Monday, February 27, 2006

DATE:  Monday, February 27, 2006

TIME: 11:30 AM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-40s

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, riffle above McClellan’s

HATCH: None

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #20 Kay's Gray, #14 gray Norfork River scud, #14 elk hair caddis, #26 midge pupae

OTHER: I fished with Wayne. Wayne's second cast resulted in a 23-inch brown—I helped him measure.

He caught several other large fish upstream of the riffle.

I struggled for a while, but finally put on a black #26 midge pupae dropped below a #14 gray scud (we were fishing outside the “Catch and Release” area), and began catching fish with some regularity. It was tough fishing, but I caught 10 to 12 fish.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

DATE: Saturday, February 25, 2006

TIME: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-40s, cloudy, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s downstream of Otter Creek

HATCH: Two midges (one black in color and tiny, the other about a #22 gray)

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #26 Dunn’s Dun

OTHER: I fished with Ron. I started Ron with a gray scud, and he got a few bites but no hook ups. Fishing was difficult at best, and I didn't see another of the 14 fishers get a bite; that's right, 14 fishers downstream, and later, 3 more came from downstream that had been out of our line of sight. I tied a #26 Dunn's Dun on Ron’s tippet, he fished the fiat water at Ace in the Hole, but casting in the strong north wind was difficult. I fished the same water and got lucky with 2 or 3 fish caught, and a bunch of misses. On one cast and drift, I got 3 bites. It looks like the code for this past week has been a #26 Dunn's Dun, though a black midge fly pattern would work equally as well.

OVERLOOK ESTATES: Overlooking the Norfork Dam and the Norfork River, Overlook Estates is a development by a relocated, arrogant Texan. Regrettably, he denuded the hillsides and failed to install erosion control measures.

The result was the introduction of thousands of tons of sediment into the Norfork River, covering the stream bottom and suffocating much of the insect life. Only time will tell how much damage has actually been done, and what, if anything, he will be made to do to mitigate those damages.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

DATE: Thursday, February 23, 2006

TIME: 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM

WEATHER: Mid-40s

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s downstream of Otter Creek

HATCH: Blue winged olive, two midges (one black and tiny, the other about a #22 gray)

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #20 Kay's Gray, #20 blue winged olive, #20 Dunn's Dun, #26 Dunn’s Dun, #14 gray Norfork River scud

OTHER: I fished with Kay. I started with a gray scud, but only got one bite, and no hook ups. Kay got a couple of bites on a gray scud, but no hook ups. I tried several flies, and finally caught one of the midges coming off the surface; it appeared to be olive with ribbing and very small. I put on a #26 Dunn's Dun, and bingo, began to get bites. I hooked up several times, and managed to land a couple of fish. I missed at least a half dozen or more. Perhaps the code has been broken.

Monday, February 20, 2006

DATE: Monday, February 20, 2006

TIME: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER: High 30s

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, 2^nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access through the Pool to Mill Dam Eddy and back

HATCH: Blue winged olive, two midges (one light colored and tiny, the other about a #22 gray)

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #20 Kay's Gray, #20 blue winged olive, #20 Dunn's Dun

OTHER: I fished solo, but struggled to catch fish, though I finally caught 4 or 5 on a Kay's Gray. Fish were rising consistently, taking something off the top. I still haven't broken the code.

Friday, February 17, 2006

DATE: Friday, February 17, 2006

TIME: 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 30s

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, 2^nd island above Ackerman/Handicap Access through the Pool to Mill Dam Eddy and back

HATCH: Blue winged olive, two midges (one light colored and tiny, the other about a #22 gray)

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #20 Kay's Gray, #20 blue winged olive, #20 Dunn's Dun, #22 olive cockleburr

OTHER: I fished with Wayne. We have not fished together in some time due to my commitments at church. It was great fishing with the master again. We saw rising fish from the time we entered the water. There was a very nice blue winged olive hatch, #18 or #20, coming off. We threw everything in the book, and could not "break the code." We each would catch a couple of fish on a fly and think we had the pattern, then nothing. Upon changing flies, the same thing happened—a couple of fish would be caught, then nothing. Finally, I put on a Kay's Gray at Mill Dam Eddy and began to consistently catch 14 to 16-inch fish. Wayne also began consistently catching fish (doesn't he always), but I'm not sure what he was using. I ended up with a 17-inch cutthroat. Both Wayne and I missed a lot of large fish. A lesson learned is not to use Cortland Clear 555 fly line when it's cold; memory retention is terrible. I'd pull out the coils, just to have them come back in. It was two great days (yesterday and today) back-to-back despite a temperature change of 35 degrees.

Thursday, February 16, 2006

DATE:  Thursday, February 16, 2006

TIME: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 70s with a cold front moving in, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s

HATCH: Midges

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #14 champagne Norfork River scud

OTHER: I fished with Ginger and Ron. We all caught fish, and Ginger and Ron both did real well. Ginger's first fish was a 17-inch brown, and she played it marvelously. She continued to pick up fish, generally 14 to 15 inches long, with a final cutthroat about 16 inches. Ron caught lots of fish downstream, near Ace in the Hole, and went 5 straight one time. Most of his fish were in the 14 to 15-inch class. It was really warm, and the wind was heavy. Fish seemed to bite when the wind subsided.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

DATE:  Wednesday, February 15, 2006

TIME: 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 60s, overcast, windy, with a cold front slowly moving in, barometric pressure is very low

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s downstream to top of 2^nd island above Ackerman/Handicap access

HATCH: Midges

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #20 Kay’s Gray, #20 olive cockleburr

OTHER: Fished with Ed. Both of us caught fish. I got on a hot streak right after entering the water, and managed to take several out on the right descending bank below Otter Creek. Ed managed to hook up with some big fish below the riffle above the island, and saw some really big fish. I caught a few in the riffle above the island. Ed and I fished our way down to Mill Dam Eddy where I managed to catch several nice fish on a #20 Kay's Gray, greased and fished dry. The wind was terrible, it was overcast, and visibility on the water was virtually impossible. Ed and I had the river to ourselves, except for a fisherman at McClellan’s who didn't last long in the wind, and another fisher below Mill Dam Eddy. Who would've thought that dry fly fishing in wind, overcast, mid-February would be great? It was!

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

DATE: Tuesday, February 14, 2006

TIME: 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 60s, overcast, windy, with a cold front slowly moving in, barometric pressure is very low

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s downstream of Otter Creek; White River, Rim Shoals

HATCH: Midges, with an occasional #16 black fly (either a caddis or stone fly)

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #20 olive cockleburr, #14 bead head flashback pheasant tail

OTHER: I fished with Dick and Ed. We all caught fish. Dick started off with a bang, catching 6 fish to my one. Then, Ed caught fire and caught fish after fish. I managed to take several on gray scud, then some more on the Dunn's Dun at Ace in the Hole. It was good to see it work again after such a long absence. In the afternoon, Ed and I fished Rim Shoals, and Ed managed to take several on the Big Ugly, and I caught a half dozen or so on a bead head flash back pheasant tail. The water level at Rim Shoals was a bit high, and the wind was fearsome. All in all, it was a great day on the water, with lots of fish being caught.

Though we did not fish together, here are a couple of photos of fish Wayne caught today.

Thursday, February 2, 2006

DATE:  Thursday, February 2, 2006

TIME: 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 50s

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy

HATCH: Midges

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT Joan Wulff Favorite

FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork River scud, #20 olive cockleburr, #14 bead head flashback pheasant tail

OTHER: I fished alone, and managed to take several on #20 olive cockleburr, greased and fished as a dry fly. It was great catching them on top. No other fishers were seen on the river; met Wayne coming in as I was going out.