Old Stream, Pleasant Surprises

It has been a while since I've been back to this stream.  This stream was the stream I caught my first brook trout on a fly.  This is the exact pool I caught the fish from.

I remember that day vividly.  I was armed with an 8 wt and a poorly tied excuse of a royal wulff.  I was wearing some jeans and hiking boots as well.  Managed to pull 3 out of this pool and was elated.  Since that day, I've caught some great trout from this stream.  However, these stream has received more and more pressure and the number of good sized brook trout pulled from it seems to get worse and worse.  It has probably been a good 6 months since I've fished it and I was pleasantly surprised with how well the trout are doing there. 

The first two trout were this size.  I have to admit, I admire their ambition for taking a size 16 stimi.

Thankfully, the trout got bigger.

The stream stayed foggy until midday.

Hydrangea

Big brookie of the trip.  Put a respectable bend in the 2 wt.

My usual lunch, summer sausage and pita bread.

Butterfly joined me for lunch

Indian pipe

This doe ran right in front of me on the trail out and about made me poop myself.

Giant Stonefly

I never count fish as that is not why I get out on the small streams for, but if I had to guess I had a 50 plus fish day.  Lots of quality fish too which makes me happy about this stream.

Dog's First Fishing Trip

I have been busy with school and a vacation so fishing has been lacking the past couple weeks.  I decided that Sunday after my plane arrived from Florida I would hit a brookie stream.  Felt bad for leaving the dog under my brothers watch so I rewarded her for being good and putting up with him by taking her with me.  Catching fish was not a priority as I was just wanting to get outdoors and enjoy a little bit of God's country.  Here are some pictures.

Lots of treats were needed to coax her over log jams.

Tired pup.

Saltwater Flies

I've recently been messing around with some saltwater flies for a friend who has a Charter.  He has recently gotten into fly fishing and plan on heading out his way soon.  He knows saltwater fishing and I know fly fishing, so hopefully together we can get some redfish on a fly rod.  Tying saltwater flies is a whole new endeavor it seems like and is fun.

Redfish Sliders

 

Merkin Crab

Merkin Crab with legs

Shrimp

They are a little rough, but I'm beginning to figure it out.

 

Pond Action is Heating Up

Spring is here, late, but here none the less.  Tied up a popper this morning real quick before work and on my lunch break hit a pond for a couple minutes.  The bass were in the shallows looking up.  Figure they should be spawning in a week or two.

Notice the hook in the gullet that someone so thoughtfully left?  Was able to remove the hook without spilling any blood and he was returned in better shape than he was caught.

Looking forward to the bigger bass becoming more active in the weeks to come.

Finding Clear Water

Well, last Thursday VA got hit with 3 plus inches of rain in 24 hours.  Me and a friend were planning on fishing a river on Saturday for musky, but that would of been a death wish.  So off to the lake we went for Stripers.  It was awful conditions.  Blue bird skies, chocolate milk colored water, and 20 mph winds.  We messed around for 30 minutes and then called it quits.  I ended up hitting a brookie stream that had high water, but treated me well when I got the fly to the bottom.

Buddy making friends with the locals.

Old house that looks like it could fall at any moment.

Water was high, but the fish were willing.

Big brookie that put up a respectable fight on my 2wt.

Wasn't a bad way to salvage the day.

End of Semester Blueline Relaxation

So, last Friday I was up till Midnight finishing up my two papers that were due.  I had planned on taking a half day to fish Saturday but decided I needed the whole day and there was not much going on that day.  Ended up being a good call because the first half of the day was slow due to some heavy rain and ended up having to switch streams.  The fishing at stream 2 was a lot better and the weather finally cleared up.  It really turned into a perfect day temps wise.  There was also yellow sallies, black stoneflies, march browns, and other smaller mayflies hatching off all day. Even saw a giant stonefly.  By far my favorite aquatic insect.  They never hatch in numbers, I doubt they get eaten much by trout considering they live in leave piles in streams, and they crawl out of water to hatch, but I'm sure if one falls into the water, it's like a giant burrito floating by for some lucky trout. 

Giant Stonefly

Nymph casing.

That was all from stream 1.  Stream one didn't produce great numbers, but all the fish were healthy, quality fish.  The fishing slowed down so it was on to stream 2.

Sign of bait fishermen.

My friend was a log snagging machine that day.

Was reward for my efforts late in the day.  Had this nice brookie come and take a dropper in a nice pool.  Worked and worked and worked this one nice pool and didn't have a single take.  I knew there had to be a nice fish somewhere lurking in the pool.  Saw a slow back eddy in the top left corner of the pool.  Made a cast up in it and saw my dry disappear.  Knew it was a good fish as soon as I set the hook.

Saturday was just what the doctor ordered.