Monday, April 25, 2011

First Story

Yesterday was my favorite trip to the river.  I made it down there by 615 on the foggy easter sunday, seeing only one car on the 15 minute walk.  In the first 3 hours I casted just about every fly in my flybox with my only catch being a stick from the bottom of the river.  In what felt like 10 minutes I had caught every bush behind me, the fog had cleared and the temperature was well above 60 degrees.  A quick time check showed it was now 830... Watch must not be working right?  About then I encountered a man with a spinning rod in his hand and a fly rod in his backpack.  Very nice guy (most fisherman seem to be so that should have been a given), he took one look at my fly box then opened his and gave me a grasshopper and a beaded nymph asking if I had extra tippet.  Not really sure what he was up to I handed over the tippet.  In about thirty seconds my caddis was gone and the grasshopper in it's place with something hanging off it's hook.  That something was the beaded nymph he had put in my fly box only a few seconds earlier.  He said "the great thing about Massachusetts is that you can have two flies at the same time!" telling me that strike indicators are pointless because the fish bite them half the time, so now my strike indicator also had a hook.  We both fished the same rigs for two hours without any luck.  Before I headed off to write an essay due the next day I asked him if he had any luck earlier.  His response "The fish here are picky until summer... I got a few the other day on my spinning rod." "Well... what were ya using?" was my enthusiastic response.  "WHOLE nightcrawlers" he said "not half a nightcrawler, no they wont eat that, they want the WHOLE damn thing..."  Maybe next week will do the trick, but I will not be using nightcrawlers.  Any recommendations for websites where I can buy good flies that will come fast?

3 comments:

  1. Hey Greer...it sounds like you got some good advice the other day. Hang in there we will get that elusive first fish on a fly soon.

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  2. Hopefully... Maybe we'll both get our first fish on the same day?

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  3. I had a similar experience like yours recently down there where people were catching fish on worms. I was tempted to ask for a worm but that is not the experience I am after. I have caught plenty of trout that way. When the moment comes (i.e. catching a trout on a fly) you will never forget that feeling. Fly fishing has much to offer and one of those things is patience.

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