling with the camera. Daylight was now gone.. even in years past when my eyes were much better I always wished that magical 15 - 20 minutes could be stretched. Walking back down to the vehicle took me right by the party camp.. nine vehicles at this tiny cabin! No wonder such a noisy place.

Spring Streamers

First, I'd like to extend an apology for the faithfull who have continued checking for fresh posts. It's greatly appreciated. I ended up A LOT busier this past winter than planned. Weak excuse but true. The local rivers are in great shape, right now on a big spike since multi days of rain totalling over 3" Sunday, May 6 turned out to be a great day chosen. John Hayes & I hit the water bright & early for a day of Streamers on the Upper Manistee. One of those all to rare occasions when the weather actually cooporates. It stayed cloudy / overcast all day with only a few sprinkles of rain. Only once did I think seriously about reaching for my rain shell but never did. The fish were grabby, after the first couple hours chartreuse established itself as colour of the day. We never hit any 'big' fish but plenty of nice ones in low to mid teens, john had one to hand that would have hit 15" - 16" and I had a good chase by one we had no qualms labeling NICE. John had afternoon obligations and no time to spare after hitting the skids of our takeout. I left my waders on and rod rigged, placed in backseat. John's the 'up high' guy on the upper river sections.. me, I cut my teeth on waters quite a bit lower and had a couple runs in mind if I could summon the energy to stop on way back down. As it was I'd convinced myself to just call it a day and go home.. until I drove past my turnout road and there were no tracks, old or new, only a blank slate. It was more than I could let go, so hooked reverse, backed up and turned in. A modest hike put me into and area that just feels like arriving home. The river is up and rolling at good brisk business like pace. I wondered if I'd be able to cross where I [almost] always have. It's hairy, enough push to shove you lower threatening to up-end me. What a relief to start back up out of the trough. She's reminding me of the old days when you didn't just wade with impudence but better be on top of your game on all points. Raining again now.. just a nice sprinkle occasionally settling back to mist.. sweet spring scents in the air. Starting at the low end junction of a nice split my streamer isn't really getting down quite the way I'd like it to. This water is MOVING. I start casting a bit higher and mending.. instead of stripping just animating the fly with light pulls. It's helping but I'm getting more sceptical with each cast, the water is fairly cold still. Almost convinced to reel up and move on I get whammed out of the blue by a strong tough customer. The water speed is really working to his advantage, rod is a GLX Classic 9' 6wt.. no weak kneed willow wand but he's still putting a big time bend in it! Finally I get him steered into some softer water and after a couple hard burst runs he's mine. What a gorgeous Trout. Pictures could never od justice at some moments and this is definetley one of them. The cold high water, his supercharged strength, golden buttery red spotted flanks & metallic 'dime' spot on cheeks with prominent kype all came together to represent quite a specimen and forge a moment I won't forget. Not many fish have that effect, this one is among that cadre. Pic is decieving as most of him is hanging vertical. Took one other about 15" and left with a new lease on state of mind.