A Skunk, A Streamer, And...........

It's been awhile since my last post and I feel pretty good today so here it is. My last outing was Monday and the weather was still very nice, especially for November. They tell me it's going to get colder and some white stuff may coat the ground Friday or Saturday.

I reached the stream about 10 and found it to be almost perfect. With the sun working already for a few hours I knew the water temp had to be prime. I tied on a bomber and had the feeling it would be a great day on the dry. Two hours later all that was memorable was 1 rise to the dry, and 2 hookups on a wet fly that were very short lived. I fished many promising runs as well as those pools that hold some nice fish but they all came up empty.

So with dry and wet flies failing, I pulled out the meat flies, those pretty little streamers that can sometimes make an anglers day. Tied on a Mickey Finn and worked the water, 45 minutes later and several patterns and nothing. The time was getting on and I decided to work my way back to the car. I continued to fish streamers, but the thought in my mind was I am going to get skunked. Getting skunked is not a bad thing, we all experience it, besides it's not a skunk if you have a fish on and he gets off...is it?

I came upon this pool, it looked interesting. It had a swift run that flowed into a deep pool, and it also had a very nice undercut bank, a perfect ambush point for a brook trout. I crossed the stream to enable me to mak a good cast and allow the streamer to work those sweet spots. Several casts and nothing. I changed the streamer and said I'm going to fish this fly Maine style. Maine style is a method I picked up while fishing Upperdam, Maine. The method is to cast the streamer upstream and then strip it back to you downstream as fast as you can. The method was a killer on the landlock salmon and brook trout. So I cast the streamer upstream and stripped as fast as I could. I repeated it several times and suddenly I saw the swirl and soon felt the solid take of a trout. The fish was strong and he worked the pool as well as the rod. I had turned the brookie to me and was ready to lift him when he said NO. The fish ran again but the rod eventually won out. As I laid my hand under his belly I could not believe how big he was. As I turned to snap a photo I noticed the fly had come out. Just as the camera snapped the brook trout was making his escape. The master of the pool laid in the water briefly and darted away.

A beautiful brook trout anywhere, but for a small stream a trophy with out question.

My little streamer box. Can you tell what streamer the brook trout took?