A First and a Second

I went to the Bell Pond today to see how the carp were behaving. The initial feed is ending and many fish have began cruising and 'sleeping', these fish are all but impossible to tempt with a fly. But is has warmed up enough that big bass are starting to move into the flat, and that is exciting. Remember last year? I caught my biggest largemouth on a fly very early in the spring on the flat:

Well, today I caught the first decent sized largemouth of the year, and it was a freak of nature. Perhaps you have heard of Hyperpigmented Melanosis? It is a skin discoloration found occasionally on black bass. It is becoming increasingly common on the Susquehanna, and largemouth in Lake Fork have been caught that are entirely black! It doesn't appear to have any negative health effect, as this is the second bass I have caught with it and both were very strong and very healthy weight wise.

Urban fishing ladies and gentleman....

Effective Fishing: How Well Can You do in Two Hours?

I spent an hour today hunting for Gigundo, the big broodstock rainbow I lost on Saturday. When I decided that I wasn't going to find him I moved upstream and opted to make use of the two most quantity and quality effective methods I know: shortline nymphing and fishing caddis though steadily rising fish in the Big Bend Pool. In two hours I racked up some numbers. The fast water was loaded with rainbows, and with a red Zebra Midge I caught a lions share. There were two bait fisherman working the same water, neither of them caught fish while I was there. I even covered the water they worked through. On pocked gave up six fish. They were feisty and hard fighting. The more I use the 10' 5wt. for short lining, the more I love it. The strikes are so easy to detect, it handles hard fighting fish in fast water, and I can fish any seem on a smaller river with relative ease.

On the Big Bend Pool there are almost always fish rising, and the meal of choice is typically caddis. The Salmon is, after all, an exceptional caddis river. I have dialed this pool in well. It is very technical, requires long casts, stack mending and very long drifts. I can almost always catch fish on dry flies in this pool, and today was no exception. I caught a bunch of browns and a few more small rainbows, reaching the same number of fish I caught while nymphing. I saw a bald eagle while on that pool. I love those chance encounters. Osprey, bald eagles, and barred owls live in respectable numbers in the drainage.

There are a few simple rules if you want to fish effectively. Use proven flies. Use proven techniques. Cover water. Don't hold in one spot if there aren't fish taking there, but don't leave a spot when there are fish feeding or if you haven't covered all of the holding water at the depth the fish are most likely to be holding. If you can't figure out how to do the above rules, you need to spend more time fishing!

My Dream River

My dream river starts out at the confluence of two small streams. From there it flows into a deep pool, a place were fish will rise in February as long as there are midges. It then flows through several miles of hemlock, deciduous, and white pine forest in deep cool valleys. There it is a classic mountain freestone. Trout live in the pockets, in front of the boulders, and in the deep pools. Further down the river small streams flow into it and support it's cold flows. There are longer, slower pools here and the river is wider and warmer. This is where the biggest trout live, and smallmouth live and spawn there two. The lowest reaches of the river have tidal water that holds many interesting species. In the spring, herring run up the river by the millions, and striped bass are in hot pursuit. At the same time elvers are on the way in too. Later on, Atlantic salmon, lamprey, sea run trout, and other species enter the river. There is a healthy population of native brook trout in the upper river and they grow to large size. In the lower river wild brown trout rule, growing 20 inches on regular hatches of mayflies, wild salmon parr, and abundant sculpins. There are some wild rainbow trout too, but not many. In the summer some will show themselves during the hex hatch on the lower river.

This river exists, but only as an empty shell. The Salmon River has the right ingredients to be my dream river, but over the years it has taken blow after blow from mankind. It is left as an empty shell of its former glory, a beautiful place, though not nearly as lively as it once was. I love the Salmon. It is a special place. But it pains me that all it holds now are stocked trout. It could be so much better. I've seen the evidence first hand. Trout hold over in the Salmon nearly every year, even dreadful ones like 2015. Yet there are very few wild trout in the Salmon. What would it be like if the management changed, if the TMA began catch and release year round, like the Farmington. More trout would holdover. Some of them would have genetic variation that allowed them to survive and reproduce, creating wild offspring better suited to the environment than the average stocker. After a few years the state would not need to stock nearly as many fish and that money could go towards other programs, programs that would help restore habitat and work with other species, say salmon, or maybe eels. It would not take long before the Salmon was a healthier river, one with a greater biomass and better habitat for insects, mammals, and birds of prey.

My dream seems far fetched. For the time being I'll enjoy the river as it is. It is such a pretty place.

The First Day of Spring: My Biggest Rainbow

I got up this morning knowing full well that it would be a chilly day, despite the fact that much of winter has been warmer than it is now.  Yes, it's the first day of spring and a Nor' Easter threatens. I knew full well that I would be dealing with ice in the guides for the first couple of hours. But I was going fishing today. I had no choice. I lost an amazing fish yesterday and I was going to do my best to find that monster again today, if not that one than a different big rainbow. I woke the pool and the pocket water above it that is holding these big bows all day. Resting it for half an hour then fishing it for 15 minutes.  The first run through was with a two fly rig, a hot spot PT and a worm. I caught one average rainbow and saw the big boy. It did not eat anything subsurface while I watched, but rose for some skittering caddis. I went and screwed around with an Ausable Ugly for a while and caught one brown. When I returned I tied on one of my special dry fly patterns. It is a secret, though very simple fly. I caught another average rainbow. I nymphed through the pocket water with a Hair of the Dog Nymph before going back through the pool with a few different dries and nymphs.

That round was fishless. A seagull came by and caught a brook trout in the riffle above my. I went down to another pool and fooled around with dry flies for a while. When I came back three big fish were rising vigorously for caddis. I made a few presentations and I may have gotten an eat, but this is long casting and I could barely see the fly. I went back to the Ausable Ugly and decided to sneak up on the pod of fish from behind a big rock. I was able to get there without spooking them. There were a few big rainbows there, but I couldn't see the monster. I sat and watched for 45 minutes. That may seem like a lot of time but sometimes it is thoroughly worth while. While I sat there and observed I saw a great deal and learned these fish well. These fish would take nymphs periodically. They sat on the soft side of a seam, dodging into the current three feet sometimes to take drifting naturals. One in particular, the biggest, would sometimes go to the inside seem after taking a nymph. Then it would come drifting slowly back across to the main seem. Every now and then a caddis pupa would shoot up and one of the fish would rocket out after it, exploding at the surface and spooking it's buddies.
Once I was sufficiently confident I made my move. I tied on the Ugly and put it on the outside seem. The biggest one, the one I was targeting, saw it and went three feet to grab it. I didn't see the eat, I just set the hook shortly after the fish reached the spot where my fly was. It was on. The fish came around the rock I was on, going steadily and powerfully. This was nothing like the fish yesterday. It was not as strong, not nearly as fast. It fought hard but more like a big brown than a rainbow, dogging me near the bottom. I didn't really realize what I had until I landed it. It was my first rainbow over twenty inches! To be exact twenty and a quarter. What does this leave me with? I really want to catch that monster. And I want to go fish for big wild rainbows somewhere....

A Swift Kick to the Gonads

You should be looking at a photo of a 6 lb rainbow right now. But you aren't, because I screwed up. 

But let's start from the beginning. I was not totally sure what I was going to do. It has cooled off significantly and I was not convinced that stillwaters were going to fish well. I finally decided to go to the Salmon. For the first few hours I struggled but caught a few nice fish. In about two hours I got a trout slam. 

Eventually I went back to an area I fished on Thursday, a stretch of water that I know is holding some giant rainbows. I decided to nymph it, as I thought that would be most likely to produce a big fish. The fly of choice was a big red zebra midge. I began working every inch of the water, every spot I know typically hold fish. I went to make a few steps upstream and made a cast directly up, into a trough that usually has aw few average sized fish. I didn't even set the hook. A massive fish took the fly and bolted upstream. It jumped and I got a clear look at what I had stumbled upon- a steelhead sized rainbow. I was streamer fishing most of the day so of course I was using my 8 wgt. This fish got my into my backing going up stream. I just couldn't believe it. Since when to stocked trout fight like salmon? The fish decided to weave in and out of the rocks near the shore. It didn't hang me up, fortunately. Suddenly It came right at me, tail walking like a tarpon. I stripped like mad to keep up with it. It made a sudden turn, jumped, then began tail walking all the way across the pool. The line caught up, I didn't yield to the fish, and the hook pulled loose. I am shaking right now just thinking about it. On the river, I was pissed. I swore and jumped around and hit the water. Why did I not think harder? That one could have been mine. It was beautiful, silvery and bright, nothing like that ugly slob I caught on Thursday. It also would have beaten my personal best by over 6 inches, easily. And it was my fault this time. Some losses just happen. This time I knew what I did and it was stupid. I tried to keep fishing. I caught a fat rainbow that any other time would have made me very happy. But today it was just aggravating. I didn't loose any small or average sized fish, only the monster.

I reserve the right to be upset about this until I catch something that heals the wound. I know this will happen again, probably thousands of times, but I just can't help it. The image of that fish jumping, of it cruising through the shallows, the sound it made when it tail walked... that will be burned into my  brain for a while.