A Short Day

TIME: 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access
ROD USED:  2 wt Winston
FLIES USED:  #14 Black Cockleburr, #20 Dunn’s Dun
HATCHES:  Midges
OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  There was lot of fog on the river when we walked in, and though the river was still dropping, it was packed with people.  I found a slot across the island from Ol’ Charlie’s and managed a dozen fish over the course of an hour, all caught on the Dunn’s Dun being stripped.  A slot opened up at Ol’ Charlie’s and I moved over there and three guys immediately walked in on me from Ol’ Charlie’s.  I didn’t say anything to them about intruding on my space, but did let them know that they were renting the place illegally as the property was both zoned residential and no business license had been issued, and, in addition, it violated the subdivision covenants.  They responded that it appeared perfectly legal to them as they saw it on the internet!  Oh, well, another one for the courts to decide.  I decided to go home because of the “overcrowded” conditions, and wasn’t in the mood to fish anymore.

The Three Musketeers (aka The Three Stooges)

TIME: 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Otter Creek
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt Joan Wulff Favorite Winston
FLIES USED:  #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, Brown and Green Wayne’s Fly, #20 Tungsten BH Flashback Red Copper John, #14 Black Cockleburr
HATCHES:  None Midges
OTHER:  Fished with Wayne and Bill.  We fished upstream today, from Mill Dam Eddy to near Otter Creek at McClellan’s.  Catching fish was a little difficult today as the fish were generally on the move, upstream.  Finding pockets of fish proved to be somewhat elusive.  Fish were beneath the trees along the island, but the riffle above the island below McClellan’s didn’t product a single fish.  The river at the walnut tree produced several fish for Wayne, as did the pool upstream of Otter Creek.  He and Bill both caught several fish in the pool and it outlet.
Wayne caught several big fish, over 17 inches, and Bill caught a monster male rainbow just after we first began fishing this morning.  Note the size of the reel at the top of the photo.
I struggled to catch fish until finally tying on the black cockleburr and casting to fish rising to emerging insects.  One of the casts produced a pretty 17-18 inch brown, similar to one caught a few days ago in the same spot.
It’s always fun to fish with these two guys as they are very proficient at what they do.  Here’s a photo of Wayne with a fish on, something quite rare (just kidding as you all know he’s the master).

A Magical Day

TIME: 10:15 AM to 12:45 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Near Ol’ Charlie’s

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  #14 Black Cockleburr

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished solo; Wayne walked in a few minutes afterward, wading upstream.  Despite the late start, the river at the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access was free of any fishers, allowing me to choose among several different places.  I had not fished Ol’ Charlie’s in a few days, and saw several fish dimpling the surface.  Having had success with the black cockleburr on Wednesday, I tied on the same fly, made a cast, and was rewarded with a fish.  This happened on about a dozen successive casts before I lost the fly trying to remove it from a fish.  I tied on the last black cockleburr in my fly box and the action was unreal—a fish on practically every cast.  I fished this fly until all that was left was a bare hook with one single wrap of thread near the eye, still catching fish stripping it back.  Too embarrassed to continue with the bare hook, I tied on a peacock cockleburr with the same success, most fish being caught as the fly drifted dry on the surface.  Without exaggeration, I’m guessing I caught near 100 fish in the 2+ hours, as it took me less than a minute to cast, retrieve the fish, unhook it, and recast.  These types of days don’t come along very often and are paybacks for the really tough days—like those we’ve had the last four weeks.  There were no large fish, all were likely stockers dumped in last Friday, and about 80 percent were small.  While I was fishing downstream, Wayne was on the hunt for big browns and caught an 18-incher.

When I got ready to leave, I got the attention of a fisher across the way who had walked up earlier, and exchanged friendly greetings.  He was struggling, so I gave him a fly, demonstrated the different ways to fish it, and stood by while he caught half a dozen fish in a row.  His mouth was open in astonishment.  As we talked, he indicated he was from Memphis, was a member of the MSFF, was president of the Memphis Engineers Club, and we had mutual friends.  What a small world.

It was indeed a magical day—a great day to be on the water.

Hunt for Big Browns

TIME: 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER:  Cloudy, light rain, high 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Elisabeth Creek to Mill Dam Eddy
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:   #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, #14 Black Cockleburr, Yellow Wayne’s Fly
HATCHES:  Midges
OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  The Pool fished okay, but a bit slow at first with mostly small fish being caught.  We fished our way to Mill Dam Eddy, where I caught only a few fish.  Working back downstream, I wised up and put on a black cockleburr, began catching fish by casting the “dry” fly quartering downstream, pulling it under, and stripping it back, and the fish were a bit bigger.  I caught a really nice brown, which I mistakenly thought was a brookie, and asked Wayne to take a photo at which point he advised that it was a brown.  The 17-inch fish was one of the most colorful browns I ever caught, and was a very heavy fish.

Before I caught the nice fish, Wayne began to “smell” browns, and changed flies to one of his yellow designs.  He began catching browns immediately, then went on the hunt for a big fish.  He caught one brown after another finishing the day after a light rain began with almost 2 dozen fish, though the big browns, i.e. those over 20 inches eluded him on this rain shortened outing. 

Needed a Quickie

TIME: 8:300 AM to 9:30 AM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 70s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt Joan Wulff Favorite Winston

FLIES USED:   #20 Dunn’s Dun

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER:  Fished solo.  Daughter and husband were visiting, sleeping late, and I decided to get a quick fly fishing fix.  Walked in near the house, and found an area  with some space, and began fishing the Dunn’s Dun dry.  Caught a couple of small fish.  Saw a couple of neighbors on the river and visited briefly with them, and one said he had fished the area I was fishing earlier in the morning.  With the absence of rising fish, I moved across the island and saw several rising fish, but couldn’t get one to take the fly, either fished dry or stripped.  Finally cast to a rising fish which took the fly and ended up with a good 12-incher.  Tried several more casts but got no response, not even a refusal.  Left the river after only an hour, but it was good.  

Finding the Fish

TIME: 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Quarry Park to McClellan’sy

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:   Wayne’s Fly in Olive and Brown, #18 Red Copper John Midge

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  The Resort Hole was covered up with people; we floated down to the riffle at the top of the Long Hole where I caught two fish right off the bat, then they quit.  We fished the tail out of the riffle, which held lots of fish, but had no success.  Wayne did well in the Long Hole, after finding the fish.  I also managed to fool a few dumb ones, including a nice 15-16 inch brown.  Our final stop of the day was McClellan’s, and it fished really well despite a head wind and practically o drift.  We both caught several fish, but had to work for them.  Wayne finished the day a bit downstream and caught his two biggest fish of the day.  He is definitely the Master when it comes to catching browns, and proved it once again today.  We both enjoyed fishing away from the crowds and getting into bigger fish. 

A Repeat of Yesterday

TIME: 8:30 AM to 10:30 AM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

ROD USED:  8’ 9” 5 wt Joan Wulff Favorite Winston

FLIES USED:   #20 Dunn’s Dun

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished solo and close to home again, today.  This part of the river was already crowded when I walked in, so I just found an open slot and began casting the Dunn’s Dun to rising fish.  After several minutes, only one small fish took the fly, and the take was on the swing.  No one else appeared to be catching fish, either.  The riffle across from Old Charlie’s opened up and I waded downstream and fished there.  Yesterday at this location the fish were taking the fly as it was stripped; today, they seemed to prefer it dry or on the swing.  The morning’s effort produced only a half dozen fish, all small.

Catching fish on a slow day attracts attention.  A fisher from Shreveport (and a rod builder) from downstream waded up to visit and inquire about the fly, and I showed him the Dunn’s Dun.  Also, during the course of the morning, an older gentleman fished nearby both upstream and downstream, but was not catching fish.  I waited for him as he made his way downstream, giving him a fly and directions on where and how to fish it.  Hopefully, he was able to hook-up.