I was able to pack in about nine or 10 hours of fishing after work on Friday through Sunday evening. The weather turned from rainy and raining, to sunny by Sunday afternoon. The larger creek was running higher and darker than usual, and I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of competition from other fisherman.
I eased into the first deep hole and immediately hooked up on what I believe to have been a >20 incher. I fought the fish long enough to get my heart rate pumping and a good look, when he broke off my 5x tippet at the dropper. I was bummed. I was trying a new way to rig the dropper by using a triple surgeon's knot. I retied and gave the new knot a pull and it broke right away. Well, that was it for the confidence of that knot! I switched to an improved clinch and kept fishing. They were hitting well on the silver Perdigon dropper, and I managed a 16-inch brown and limited out with 5 fish, the balance being rainbows. I came away knowing a trophy size rainbow was in there with my fly in its mouth, but still a feeling of accomplishment for yet another limit of fish.
Later I researched and found another knot I like that seems stronger using a 4-turn spider hitch. This is an easy knot with no tools and seems very strong.
Saturday had me heading back to a smaller creek that had not been stocked in some time. I knew there would not be a ton of fish, but knew of a deep hole that would hold at least one. Father up there was that large Palomino I was thwarted by a week ago.
Fishing my way up I had nary a hit. Entering the large deep pool, I started fishing up and across stream and eventually spotted another large Palomino. I think I bumped him as he had lock jaw, but after about 20 minutes I worked upstream slowly into the deeper current. I was greeted with a nice 16-inch rainbow. It was a great fight, and I was happy to get the experience fighting the larger fish with the reel. Being a newby at fly fishing, I had always just fought the fish with my left hand and not used the reel drag. I wanted the practice so I would not screw up another 20 incher. He tired out and came back to the net without incident.
I unscrambled my flies and in short order had another similar trout on the line. Two decent fish! They seem to like the pheasant tail point fly today.
In the course of the next 2-hours I had three more small trout and limited out again. No one was on the water as there was a cool drizzle. A great day on the water.
Back home, I took an old pair of composite toe work shoes and converted them into wading shoes for the new chest waders my friend mike gifted me. They were too small for him, but I needed wading shoes as my neoprene ones had the boot connected. This will be key as the temps get hotter. I screwed in some sheet metal screws I had in the toolbox at home. My wife is out of work from the Government job cutting, so it was time to try to make do with my broken sub-optimal rod and home-made shoes.
Sunday was sunnier with a stiffer breeze, and this evening saw my friend Mike able to join me on the river. The fishermen were there but not crowded.
I initially was trying old 4 lb test stren monofilament instead of flourocarbon tippet material (because of that big one that got away). I did hook up a small rainbow in the faster current but wasn't getting a number of hits. I looked at my line in the water and decided it was too visible and changed back to 5x flouro. That did the trick, and I started getting hits again. Mike had a decent fish as soon as his flies hit the water but it pulled free. He was struggling with getting fish or detecting them. He eventually hooked the biggest of the day with a nice 16-inch rainbow that turned out to be his only fish. I managed to get my limit again and had to throw back a 6th rainbow. The bite was a little more challenging today, and most fish bit on the orange-colored hybrid fly ignoring the silver perdigon. There was a hatch ongoing and lots of fish were hitting the top at dusk, but I was reluctant to switch to a dry. I caught a 6 inch smallmouth and I suspected at least a portion of the fish I saw were not trout. There was some rising trout though. I still have a lot to learn.
Still, I was experiencing more success on the fly rod then I ever thought possible with the direct line nymphing. I started a tally, and thus far in 9 outings I have caught 29 fish with 4 limit days. Super happy and enjoying it.
I plan to go out again Thursday morning with my brother Chris and try to show him my methods. His reply back was a question if the area is "fly fishing only", so I may need to work hard to get him to change his mind that fly fishing can be just as effective as spinners. I wasn't convinced myself until this year. I know there is at least one rainbow I threw back there to catch.
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