Now it is Official

So I still do not know what I want to do with my life.  I have worked many jobs after graduating high school.  Some of these jobs I have enjoyed myself, but others I have crossed off as something I really do not want to do.  So when we moved to this new house I started looking for a job again.  That fact by itself might shock some and might not shock others, but if you look at the list of places I applied you might laugh a little.  The first three applications I filled out were in this order; REI, EMS, and Bass Pro Shops Fly Shop.

About two weeks ago I had some phone contact with Bass Pro Shops.  I did not get my hopes up but after two phone conversations I found myself driving the 40 minutes to Foxborough.  The interviews seemed too easy.  On the interview I talked with two managers - talking about fly fishing and business are two things I can do and it paid off in this interview.  I was so confident in the interview that I did not go to the truck and call Sarah, but I went to the car section and bought a Bass Pro sticker for my truck.  I then went out to the truck and called Sarah and said it looked good.

After a drug test and background check I was "officially hired".

Last week Sarah and I went on vacation to a friend's wedding and I was in a haze all week long.  The job is just too good to be true, I mean stand around talking, reading, and learning about fly fishing all day long.  The reason I am finally posting about it is because today I went and got my badge and shirts.  They also tried to break me with 3 hours of videos and power points, about sales, procedure, and what not to do at work.  Well they did not break me and it is official ...

I work at Bass Pro Shops in the fly fishing department!

The view from the rooftop pool at the hotel we stayed at on vacation.

Now I need to take a minute to say I am not taking back what I wrote in Bears Den (my thoughts on local fly shops), but urge you to remember that John L. Morris (the man who owns Bass Pro) is a small business man at heart.  Oh and did I mention that John L, Morris is a fly fisherman, and I am told that when he visits stores he likes to show up in the fly shops.  Just something to keep in mind.

Lastly if you are ever near the Foxborough area or you are Bass Pro hopping in the north east stop by the White River fly shop and ask for me.  Thanks for reading everyone.

-Bruce   

Bear's Den (my thoughts on local fly shops)

So I like to find local fly shops and support them as much as I can.  I will not lie - I do shop at the big chains like Bass Pro and Cabelas but you get something at the local small town shops that you can not get with the big guys.  If you look on the side bar of my blog you find the local shops I support whenever I am near them.  I do not really seek them out, but either find them by chance or hear about them from other fisherman. With this post I hope you at least stop in at your local shop and pick up a couple things.

When I was growing up in PA the local bait shops and fly shops were the places to find out what the fishing was really like on local waters.  As I got into fly fishing I found that these shops are a compilation of a time machine, a history book, a how-to guide, a lecture hall and - at times - a place to sling the thick stuff (aka tell tall fishing tails).  They also sell everything the big guys sell and if they do not have it they will order something special just for you.

Today I wondered into a fly shop called 'Bear's Den Fly Fishing CO'.  I am not going to lie - the name is really cool and I was worried that the store would not do the name justice.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the name matched the shop well.  It is located in the basement of what I think was a vet's office (the truth is I did not look at the sign very well I was too excited to be at a local shop).  I walked downstairs and turned the corner to see a small space stacked floor to ceiling with fly fishing and tying gear and supplies.

For my first visit to the Bear's Den I picked up some basics, but found tons of things I wanted to buy. Be proud of me Sarah I didn't buy a lot more then I needed.

The Bear's Den has more tying materials then I have ever seen in a fly shop.  They have tying materials that until this point I could only find online.  If you are not in the southeastern area of Massachusetts but have a fly tying item you need I would strongly recommend you check out their website.  The website also has lots of great fly fishing stuff as well.  It also has a discount section so be sure to stop in and see what they have on sale.

Now the actual shop has a lot of saltwater stuff.  I am a trout guy, and I found only one tippet spool that was higher then 5x and it was fluorocarbon which any fly fisher will tell you can really break the bank.   Now this is not a knock on the den and truth be told I might have missed some because they had so much stuff.  The reason for all the heavy leaders and tippets is how close to the coast they are - you can get to saltwater in ten to twenty minutes.  

Their proximity to saltwater brings a lot of anglers who are targeting stripers, blues and other saltwater fish of the northeast.  As someone who has only really fly fishes for trout, panfish and the occasional bass I am looking forward to giving this saltwater stuff a try, and a shop like this is my first step.  What I have found from other fly shops is that these are the places to learn how to fish.  The people who work here and the regulars who shop here know more about the local water and fish then anyone else.  So by shopping here and talking to people I am hoping to lean enough about bay and ocean fishing that maybe I will be able to hold my own.

Here is the list of fly shops I love to visit because I know you have not looked for the list on the side bar yet.

Slate Run Tackle Shop 

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This is where I got my first fly rod.  Well my first was a gift - this is where I made my first fly rod purchase.

Housatonic River Outfitter

This shop is near Sarah's parents house and I tend to stop in anytime I am in the area.  The people in here are tops they will drop anything they are doing to help you out or just talk to you about the local rivers.

The Fish Hawk

Source

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  This is an Atlanta staple if you are a fly fisher and you find your self in the Atlanta area be sure to head on over to Buckhead and pay the guys in there a visit.

 I needed two shots of the Fish Hawk because all the frontage shots you can not really tell what you are looking at.  This was one thing I really loved about this place, you were stuck in the heart of the city.  Right on Peachtree Street, at 5 pm this street was bumper to bumper traffic. 

Bear's Den

The door on the left leads to a flight of stairs and into the shop.  Source

  This is my NEW local shop!  I plan on becoming a regular here and as I will be doing some saltwater shopping, questioning and learning from these guys.  I did not have a long discussion with the guy in the shop yesterday but it was enough to make me think I could learn to catch something in the salt (sorry salt water anglers I do not know the lingo).

 

The photo selection of Bear's Den is slim, but this is definitaly the center piece of the actual shop.  It is in the middle of everything and it is easily 25 feet long filled with flies.  Source  

 
So please check out these shops web sites and support your local fly shops!  It is my belief that if you support local fly shops you are keeping an important piece of the sport alive.  Not to mention the fact that you may gain that new fishing partner, learn a new technique or pick up that secret spot.


-Bruce

Back to the Water

So today is Good Friday, and it was a good day for me.  Sarah had an at your own pace, come when you have the time, self reflective service written down that you could go to the church and read in the sancuary.  Then there was me who picked one up, as I was headed to the stream to try to catch some trout.  These kinds of services are great to do outside and to do it stream side made it that much more meaningful.  Here is her service if you want to know what it looked like. 

Now for what I am sure you paused at and thought 'He said last Thursday that he would have a license within a week and it has been a week and a day'.  Well sorry for the delay but the house needed to be cleaned and I wanted to get some gardening and yard work done.  Also drivers licenses are expensive here in MA.  Well to make a long story short I bought both a drivers and a fishing license today and with in 5 hours I was fishing.

I took lunch to the church for Sarah (that is when I got my Good Friday service to put in my pocket).  We ate sandwiches and talked for a while, then I stopped the conversation with the question "sooo some church members said that small dam up the street gets stocked with trout right?"  to this Sarah said go ahead and fish.  So I did and it was good (see that, it is a little church joke). 

This little dam had lots of bugs raising off it and then fluttering around and falling back down.  I was excited when I saw that first ripple of a trout eating a dry fly.  The flies were very big and dark so I started with my biggest parachute Adams.  After a while I quit with the Adams fly and then continued to try everything I had in both of my dry fly boxes.  So I sat down and read that service, and looked out at these fish eating the flies that I did not have and was okay with it.  I caught one of these flies as I was leaving and it turns out I should have been throwing a Trico or a Spinner which I had neither of.

I was not ready to go home but I had done all I could do at the dam.   So I stopped at a bridge on my way home, and the same hatch was coming off there.  This hatch was not exactly the same it had some Cahill and some Caddis mixed in.  This was the ticket I was only at this bridge for less then an hour but I pulled out three nice fish.

First was a nice healthy brook trout

Next a darkly colored brown

Lastly was a little brown

 Just like that the hatch died and the wind picked up.  I was tired and hungry so I decided to call it quits.  Had the hatch still been going strong I would have thought about this for a while, but it just died so the decision to leave was easy.  When I caught the last fish I was able to stage a shot that I am going to use as a teaser for a future post. 

This is the tease shot.  

So just above that rod is a trout and above the trout is a new piece of gear that I have been testing.  I really want to take it out couple more times, but it is looking good so far.  Keep an eye out for the full review sometime in the next week.



-Bruce

A BIG Weekend

Last Thursday Sarah and I traveled back to CT where we lived for 4 months while she searched for a church.  We spent an extended weekend there and had friends and family coming in to see her ordination.  Friday I had one task and that was to bring pastor Kim (our pastor from GA) from the airport to her hotel room.  Once I delivered her to the hotel I had a few hours to relax before I met up with her, Sarah and another friend for dinner.

So I hit Housatonic River Outfitters to talk cfs's, clarity, and bugs with the guy who works there.  He was helpful and gave my options to me like this: "If you want solitude stay around here and fish the Housatonic, and if you want a great chance at catching fish drive to the Farmington".  Then we got to talking about stocking, water temps and catch and release.  As I walked to my truck I made my mind up that I would go for solitude tonight.



I fished the Housatonic and did not see another soul, but still had a good time.  Once I was on the water I spent some time relaxing.  I finally made a cast only to miss a hook set.  The rest of the night I could not find another fish, but I made up my mind that the next day I would get up early and hit the Farmington.

source

According to the plan I got up on Saturday and drove the 45 minutes to an hour to the river.  As I pulled up I understood why the guy at the fly shop said to come here.  The current was moving very slow compared to the Housatonic and the water was gin clear.  With these great early season conditions and the fact that it was Saturday, there was a person in every hole.  It was my good fortune to find a space to fish.  So with my new 3wt rod I tied a bead head prince nymph dropped off the back of a AZ Wonderings Hopper.  It is very early in the season for a hopper but the spot had a fast under current and I wanted to make sure the indicator fly stayed up.

 It had been a while since I fished a swift hole like this, so it took me a couple casts to get my wits about me.  Once I had the feel of the new rod and the idea of where I should be drifting my rig, I stared hitting my spots and making good drifts.  Then I made a cast a little further into this current and the hopper disappeared and I instinctively set the hook.  Almost instantly knew I should have used my 5wt.  My poor new 3wt rod was bent in a U shape and the fish was glued to the bottom.  This trout fought hard to pull up stream and then tuned down and I had to chase.  As the trout pulled down stream it was taking line from my rod and I was looking for slow current to guide it to .  I finally found a pool and guided the trout into it.
 

Once it did not have the current to help take line, I started to make up ground on the fish.  I brought the trout to my feet twice and both times it shot out and ran toward the current again.  Both times I stopped it before it could drag me further down stream.  Finally I backed myself to the shore and found a mud bar to guide the fish onto.  As I got it close I realized that it was a big brown and two things dawned on me - first I should have used a 5wt and second I should have had my net with me.

Since I had played this fish so long I did not want to spend a lot of time taking pictures because I did not want to stress it anymore then I had already.  I drug the big brown onto the mud bar, and knelt down next to it.  As I removed the prince nymph from the big guys' top jaw I looked it over and knew my day was done.  I laid the fish down next to my rod so I could get a shot of how long it was, and then gently took it into the current and let this beauty swim away.  The fish was not phased at all, because it returned to the fast stuff and just did not show signs of stress which made me just as happy as the catch did.

It had been at least 5 years since I have caught a trout like this.  I was over joyed about it and I was a mess for the rest of the day.  Basically nothing could take me off the high horse I was riding, I remember saying 'it does not matter I caught a huge fish today!' as my answer to almost any question asked of me.  Now that I have caught a big fish my juices are flowing fast and heavy and all I want to do is catch fish.  So with that fact stated I need to get a MA fishing license.  Until I get a new license I will not be fishing so my mission is to have a license by this time next week.


-Bruce

William Joseph WST waders part 1

Love the logo

I finally understand why people spend a lot of money on waders.  I have never spent a lot of money on waders and thanks to OBN and the connections they have, I did not need to spend any on these .  A short history of my wader past can be summed up quickly I started with rubber waders, and that was followed by my first pair of neoprene waders.  Neoprene waders are relatively cheap and since my brother and I fished, hunted and trapped in the PA winters they kept me warm.  When the summers would roll around I would slip on my rubber hip boots and they would do the trick for the summer months.

Some real excitement in the air when I open a box of new gear!

Now my eyes have been opened thanks to these William Joseph WST waders and OBN.  There is another world of waders out there, not rubber, not neoprene but some fabric that keeps water out but still breaths.  It is early in the season and if these waders would not be new I would probably still be using the neoprene for warmth.  The fact is they are still new and I was very excited to give them a go.  The day they showed up I grabbed my new 3wt rod and took off to a small stream.

Sometimes I swim Against The Current

These waders are wonderful they breath very well.  I had jeans on under them and the truth is I felt like I was wearing only jeans.  Yes they kept me dry while I fished that is what waders should, but big question is did they pass the "Bruce test"?   Well I had a chance to try them out on some small streams in CT in the past two or three weeks and they have held up well thus far.  I picked two streams that offer two different challenges.

The honest truth is I fished the hole before staging some photos.

The one stream has large rocks and boulders that are tough on the knees of most waders.  These WST waders have reinforced knees and the inseams are cut in such a way that you have full range of motion for climbing and crawling over large boulders.  The other stream had a lot of sticker bushes, and some very deep wades. The stickers did not grab the material and did not poke holes in it either.  Then there was some of the areas where my only option was to wade through some very deep water and these waders did great.

Do they look convincing?

The inspiration for the name WST is the most interesting function of these waders.  WST actually stands for Wader Safety Technology, and this is an intigrated floatation device.  If you use waders a lot you have probably slipped and fell but 9 times out of 10 you just stand up and have some water in your waders.  These waders are equipped for that one time when you can not stand up or the current grabs you and take you down stream fast.  If you find yourself underwater or being swept down stream there is an air bladder around the chest of these waders that is filled by a Co2 cartrage.  Here is the situation you are on a river you have never fished before and you step onto a rock that is very slippy and fall in over you head.  You are underwater and the current is pushing you down stream and water is filling in your waders but lucky you are wearing WST waders.  You simply find the red rip cord and pull like you life depends on it (and if you were in this pickle it would depend on it), the Co2 gets punctured and the bladder fulls with air and you float to the surface.

Sorry it got blurred because I tried to zoom this one after the fact.

To sum it all up the William Joseph WST waders are a great pair of waders.  Comfortable, breathable, with a full range of motion, and the Wader Safety Technology for peace of mind.  If you are not the kind of person to spend your money on waders, maybe this will be the pair you finally break down and buy.  Not only will you be buying a great pair of waders, but you will be buying peace of mind for that one unfortunate time you go under.

My only advice for waders and wader boots is about size chats and buying online.  Both waders and wader boots have size charts that are made with some kind of math equation that has to do with height, weight, eye color, and month you were born.  This equation is not always reliable so my advice it to go to an outfitter and try them on first.  If you can not find the exact waders you are going to buy online at least try on the same brand so you understand how the sizes run(for these particular waders I would say to buying a size bigger then your first thought). 

Took this by accident but I kinda like it.

Okay so there is one thing left to do, I want to truly test the WST system.  This summer I will jump into my in-laws pool and test the rip cord.  This is why I titled this post William Joseph WST waders part 1 because part 2 will be a video post of me using these waders in a pool.

OH yeah did I mention that you can really look the part when you wear quality gear, and that it outfitted for life!



Disclaimer:
The William Joseph WST waders were given to me free of charge for field testing and reviewing.  The thoughts and opinions above are my own with no outside influences. 

FISHING!!

It has been a really long time!  Yesterday I went fishing, which was a big deal because my fishing had been put in limbo status when we moved here.  With Sarah getting a church, and my part time job I felt good about getting an out of state license for CT now.  So with my new license in hand I arrived at a mountain stream that is normally a little smaller then it was yesterday.

So I started taking pictures about a half hour after the excitement ended.

 I was very excited to be fishing again.  Along with the fact that I was fishing, I was excited to have a new license, a new rod reel combo, new waders (which by this time next week I will have a good review for), and some freshly organized fly boxes.

Here is a sign to show that spring is coming or does this mean it is here?

After jumping into my waders and stringing up the new Redington I made my way to the stream.  The first thing I did was sat down on a rock and took a good look at what was happening on the water.  This stream normally runs lower and less stained then it was yesterday but it was still fishable.  I decided a Zebra Midge dropped from a Small Stream Reflections recommended Ausable Bomber would be a good starting setup.

Took this shot after one got away.

My first cast was a little rough, it could be best decribed as klunky.  The second was great, I loaded the new rod and unloaded a shot putting the dropper very close to the spot I had been looking at.  As I watched the rig drifting down the small riffle I spotted a shadow dart from alongside a rock.  The shadow went right past the midge and nailed the bomber.  I instantly started to laugh as I set the hook and with a little resistance I brought a beautiful little five or six inch brook trout to hand.  With the laughter and excitement I took the fly out of the top of the trout's jaw and reached for my phone (to take a picture) but he wiggled his way out of my hands.  I was not able go snap a shot of the fish but it was a story book start to the afternoon.

What do you think?  I think the new setup looks good?

Sadly that was the only real excitement.  I missed a couple fish on nymphs and had one hooked that shook loose.  Honestly I really did not care, because on the second cast in this state I hooked and landed a brook trout.  I am excited to have my CT license and the weather forecast for the next couple days looks great we might be hitting the 60s the next two days.  Perfect weather for some really small stream action.  I will keep my blog posted on any/all trips I take in the next couple days so do not for get to check back again soon.


Thanks for reading
-Bruce

Nymphing and Zug Bugs

The first of the flies I am going to show is another nymph pattern.  Sometime in my three and a half years in Atlanta I figured out how to catch trout on the nymphs.  So I am sorry for the high nymph content lately but I found it to be a highly effective way of fishing even when the fish were not hungry.  When I fish I always start with a nymph, but will abandon it for a dry fly faster then a vegetarian who found out the veggie burger is really beef.  I have spent days on the river where the dry flies never came, but I nailed the trout on nymphs.


Nymphing can be as in depth and precise a dry fly fishing with respects to matching bugs in the water to patterns in the box.  It can also be dumb down which is the method I try to use.  I like to have a couple patterns to cover a wide range of bugs I might find.  By using peacock herl for the bodies you can cover lots of colors.  The herl will give your fly many different colors from greens, reds and yellows and even a silver shine.   Many of these bugs have very pronounced tails and so this is the second thing to keep in mind when setting up a simple but effective nymph box.  The funny thing about nymph tails is that they do not change as drastically as the rest of the fly does in its short lifetime.  So in the world of nymphs there are no tails, two tails, and three tails.  If you cover those bases and pair tails with the right colors you can have a great nymph box with less then half a dozen different patterns.

One of my favorite chameleon patterns is the Zug Bug.  This pattern often passes as caddis larvae and  cased caddis, but I have also fooled fish that were feeding mayfly larvae with the Zug Bug as well.  I tie my Zug Bugs with three tails so that is why it can pass as a mayfly from time to time.  So this fly is a work horse on the water and very easy to tie.

I am told Zug Bugs can be used to catch carp as well as trout. 

 
These photos show step by step how to tie a Zug Bug.  A step that is not pictured is the weight.  After putting a base layer of thread down I like to put some lead wire down and wrap the gaps a little. You can see some of the lead in the second picture also, in that picture you can see I tied in three peacock herl ends for the tail.  Then you need some more herl for the body, and a little silver tinsel for ribbing.  Wrap everything toward the head but before you finish you will need to tie in a mallard flank, and some red saddle hackle.  Pinch them both back and finish wrapping a head in.  Trim the tail and the wing case, and I like to add a touch of head cement to my non bead head nymphs.  I do like to tie a couple bead head versions of my nymphs just to add more shine, weight and variety to my nymph box. 

With all this nymph talk I think it is time to start showing some dry flies.  I have finished tying all the normal dry flies I like to carry.  Now all that is left is to tie a couple strange dry flies, and then move on to some streamer patterns.  My winter tying is coming to an end and with a couple warm days in the forecast maybe this winter is finally coming to an end. 



-Bruce

I'm Snow Crazy

For the past couple weeks I have been tying flies inside as it snows and blows outside.  I spent all last week in my outdoor room tying flies.  Currently I am tying dry flies and am proud to say the nymph box is about finished.  I have no picture of the finished product as of yet, but some shots of it filling.  Sometime in the past week it hit me that I am going through major fishing withdraw.  It started with me reading some old blog posts from some of my favorite fly fishing bloggers.  Old posts from May, June, July and August about trout, bass, and carp fishing.  Then I started watching online videos of people trout fishing in New Zealand, the mid west, and even Ireland.

 

With my progress at the vice, and all this fly fishing media I have been taking in lately I am starting to crack.  I have even been dreaming of fly fishing for trout and carp in Pennsylvania and Connecticut and who knows where else.  These dreams were crushed again this morning when I woke up to find another two inches of snow outside.  So this morning I moved my fly tying stuff to the basement and watched some movies while tying flies.  After my second movie I was starting to feel like I needed to get out and do something and that is when it hit me.  

The coffee table in the basement has lots of room for fly tying

Now understand I am in the process of getting a job.  Actually I am just waiting on them to call me and tell me when to come in for training.  So this afternoon while waiting for them to call I decided to be creative and play in the snow.  Then it really started to brew, a plan was hatched.  I was going to get my fishing in one way or another.  I grabbed a shovel and some other snow gear and headed outside.  The nice thing about making your own fish is it can be huge!  

Large fish

After making this fish all I wanted to do is catch it, and catch it I was going to do.  I figured this would make a great target for some casting practice, so I ran inside and grabbed my rod.  Remember how I said I was going through withdraws well maybe I should have said I was starting to crack.  All this snow and ice and being stuck inside for days without fresh air or sunlight is simply starting to get to me.  I really need to go fishing and this afternoon I did and caught the same fish a couple times.  Honestly I do not care if anyone thinks I am crazy, because this was a lot of fun.  I enjoyed myself in every part from the brainstorming, to  painting, to putting my waders on and throwing a piece of yarn at a snow fish.  Actually I am hoping to start a trend, so if anyone needs me to come out to their house and make a couple snow fish just let me know.  

Something to break up the drag on another snowy day.

Note the blue water around me and the fish

Started out as a kinda stunt, but after a couple casts I took the casting seriously

Sarah took the pictures and zoomed on on this one but it was a good 35 yard cast.

This fly fishing stuff is a sickness and the honest truth is I really do not want to be cured anytime soon.  In all seriousness I love winter time but this is getting a little crazy.  If we are going to get hit by more snow I am now officially requesting that it hits us all at once and then starts to get warm slowly.  There are fish in these frozen waters and I am starting to go crazy not being able to get to them.  So if you like to fish you might understand where I am coming from and if you do not fish I hope you got a kick out of me acting like a child this afternoon.  

-Bruce

Can't Get Enough

Saturday I went on what was going to be a simple trip to the river.  I wanted to hit a spot I had never been, and it would have been wonderful had I not missed my turn.  I missed one street and had to call Sarah who guided me to the road I needed.  Once I was there I started with the dropper combo that treated me so well last week, but quickly scrapped that for what I saw was going on.  I was fishing close to the shore line and happened to look across that water and saw a fish sipping a dry about 40 yards out.  Once I calmly moved close enough to see what was going on I quickly reached for a box I added flies to just the night before.

Slapping every pocket on my vest twice could not find the box.  I was getting worried I forgot it, and then I remembered I left it next to my fly tying things.  This was not good, because in the time it took me to walk the 40 yards I noticed that a light cahill would work, but it would need to be small.  The box that I was missing had either some that were size 18 to 20, but the box was on my living room floor.  So the rest of the trip was spent digging though boxes trying to find the smallest flies I had with me.  I fooled a couple fish into taking my offering but what I really needed was the right fly.

It a great trip but left a bad taste in my mouth and taught me a lesson.  Never leave the house without the box that has the small dry flies in it. Well as I said this trip had the potential to be great, but with this bad taste I might need just one more trip before we move north.  I think I have Sarah talked into coming to this same spot with me on Friday.  Now I need to talk my boss into letting me knock off work that day, and make sure the small fly box is in my vest.

this guy was a little beat up but had lots of fight

Hoping to be on the water at least one more time before we leave for the north so keep checking in.



-Bruce

Grand Finale?

The view from Bowman Island

So I don't know weather this will be my last trip to the dam before we move, but either way it might go down as one of the most fun and successful fishing trips I have had in Georgia.  I fish a not so secret area in Georgia on the Chattahoochee river.  Burford Dam is the dam that holds Lake Lanier back, but what draws me to Buford Dam is the river.  The water from the dam rarely comes out higher then 50 degrees fahrenheit which makes this a year round trout spot less then an hour from down town Atlanta.  There are a couple down falls to this spot, the first is the fact that it is not a secret everyone knows about this spot.  Another big down fall is the fact that it's a hydroelectric dam and they release water from it, so there are times when you just plan can't be on the river.  The plus side is there is a lot of cold water year round, which helps spread the fishermen and the fish out.  Another plus is that along with lots of stock fish this section has trout that are wild(released and possibly reproducing in the wild) trout.  Lastly there are some big brown trout here. An 18lb 6oz  state recored brown trout was pulled from the river here and that is nothing to sneeze at.

looking at the front side of the island

The trip if it was my last was a great way to leave.  I think I brought to hand something like 25 to 30 trout.  I only left for the river after 11, and most of the time you get a late start you need to fish till dark to catch fish.  This didn't hold true on Saturday for a couple simple reasons.  First there was an early morning water release from 6 a.m. till 9 a.m. so till i got there the levels where just about back to normal. Also the water was not crystal clear like normal, it had a blue green tint.  The tint was a welcome sight to me because the skies were so clear so it was a little cover for me.  I strive in overcast, cloudy water, rain, and I have even caught fish in a snow storm one year when my brother and I went out one winter.



There are a lot of holes to fish and the options are never ending when it comes to what kind of water you want to fish.  I had two spots in mind when I pulled into the parking lot and as I walked up on the first I noticed an older man just down stream from where I wanted to be.  I stood back a on the bank and watched to see which way he was moving and figured upstream because he kept checking up on me as I stood there.  With about four trucks in the parking lot I figured one of my other spots will be open, so with that one spoken for I moved on.  The second spot I had in mind was on the other side of an island, but I didn't want to back track up stream to get to my normal cross point.  In an effort to be respectful to the guy I moved down stream and crossed below him.  Then climbed up on to Bowmans island.  The island's banks are tall walls of dirt and they are kept that way by the releases but I found a very distinct game trail going up one bank and followed it.

center of the photo that light stick is a buck rub about 70 yards out

Once I was on the island I just had to cross and find a way down the other side. When was up there I saw a couple buck rubs and a big scrape.  I remembered I was fishing and my mind went back to the task at hand, finding a was down the other side.  I found another trail and amazingly enough when I got to water level I was directly across from my favorite spot on the back side of the island.  With an idea of how I wanted to fish the hole and went about setting up a dropper.  I tied a big Adams fly on and dropped a  Prince nymph off it. On the very first drift a trout shot up from the deep and went after the Adams and I was in such shock I missed the hooks set.  I was not expecting to have a fish go after the dry fly because of the water color and the fact that there was no fly hatch going on.  My Adams was the only dry on the water.  After a couple unsuccessful drifts I thought that maybe it was time to switch up the flies, and after about twenty minutes and three or four flies I was still batting zero.  I retreated to a close rock and thought out loud talking through water conditions, air temps, weather forecast and what I would be looking for if I was a trout.  I kept the Adams but dropped a Zebra Midge off the back of it and that was the ticket.

The sheer dirt wall of bowman island and the first of many holes to fish

I then had two and a half hours of fish on.  The fishing was almost easy once I got the nymph right, and it was a blast.  Sadly I did not pull out a record fish but what I did was a personal first. I landed a fish on three consecutive casts.  Also when the hole was kinda slowing down I had a trout come from the bottom and hit the dry fly again, but this time I set the hook and landed a pretty brown trout.  It is fall and not only do the leaves show off the brilliant colors but the trout too.  Every single trout I caught was amazing and I felt myself taking a little longer to look each one over.  As I was head to the crossing spot I fished holes that looked like they could hold trout.

Thinking about how trout sounded good and these trout all looked healthy and strong I felt like I would take one for a change.  So when I hooked up with one on the last hole of the day I kept it and thought about how and when I would eat it.  I grew up keeping every fish, but for the last ten to fifteen years now I have been a catch and release guy.  When I want to take and eat a trout now, it is something that I think more about.  Growing up it was about keeping the limit but now its a conscience decision that I will be taking this trout to eat.  

Some great color on all the fish but the browns had the best

second fish to try the Adams

just a little guy

I found a new angle

an example of fish colors in fall

Well once I was home I went to work prepping the fish.  I haven't filleted a fish in a long time, but after messing up one side and leaving a little meat on the bone it came back to me and the other side was just right.  I left the skin on because it helps keep the meat moist and together, plus we ate it skin on growing up unless it was a huge fish.  This morning I woke up and cooked my catch with lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper.  I had it with dippy  eggs and toast.  I love having fish with breakfast but I do not do it enough.  Actually since Sarah does not like fish we do not have a lot of fish, but I want to start eating more.

top fillet is the one that I didn't mess up

breakfast of champions 

 

So I was thinking if this was my last trip to the dam I can call it a great experience, but if I get up there again I hope I can match this trip.  Thanks for following along.



-Bruce