In Getting Spanked

I went fly fishing with Van today.  I got my butt spanked my Van today.  Actually, I got my butt kicked my van today. 

We had a 75 fish day.  Van caught 50 of the trout today.  So, do the math and you'll know how badly Van kicked my arse. 

Now, you might ask why anyone would beat up on an old man like Van did today?  I don't know.  It's a damn shame though and should be against the law. 

The truth is that Van had the goods today and he brought em.  The amazing thing about this guy is that he's been fly fishing hardly anytime at all, but he has taken to it like a duck to water. 

Of course some credit should be give to the guy who introduced him to fly fishing and perhaps this is some small part of his success.  And that guy is me!  See how he repays me for my kindness. 

The usual hot spot today wasn't so hot.  Van did pick up some and I only picked up a few.  So Van went downstream and this is where he found his hot spot for the day. 

For Van the morning action came courtesy of the brown bugger.  Later around noon, his action got hot again using the Hare's Ear. 

 

I wouldn't find my sweet spot until close to noon.  I decided to fish the oxygenated water below a falls and the trout here were loving the Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail.  When they grew pattern weary of these two flies, I simply tied on a size 16 dark olive baby bugger and the action was back on.

 

All in all it was a fine outing.  I hate to admit it, but I tired out early.  Seems like I do that a lot anymore. 

 

Think I'll get on a Geritol regimen and get back in the game. 

Northern Trout Of Blue River

Sometimes it's rather nice just to listen to the rhythm of the river. 

The holidays put a kink in my fly fishing schedule and as of today it has been almost three weeks since I've been to Blue River. 

This morning I caught a ride with my buddy and fellow fly fisher Van and we headed for the northern part of the river Blue.  This season I still have a tendency to go north.  Van had never been to this particular stretch of water and I was eager to show it to him. 

Van was armed with new fly line and a nice selection of hare's ear patterns and it was my hope that he would get into some trout. 

We were expecting light winds of 5 to 10, but was greeted with a steady southerly wind of about 15 to 20.  With the temperature still below 40 this morning, the comfort level was far from pleasant. 

We walked all the way to the end of this part of the river and took position in the shallows above the downstream falls.  Van would take the first trout of the day with a flashback hare's ear with legs.  I was striking out fishing below him, so wading back across I went upstream and took position on a rock where there was also a wind break.

 

 

Here at this place the hare's ear I was fishing begin to take trout, but the fish soon grew pattern weary.  Switching to a size 16 pheasant tail I would find the fly that proved to be most favorable to the trout today.

 

When the action slowed for Van he moved upstream from me and begin fishing upstream above a falls and quickly took a couple of more bows.  When he moved back downstream, I went up and fished downstream from the falls using a bugger.  Missing the first three trout on three casts, I slowed the retrieve and took two bows on the bugger. 

When action slowed for both of us we walked the upstream road to another stretch.  This stretch is one I have fished several times and not found a single bow, but today I ventured out and down and it wasn't long until I found a community. 

The wind was giving us fits and I must have missed two dozen strikes and only brought four or five bows to hand.  Van was standing on a falls and found a pocket of trout that also liked his leggy hare's ear. 

Four and a half hours later my back was done.  I wasn't done, but the old back was so we decided to call it a day.  I think Van could have stayed much longer but he could see I was pretty well done in.  We left the river with a dozen and a half bows to hand.  Not a banner day, but still a good day.

Chapter 58 Day 20 - Trout Season

Dependability

It wasn't too long ago I asked Carol why in the world she married me?  Was it because she found me charming, charitable with my meager funds, or just simply drop-dead good-looking? 

Carol... doesn't mince her words and quickly informed me she married me for none of the reasons I mentioned, but, rather for the fact I was dependable and she knew she could always count on me. 

In our fly fishing lives there are certain fly patterns that we usually know we can always count on to produce.  That's dependability. 

Yesterday morning on the river Blue at 9:30 a.m. it was 65 degrees.  This morning on the river at 9:30 a.m. it was 45 degrees with a noticeable breeze and a little mist.  Since the Prince Nymph did so well yesterday I tied him on again went to the exact same spot as yesterday.  Today however, it was a totally different story.  I don't know if the trout got wise to ol' Princey boy or what, but, he couldn't have bribed a fish today. 

After giving him ten or so runs the decision to go to plan B was put into effect.  Some of the patterns that I've always been able to count on are the Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, and the venerable Bugger.  The Bugger went on and the fish started coming my way. 

There are still a lot of campers at Blue River, but, the crowds on the water were much thinner today.  I didn't have long to stay because of things to be done at the prairie home. 

On the way in to the river this morning I saw two deer hunters dragging a deer from the woods.  Guess their day was made.  It is hunting season at Blue and there were probably a half dozen hunters in the woods on the road going in. 

On the way back to the prairie home I got to shoot some deer of my own.  Shot em' with a Fuji Finepix.



Poor Poor Pitiful Me

The older fishermen always said, "Fish ahead of the front", and today looked like a perfect opportunity to do just that.  A curtain of cold Canadian air had tracked south across the plains.  At six this morning, this Juggernaut, fueled by the icy breath of the northern gods, was at the threshold of the Oklahoma panhandle.  Projections showed this bitter beast wouldn't make the river Blue until mid-afternoon... so there was ample time to fish ahead of this front.

Things had been pre-planned; the prairie schooner was already loaded.  With the first cup of coffee at the bunkhouse I visualized just how the day would go.  It would happen at the south wilderness of Blue, along a stretch of water that offered pocket after pocket.  Today, the bugger and hare's ear would marry; being united with a foot-and-a-half long piece of string; then launched on their honeymoon voyage into the savory recipe of the stew of Blue.

With the last sip of coffee, I realized that time was of the essence. Knowing that hard leather across the backside of the schooner ponies would be required, it was time to hit the trail.  However, there was a requirement to first stop at the mercantile I work just to make sure everything would be running smoothly today.  And... it didn't take long to realize, that, this would not be the case today.

It's cold and flu season and people take ill.  As it is with my position in the mercantile, I am expected to run coverage... so today I worked.  This would be a no fishing today for me.

I get somewhat depressed when a fly fishing day doesn't come my way.  I shrink into a sullen, down-in-the-mouth, kick the crap out of the cat, generally crabby person.  When these episodes occur... I don't even like myself.

The workday drug on, but I was able to knock off a couple of hours early.  However, there still wasn't enough time to make it to the river Blue before the Canadian express, clipping at forty nauts, would arrive.  There was no desire to face the wind-driven bitterness, or the bone chilling numbness that would result from such an interlude. Besides... light would have been lost in just a couple of hours.

There existed a choice.  I could either take my sullen carcass to the prairie home, planting my tail in the pouting chair while humming the melody of Poor Poor Pitiful Me, or... I could go to the water.  Waders went on; leaf rake quickly grabbed; prairie ponies turned toward Rock Creek.

Of course, whenever I'm on the water the preference is to fly fish, but there would be no fishing today.  This would be a good time to do the final clean-up on Rock Creek.

Today's task called for a pair of wading boots, with some bite in the souls, in order to negotiate a steep incline.  The leaf rake would make all the difference, allowing me to reach a good distance in retrieving the remaining trash.  The task was completed around the time the first tinge of bitter air was noticeable.

With the job completed, the ponies were turned toward the prairie home - a warm safe harbor.  Perhaps tomorrow will be a fishing day.

Rock Creek before.

Much better now.

Thinking Tandem

More and more I find myself using tandem rigs on Blue River.  Most of the time I use a bugger or other streamer pattern as the lead fly with a variety of trailing or tag-along friends.  But, a beadhead Hare's Ear, Pheasant Tail, or good sized soft hackle can also be used as the lead fly.  Here are some of the tag teams I've used that have worked quite well in the past.

Olive bugger with soft hackle - partridge and orange is my favorite.

Olive bugger with Hare's Ear Nymph

The Zug Bug is not used a lot on Blue River but I've found it to be a good pattern trailed behind the bugger.

The Mademoiselle is not a well known pattern, but again I've had a lot of fun with it.

Sow Bugs behind a bugger also work surprisingly well.

For the longest time I had little success with the San Juan Worm, but lately it is producing better and better.

A Mayfly Emerger pattern given to me by Michael Mercurio - good pattern.

Maybe the most overlooked producer on Blue - the Crackleback.

In murky water on sunlit days use Ralph James' Silverback trailed behind a Black Damsel Marabou.

In murky water on overcast days trail a Copper John behind a Black Damsel Marabou.

In murky just plain brown water use brown patterns such as this leech.  The Zebra always makes a good trailer.

Fly Of The Week

Next to the venerable Wooly Bugger, the Hare's Ear has been my personal best producing fly on the river Blue.

Normally I fish it with a beadhead but I also carry a varied selection of non-beadhead sizes for fishing the middle and upper columns.

This fly is one of the classics and can simulate many manners of aquatic larvae or crustaceans.

It can be tied as large as size 8 or as small as size 20.

With the primary material being the fur of a hare, the fly can be manipulated into a number of different presentations. It's a dandy for sure.