Chapter 58 Day 41 - Trout Season

To The Woods And Water

Anytime I can get beyond the concrete, the asphalt, the pavement - I do.  Beyond these man-made things, and the brick and mortar, lies the excitement of the woods and the water. 

Today, was a no fishing day for me.  I couldn't possibly get to the river Blue for having to work at not one mercantile store, but, two. 

In between those two store shifts was a break and taking advantage of that break I escape briefly to the local creek for a little scouting. 

There is a section of the carp creek that Charlie and I so favor that we have yet to explore.  As a kid, I remember it quiet well and explored it often, but, that's been a long time ago. 

Our hopes is this stretch of water will hold carp and give us another avenue to pursue the grand and golden ones this coming spring and summer. 

This stretch of creek has the characteristics of much of the rest of the creek with sandbars or shoals, narrow areas that flow into wide flat pools.  The banks have been cleared at this place on the creek, probably the results of a local telecommunications company property being located here. 

There's an old dam just below this run of water and I remember it well from thirty years ago.  It had come a torrential rain in early October and my son and I decided to build a homemade raft and float the raging creek.  We put in about 300 yards above the dam, but,  our adventure would be short-lived.  When the raft went off the dam, with us on it, our not-so-safe ship sank and we became caught in the violent down flow coming off the dam.  The only thing that saved us that day was an inner tube we had tied on the back of the raft.  I was able to break the rope free and we hung onto the tube until we could get to a bank.

I won't have to worry about such nonsense things anymore though - I simply fly fish for carp in this creek. 

The weather looks really iffy for this coming week and a fly fishing trip for the pretty fish at Blue may be hard to come by.  However, somehow a way to get to the woods and water must be found.  Such trips are salvation. 





Chapter 58 Day 39 - Trout Season

Avoiding The Pattern Fatigue Trap

I admit it.  When it comes to my fly fishing life these days, I tend to be a little bit lazy.  Hasn't always been that way, and I'm not for certain it is all due to laziness.  Sometimes I look at it as a matter of voiding inconvenience.

Tying flies on the tippet these days is not as easy as it use to be.  If, by chance, the reading glasses are left behind at the bunk house, then I've pretty much screwed the pooch as far as changing flies a lot on that particular outing. 

So, my choices are to suffer from pattern fatigue or constantly keep moving. 

All of us has experienced this same thing.  We arrive at a particular stretch of water, a pocket, a run, a back eddy and we toss a fly into the punch and with the first cast bring a bow to hand.  Then on the next ten casts we bring anywhere from seven to ten more trout to hand.  But... then it all quits.  Another dozen casts and not nary a bite.  That's pattern fatigue.

Pattern fatigue is quite simple.  The fish in a certain structure of water you are fishing simply get wise to the pattern being used.  At that occurrence it's time for us to make a decision to change patterns or simply move to another body of water. 

I've been inclined, here of late, to move to another body of water rather than tie on a new pattern.  However, at times it is to wonder if I'm cheating myself.  The pattern doesn't actually have to change - the color can, and then if that doesn't work then it's time to completely change the pattern.  In other words, you started and did well with a streamer, then once that quit, changed color on that same streamer pattern and if there's still no improvement, it's time to consider a nymph or something else.

Of course if the trout are keying on midges let's say, there's probably no reason to move or often change patterns if you can find the right stage of midge life the trout are after.  In this case you'll not change patterns, but, rather life cycle. 

Pattern fatigue is easy to fall into, but, can easily be avoided by holding your spot (where you already know there are fish) and going into the fly box until you find what the fish want.

Chapter 58 Day 28 - Trout Season

Gifting The Gift Of Fishing

At the mercantile store that I owe my employment is a collection box for the Marine Corps Reserve "Toy For Tots" program.  This morning I couldn't help but notice how forlorn the collection box looked - it was completely empty.  Seeing this sight was more that this soul could bear so I scheduled a break to obtain a gift for some boy or girl. 

Deciding what kind of gift to give was easy - I wanted to give the gift of fly fishing.  Here at my prairie home there is only one of the big retailers and from the past I knew they always carried those inexpensive Shakespeare fly fishing beginner kits.  The kits have a rod, reel, line, leader, and some flies.  There is really no quality to anything in the kit, but, for a kid starting out they are almost perfect. 

At the fishing section of the big retailer, disappointment set in early.  Ol' big retailer did not have one single offering of any beginner fly fishing kits. 

Pausing for thought, I realized what I was really wanting to give was the gift of fishing itself.  The majority of us that fly fish today didn't start out fly fishing.  Some of us are old enough to remember fishing with cane poles and bobbers.  At my grandfathers home cane poles were all we had and we were happy to have that. 

Big retailer had seven or eight different beginning fishing kits so my reasoning was to get one of these in hopes that it would spark interest in a boy or girl child somewhere.  If that happened, then the day they might evolve to fly fishing could possibly come. 

At the checkout stand I pay Markel and head back to the mercantile store where I placed the fishing kit in the Toy For Tots box - a box no longer empty.  Soon after that, two fellow employees came up and handed me $40.00 and said they wanted to donate gifts also.  The box is slowly filling up.

Having personally participated in the Marine Corps Toy For Tots program in the 1970s, I can tell you it is a good solid program where 100 percent of gifts donated go to the intended recipients - children. 

So, I'd like to say to all the brothers and sisters of this culture we call fly fishing, if you see a Toy For Tots collection box somewhere near you, consider giving the gift of fishing this Christmas season. 

It's an uplifting thing.