Winter Midg’n
A stretch of cold rainy days had given way to some sun and blue sky. Kevin and I had planned a rematch on the Davidson river. The last visit resulted in a heavy rain in cold temps. As I drove there, I received word that Kevin had to bale. I was almost there so I went anyway.
I wanted to scout the river to see what was hatching and if the fish were eating. I checked a few pull offs and didn’t see much. Halfway up the lower section, I pulled off to check the water. Floods had moved a log in the pool and it was open. I was thinking that it was time to head further upriver when I noticed a rise just down river. The feeding intensified as more trout broke the surface. I couldn’t resist. I went to the truck to suit up.
I tied on a stonefly using 6.5 tippet. I worked into position and made a cast to some rising trout. I would like to say that I always get it right but the truth is you don’t. The wind was blowing the fly off course which resulted in drag on the fly. I moved to a new spot. After several attempts I had the same results, drag on the fly. Third time’s a charm. I moved to another spot and casted. The fly drifted smoothly over a trout…no response. Several more good drifts resulted in no response from the trout. I needed to switch flies. I tried on a MM Midge size 24. I made a couple of casts and letting the fly drift downstream. Just as I was about to pick it up, a fish took the little fly.
When fishing small flies, use lighter rods. You don’t need the weight to cast small flies and the lighter rod will flex more protecting light tippets. The Thomas and Thomas 3wt rod didn’t disappoint, the rod protected the light tippet in the fast water. I missed the next trout by setting too slow. They were more aggressive today. I made a mental adjustment to set faster.
I was in a good spot to cast and get a good drift over them. The wind picked up but I was still able to cast. However, a gust of wind deposited a truck lot of leaves in the water. I had to strategically place the fly between rafts of leave navigating downstream.
The next trout that ate the fly resulted in a tight line. This time a bigger trout followed it in giving me a good view. “I want to catch that one”, I thought to myself. This happened again when I connected on a trout feeding on the surface. The big trout casually following the trout to the net.
So far I had three in the net and one miss. I saw some more rises underneath some branches. It would be a tricky cast. I made some adjustments and on my second attempt I got the fly under the branches and over the rises. The fly drifted a couple of few when the trout rose to eat. Slowly it broke the surface, barely making a ripple. I quickly set the hook. As soon as I did, I realized my mistake. I set the hook too quickly for the slow rise of the trout. I missed my chance on the big trout. Like before, you don’t always get it right, but that’s what makes it fun.