Old Reliable does it again

Posted by rusty on July 13, 2009

     It’s been a few weeks since Phil and myself got to fly fish together, so when we got the opportunity to do so, we didn’t hesitate.  We decided that were going to fish a tail water river that we both enjoy.  The great thing about tail water fisheries is that the water temperature remains pretty much the same year round.  This type of everyday consistency makes the fishing good all year, unless it’s really raging.

     Now let me get started by saying this is probably one of the hardest eastern rivers I’ve ever fished.  You can literally pound the water all day and come away with one or two trout landed, or have a absolute great day and land 20.  Yes, I said 20.  I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but for this river, that is a top notch outing. 

     We started our day fishing some streamers with little to no luck.  A few fish gave chase and a few landed, but nothing great by any means.  As we continued to try different patterns and approaches we couldn’t believe the difficulty we were having.  We stopped, sat for a while, watched the water, a few trout taking emergers here and there, but nothing to get excited about.  We pushed on trying various patterns, then all of a sudden I rolled a nice fish in a fast run.  That made me a little excited knowing that nymphing may be the key to success today.

     I then tried an old standby that Phil and I used for years, but not a lot lately.  This old reliable fly is the San Juan Worm, wine in color, about a size 14.  I fished a cast or two and was immediately rewarded with a nice rainbow about 14 inches.  I can’t get over how powerful these tailwater fish are, but what a blast.  I continued fishing and before long another, then another and soon a nice rainbow, about 22 inches, smoked my fly and it was time for some arobatics.  Phil was slightly upstream when I hollered for him,  and he soon caught a glimpse of the fish on one of it’s many jumps.  He started toward me with the net to try and land this log, but after 8 minutes the fly pulled out and he was of to fight another day. 

     The day is starting to heat up now with several fish cooperating, along with a heavy trout that Phil hooked and lost.  He said it had some good weight, and by the amount of rod bend I seen, I’d say he was right.  We caught a few more then decided to go to one of these big holes Phil told me about.  He wasn’t kidding either, this was a massive hole with a lot of depth and current.  Standing there thinking about the potential this had we couldn’t wait any longer, and started fishing.  This is where it got really fun.  I made my way accross some swift and slick current to fish the far side of these headwaters.  Phil said he landed a few nice fish there the previous time.  I got set and made a cast, my indicater twitched and I nice rainbow shot out of the water and started stripping line.  I knew this was a nice one, but the strength of these fish is incredible.  Phil made his way to me and landed in with his net after a good 5 minute battle.  This was the fish of the day, thick and about 18 inches.  After releasing that fish we took a little break and enjoyed a few more before heading back to reality.

     This was one of those days that make you realized how great the outdoors really are, and spending time doing what you love with friends and family is what it’s all about.  So old reliable came through for us today and made a not so productive day, an absolute great day!  First and foremost, don’t rate your fishing days on the amount you catch, but on the amount you learn.  You can never know to much about fly fishing,  just ask that 22 inch rainbow that got away! 

     And as for now and always “Tight Lines”