Weather Eye

The last couple of outings to Blue have been what many consider perfect trout conditions.  There has been fog, heavy mist, drizzling rain, overcast skies, and rain showers. 

Usually I keep a good weather eye and as any sailor worth his salt, I stow what is needed to fit the conditions encountered.  On my last outing however, I found my sea bag quite short of a much needed item.

Last week, I made a short voyage to Blue to spend a couple of hours.  It was foggy and overcast.  Throwing anchor at Ted's Pool, I begin casting upstream and drifting back.  The first twenty minutes or so was uneventful.  Switching to a brown bugger, and later a bubba bugger, the trout finally started coming to hand. 

Upstream a good ways was another seaman and he was sending out an "Ahoy", but he was too far away for me to recognize who he was.  Then, I saw two darling young'uns running around the campsite and realized the seaman with his hand in the air was Dusty Gilles.  Dusty and his family had a wonderful weekend at Blue and the kiddos caught their first trout I believe.

After an hour or so of fishing, six bows had come to hand and it was time for me to shove off.  It was a nice day overall, and a good number of folks on the river.

 

This week I sailed to Blue on a Friday and this is where I missed the weather call.  There was a slight mist when I began my voyage, but by the time I arrived at the river the mist had turned into a steady drizzle.  I had dressed in only a tee shirt with a light pull-over that acted like a sponge.  The drizzle would transform into rain showers and as they came in waves, the wetter I became.

 

However, the fishing was fair.  Early on Friday morning, Van Stacey ran me down and gave me a new pattern he is tying called the Marabear.  He gave me two color schemes - chartreuse and root beer. 

 

On the river I started out with a brown bugger and the bugger would only find one bow.  Then a size 18 Frenchie pink went on and this lad found four bows.  The bite was not hot and heavy and the trout seemed to be feeding in gingerly fashion as revealed by ever so subtle and soft eats.  The chartreuse Marabear was called for sea duty and he would find two bows and loose two more. 

 

 

After an hour and half that more with no end in sight to the rain, I gave in and packed my drenched self to the sailing vessel. 

 

Blue River Redhorse Sucker Club Grows

While I am still in search of my first Blue River Redhorse Sucker by way of fur and feather, this elite club continues to grow even without my participation.  Last week Mike Littrell, who is already a member of this club, sent me a picture of another Redhorse just to rub salt in this still open wound I own.

This morning Boone Merhman became a member of the BRRS club and he too included a picture along with the message, "Hey, I think I caught one of those red ear horse suckers you're always talking about."  Yes Boone... that is a Redhorse. Congratulations.... I guess.

I guess I just suck at suckers and I'll have to tie a damn egg pattern on in hopes of getting one.

Blue River Fly Classic 2015 Update

Entry forms for the Blue River Fly Classic 2015 have only been available for three days and already eight brave anglers have signed up for the event.  Those that have already signed up are making for an interesting field of competition and we're just getting started.

Congratulations to Jon Paul Griffin for winning the early bird award!  Jon's entry was the first one received and therefore Jon will be winning a prize to be awarded at the Classic on March 7th, 2015. 

In addition to Jon being signed up for the Classic we also have Greg Phillips, Dan Wilson, John Serventi, Matt Harrington, Donny Carter, Chris Adams, and Scott "Egg" Dittner.

The short list is getting a little shorter regarding the selection of the Mystery fly that will be used in the Classic.  The selection will take place sooner rather than later and once the fly is selected we will begin the "Guess the mystery fly game". 

A big shout out to Boone Merhman.  Boone is out there shaking hands and talking up the Classic in hopes of getting some sponsorships that will go directly to the Blue River Association and then to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife as part of the fund raising by the Classic 2015.