Friday, March 10, 2017

Shadow Play

It was a little breezy out yesterday. When I hit the river with David and Elwin we were catching nothing but sticks, leaves and other various non-fish items, whether they were on the water, on the bottom or somewhere behind us. The sun was likely to blame for the lack of feeding since the wind was blowing downstream. It is an upstream wind that kills the bite, so I'd guess the bright sun and clear water kept the fish hunkered down until the shadows began to creep over the surface.



We did move some fish, particularly wherever a shadow hit the water, but it was slow. Eventually El and Dave had to head out but I stayed, refusing to let home waters and stocked trout get the best of me.



Eventually in a deep deep pool, when the shadows had stretched from bank to bank, I caught four fish indicator nymphing. That gave me the confidence to tie on the mouse. Soon I was getting explosive strikes but the fish missed the fly time after time, often just tail slapping it. But finally as the sun ducked behind the hill a large brook trout rose to the fly and made the most beautiful slow motion take I have ever seen. It closed it's huge mouth around the fly and turned down, showing its big square tail on the way. I set the hook and was in for a short but nail biting battle. Soon I had a 19 inch brook trout at hand.



That made my day, and though I had a few more fish come up and take the mouse I was not nearly as impressed with them as I was the brook trout. That was a stunner.

12 comments:

  1. Gorgeous fish! A perfect reward for perseverance in otherwise frustrating circumstances.

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    1. All it took was waiting for the shadows to cover the water. Hard to get frustrated with how things are going when you know exactly why and when the fish will start to move!

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  2. Right on man..... My wife caught a big Brook Trout 12"s or so on a Coachman Trude in Montana. When she brought it in I went to take the hook out and there was a "tail" hanging out of it's mouth. I pulled on the tail and out came a good sized mouse..... That Brook Trout had a whole mouse in it's belly and still wanted more attacking the top water fly... Crazy aggressive! So, yeah mousing works..... no doubt.

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    1. Thanks,
      Fish like a big protein filled package, and rainbows and brook trout in particular are just so keyed on surface disturbances.

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  3. It's always worth waiting for the shadows when the wind and sun are not in your favor. NICE catch on that mouse!
    Tie, fish, write and photo on...

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  4. Rowan
    Persistence pays off; outstanding brook taken, was this one of the largest you've landed? So impressed with the area you were fishing--thanks for sharing

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    1. Thanks Bill,
      In this river yes, I've caught a few larger in other streams. I don't really keep track of my biggest stocked brook trout, I'm too into small stream wild fish to care how big a corn fed tank fish is.

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  5. You're becoming so skilled at knowing when to hang in there and when to wait for another day.

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    1. No skill involved. Just a bit of knowledge about fish behavior.

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  6. Your knowledge and skill is impressive, Rowan. Just wondering how long you think that brookie was in the river for? Do they stock them that large?

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    1. No, this river is a summertime fish killer even in good years. I've caught large fish late in the year, in fact I caught an 8lb brown trout here in August in 2014, but because the river hit record lows and wasn't stocked in the fall these large trout and char I've been catching are more or less freshly stocked (First few days of March).

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