DAY OUT FOR THE SHOP
Earlier this week, I had the follow-up visit with the surgeon who removed my gall bladder, and I got the thumbs-up to return to normal activity. Dan decided it was cause for celebration, so the next day, we went fishing! One of our new shop employees, Craig, came along to make it a threesome. It was a basic decision; he can row, so he can go.
We started mid-morning on an absolutely gorgeous day. Bright sunshine and warming temperatures greeted us at the launch. We would have liked a little less wind, but we’ve seen a lot worse, it was a day off, and we were going fishing, so who cares about the wind! Oh, and the Mother’s Day Caddis were out … Life is good.
We started with stonefly nypmhs trailed by caddis emergers, and it didn’t take long to realize we had the right combo. A few fish were taken fairly quickly from the boat, but once we stopped and wade-fished favorite holes, the action really picked up. With slightly fast water flows, the fish were stacked up in the holes and the slack water. And with a very slight tint to the water, some of our favorite conditions, we were able to wade with stealth, adding to our success. The pattern continued all morning, afternoon and into the early evening; catch a few from the boat, catch more, and bigger fish, when we waded. And the stonefly/caddis emerger pattern also held throughout the trip.
Dan did try throwing dry-fly caddis during the warmest part of the day, in some very tasty looking holes, but the fish weren’t rising. Everything was taken on the nymphs and emergers. Lucky for us, we really like fishing that way.
The stonefly nypmhs that worked the best were Delektable Olive Hurless Flashback, Delektable Gray Hurless Flashback and Delektable Olive Mega Prince Flashback, all in size 6 and 8. Our Caddis emergers were the Shop Vac and One Man Party, both in size 14 and 16. I also caught a couple on a size 6 Brown/Black Pat’s Rubberlegs, but the Hurless and Mega Prince were more productive.
After two weeks of R&R following my surgery, it was an incredible way to spend my first day back in "the real world." Hope to see y’all out there, so get out and fish!
Marty
