Sunday, September 26, 2010

Dry Fly + Some

"There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm."  ~Patrick F. McManus, Never Sniff a Gift Fish, 1979

I thought of this quote the last time I went out fishing as I pulled in rainbows.  I had been out there about half an hour, fishing this honey hole for all its worth when another angler shows up with his worms and tries to fish next to me.  I eased over a bit and let him fish the same bend in the stream as me.  I was having a good day and there was a good number of fish for the both of us so why the heck not.  Well after about 30 more minutes and me out fishing him five to zip, he grumbled something about how the fish were to small anyway, packed up his worms and moved on leaving me once again all alone with the 'small' fish.  It was about this time I hooked into a 13incher and gave my brief worm angling friend a little grin as I pulled the fish in.

This has happened more times than I can remember on this stretch of river and it is actually more rare to have a corn chucker or worm angler out fish a fly here.   I suppose this might be the case because this area of water is heavily fished by locals and the fish have seen more of the corn worms and powerbait than natural flies.  Is there science to back this up this claim? I don't know.  All I know is that I always do well there and the only reason I don't fish there more often is because the pressure of local anglers also brings the pollution and crowds I try to avoid when I fish.  Unfortunately it has easy access and if I am pressed for time it is the first spot I think of.

3 comments:

Mark Kautz said...

Being a fisherman that fishes in all directions, it kind of depends on what the fish are interested in, that day. I think that's way the entire cab of my truck is stuffed with all kinds of fishing equipment. Never know what you'll need.

Anonymous said...

Every angler has his/her day when their method of fishing was the successful one for the day. Then again, there are days when the fish win, period!

Always enjoy your works of art.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the comments guys. Fish are always the deciding factor when it comes down to what works and what doesn't. It is completely up to them and finding the right fly (or bait) and the right presentation is what keeps us coming back.