Fly Fishing

jinxed247

Well, I finally got a chance to go out fly fishing so I headed over to a stream that I have been overlooking for awhile. When I got there I was more than a little disappointed at the water levels. Most places were only a foot or so deep. I decided to make my way upstream to see if there were some deeper pools. The first one that I came upon looked promising as it was a deep pool with a minature waterfall feeding it. I took my green coneheaded whooly bugger and flipped it above the waterfall so that it could drop over the edge into the pool. As soon as my fly went over the edge I felt the familar tug of a fish! I was expecting a steelhead so I set the hook pretty aggressively and flopped the poor fish right out of the pool and right to my feet! He was alright after I tossed him back!

With my spirits lifted I headed upstream and hit every pocket that I could find. I finally made my way to another bridge that had some fish holding water. I wasn't disappointed. I saw the familiar dark shapes bobbing in and out of the current. I snuck forward and flipped my coneheaded whooly bugger up into the current. Fish On!! What a fight! It had been awhile since I had battled these beautiful fish and what a relief it was to finally land one again.

The sweet release!

As I was battling this magnificant fish, three guys that were checking pockets upstream came running down and my hackles instantly rose. These guys weren't fisherman. They had on about a ton of lead and baitless hooks. Snaggers. Man I hate snaggers. The first guy went to throw in his line and I told them that the first person to snag a fish in front of me would become a permanent addition to a milk carton. We exchanged A LOT of "pleasantries" from across the very shallow stream. I guess that they thought that I was crazy because I didn't back down so they left. I just sat down on the bank and stared out across the stream. I sat there until almost dark before I moved back downstream to my car and drove home. Sounds corny, I know. Just call me sentimental!

TroutBone · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:58 pm Post subject:

I totally agree with you Jinxed, not the corny part, but I would have made sure myself too that they weren't snagging, for me it's all about fair chase, and snaggers that snagg fish illegally are the type I am very displease with, too bad there wasn't a warden around, me personally would have tied on my biggest streamer and let out some slack on my reel, and started whipping, my excuse would be sorry guys I'm trying to learn to cast still and I would keep on whipping that sucka right over the river, bet they'll get out of dodge real quick. Laughing

jinxed247 · Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject:

I was too busy trying to figure out how I was going to take out three big guys by myself....maybe next time though!!!

bfly · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 8:55 am Post subject:

It's a good thing you said something to those "snaggers." And i'm glad that they left the area. I am hoping that more and more people will be able to speak to those who don't respect the fishery. Maybe someday those that abuse the fishery will see that it is in their best interest to learn to fish, instead of snag. All we can do is make sure that we are respecting the fishery ourselves and speak up when others are clearly not! If enough people can do that, then there is hope! Imagine trying to do what you did at a place like the trestle pool on the Salmon River....I wonder what the response would be? Thanks for the report, and more importantly, speaking up for the fishery! Great Job!

jinxed247 · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject:

Thanks bfly. It has always perplexed me on how lazy people are when it comes to fishing. I had to do a lot of research on my own (and with a huge amount of help from this site!) before I finally figured out what works and what doesn't. I have lost count of how many fishless adventures that I have had trying to figure out these magnificant fish. It's all part of the learning curve. Even when you think that you have them figured out they always throw in a surprise and a sure thing can turn into a fruitless effort. I think that we have all had times when the fish are just teaming up a narrow shallow stretch of water and you have tried everything in your fly box but to no avail, and you think, "Man, it sure would be easy just to snag one of those." It's a test of character that not everybody passes. It's doing the right thing even when nobody is there to judge you. That's how I feel about it anyways and I am trying very hard to instill those values on my son and daughters.

wildbrookies · Newbie Joined: Aug 02, 2006 Posts: 4

Very nice early Steelie... Wink