Decisions, Decisions...

Yesterday morning while having breakfast I was tossing a few ideas in my head as to where I was going to visit that day. One stream had been on my mind for some time and I was leaning that way. The other stream that was up front was also a stream I had not visited in some time. The first stream was a bit farther to drive and I had not much experience fishing it, where as the second stream was very familiar. The first stream has some verified 15" trout within it's waters but is an absolute mess to fish. The second stream is more "knee" friendly. So after the second cup of coffee the decision was made, stream two.

I may have mentioned before that when I think of brown trout I think of birch. And thinking of those two I put them together and Scandinavia. So when I saw this branch I knew it was going to be a good day.

The stream flows through some gorgeous real estate...fields, forests and those lovey stone walls.

The stream was impressive, flowing quietly under a thick canopy of leaves. With the sun shining brightly I was still able to find some pretty dark spots.

Within those dark spots and behind a boulder I found a willing participant. The brown took on some gorgeous green color from the leaves above.

There was no need to change flies, but when a trout missed one fly a second fly was tied on and that was all it took to bring the trout to hand.

Strong and in awesome condition. The brown is a formidable fighter....the flies used will be highlighted in the next post.

A Not So Bad Rainy Day

It was one of those rain on rain off kind of mornings. A late May morning with a touch of humidity. The woods were damp and the bugs active. I still have not used any repellent this season but I'll make sure to put some in the car now. Usually cloudy rainy days provide some good fishing and this was one of them. I found the brookies interested in surface flies and that's what I gave them. This time of year on these little forest creeks it's easier to fish dries than wet flies most of the time. I like to know where my fly is and something that floats makes that easier.

Those little riffles at the head of a deep water section is where most of my hits came from. The brookies like the cover broken water gives them and the rifles provide that as well as place where food is usually found.

A lovely brookie on a damp morning.

A rest, and nature provided a perfect rod holder.

This pretty young lady has some very pronounced markings...do you notice what they are?

A mysterious blend, it was left in the car since morning. But it still tasted fine.

Keeping Dry Simple

My obsession with simple flies has been made known here for a few years. Those North Country Spiders and Soft-Hackle flies with there thread bodies and sparse hackle have not only dominated my efforts at the tying desk they have also taken charge in my efforts on the stream. Realization is that trout look at food much differently then we do. Trout in small streams take that look even further. An insect floating down stream does not look like a fly in a catalog. The tail is not perfect, the number of segments on its body are not uniform and its legs may be deformed. So why take the time to tie a fly and complete all of those steps to make it look perfect. A question I asked myself and I decided this. Perfection in tying flies can be artistic, and then look at at Fran Betters Haystack...its all in the eyes of the fly tyer and angler.

Pictured here are some of the dry flies I have tied and fished over the years. Most have a thread body, a thorax of either dubbing or peacock with a few wraps of stiff hackle.

This is one of the first flies I tied a very simple skater pattern. Ideas coming from both E. Hewett, and Ed Shenk

This is a result of the simple dry fly.

I was given another simple dry fly pattern that I'm in the process of tying. It's from a gentleman in Argentina. When I complete it I'll post it along with his.

A Fly Fishers Perspective...

A series of pictures showing many of fly fishing's pleasures and treasures. As I have said in the past there is so much we have to enjoy in the simple act of fishing. While a tug on the line and a fish to hand are some of the best, there are moments that maybe not so high on the list but they are the ones that we remember first.

Not a usual sight on a forest road. In taking the picture I thought they must have been saying to themselves "that's odd, someone fishing in that little brook".....

"coming to hand"

A "Lady Slipper" royalty in the forest.

After a hard day of fooling brookies. A fly takes a rest...

"Worth a thousand words"...

So delicate in such a tough world.

So many times I've cast a fly on these waters. The next time will be just like the first time.

A box of flies, as uncomplicated as can be....perspective.