Early (to me) Morning Fishing

TIME:  8:30 AM to 11:15 AM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to the Plunge Pool below Otter Creek
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #20 Black/Silver Zebra Midge, #16 green body, tan winged caddis, #20 Kay’s Grey
HATCHES:  Midges, Occasional Caddis, Occasional Crane Flies
OTHER:  I fished with Ethan. We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy and noted a significant midge hatch.  Fishing downstream, I tried Wayne's fly with the zebra Midge dropped about a foot below with no luck at all. Meanwhile Ethan was fishing near the toe of the island and seem to be catching fish at will. I thought he was using a soft tackle or midge emerger, so switched to the #20 Kay’s Gray's, casting quartering downstream and stripping back.  I immediately got a hit, catching the fish. Continuing to fish this way produced a total of five or six fish. However at least a dozen fish struck but did not get hooked up.  Ethan continued to “rip lips” above me.  As I waded beside him, he indicated that he was fishing a midge pupa and was he having success. Continuing with the Kay's Grey, I fished the riffle at the toe of the island and caught a couple fish. We both waded upstream and Ethan caught a few fish along the right descending bank. I had no success at the top of the island, while Ethan caught a half dozen or so in the left riffle above the island. The left riffle in the plunge pool produced three fish, including a nice 17 inch cutthroat on Wayne’s fly. I waded across the river and fished the right side of the plunge pool using the Kay's Grey and caught a couple of small brown's. I ended the day with perhaps a dozen fish, and had a great time fishing with Ethan.

A Great Sunday Afternoon, And No One In Sight

TIME:  4:40 PM to 6:40 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access
ROD USED:  8’6” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  #16 green body, tan winged caddis
HATCHES:  Midges, Caddis, Crane Flies
OTHER:  Fished solo.  After a couple of busy weeks, including a short Sunday afternoon, I made myself go fishing. I walked in at a neighbors, crossed the upper island, and began fishing one of my favorite riffles. I was rewarded with a half-dozen fish, all rising to caddis. I crossed back across the island and began fishing downstream against the right descending bank. After only a short distance, a fish rose to the caddis at the end of the tippet, one of more than a half-dozen to hand fishing downstream. Moving across the island near Ol’ Charlie's, switching sides of the river, I fished the riffle on the left descending bank and caught just shy of a dozen fish. Completing the loop I waded back upstream to the first riffle I had fished and caught three more fish, ending the day with about two dozen fish, all on the #16 caddis.

Notable was the size of caddis coming off. The caddis appeared to have a dark mottled wing, and about a size 12. I tried a size 14 tan caddis with a relatively light colored wing and only got refusals.

Not As Good As Yesterday, But…

TIME:  9:00 AM to 12:00 AM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to the Plunge Pool below Otter Creek
ROD USED:  8’ 6” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #20 Black/Silver Zebra Midge, #16 green body, tan winged caddis, #20 Kay’s Grey
HATCHES:  Midges, Crane Flies
OTHER:  I fished with Bill. We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy and made the requisite casts. However, catching was not up to par with yesterday.  I managed to catch a few fish on the zebra midge, but the “catching” was far and few between. We fished our way upstream, again with an absence of success. At the top of the island, we fished the left descending bank, with only moderate success. I moved upstream and fished the left riffle in the plunge pool and caught two or three fish. I switched to a Kay’s Grey, moved across the river, and fished the right side of the plunge pool where a couple of small fish took the midge, then hooked a large brown. While heavy, it was not the fighter characteristic of most brown's, and after a couple of runs I was able to get it into shallow water for measuring and releasing. It was a long male, with a good kipe, but did not have the broad shoulders one would expect. Measuring against the rod, I estimated the fish at 23 inches-- a good way to end the day.  All totaled, I ended up catching 10 fish. At home the segment of rod matching the fish measured 22 inches. This is the second largest brown I have ever caught.

A Good Time Was Had By All

TIME:  2:00 PM to 4:45 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, mid 70s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy

ROD USED:  8’ 9” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  #16 green body, tan winged caddis, Brown Wayne’s Fly
HATCHES:  Caddis, Crane Fly
OTHER:  Bill and I fished today; Wayne had other commitments. We waded in at Mill Dam Eddy only to find the water to be quite turbid, exactly as Wayne had predicted. Also, it appeared that the water level was an inch or two higher than normal due to the morning rainfall. Nevertheless, we waded in and I began casting a caddis fly at the end of the island with no success. Bill was fishing just downstream and seem to be catching fish at will. I switched flies tying on Wayne’s brown fly, casting quartering downstream and stripping back; I was rewarded with immediate taps on the fly and finally hooked up with a fish. This worked on two other fish, but then I missed the same fish three times. After that there was no action for a time. I leapfrogged Bill, and began fishing the water downstream; he had given me the best water. Stripping the fly proved unsuccessful and the wind was howling, so I switched to dead drifting with an indicator about 2 1/2 feet above the fly. Immediately I hooked up with a fish. I continued to fish this way the rest of the afternoon, ending the day with 30 fish. I very briefly hooked a very nice fish but it threw the hook after only a couple seconds. Meanwhile, Bill caught probably twice as many. It was one of the best days at that location I have had in the last several years. I can't wait until tomorrow.

P. S. During the course of the afternoon, I saw one caddis hatch and one Crane fly hatch.

Too Many People

TIME:  1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, windy, high 70s

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

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

ROD USED:  8’9” 5 wt JWF Winston

FLIES USED:  #16 green body, tan winged caddis

HATCHES:  Midges, Caddis

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  We hadn’t fished near our houses, and we thought because it was a Monday afternoon the river would be less crowded in the middle of the catch and release section. We were quite surprised when we walked in and saw fishers everywhere. Nonetheless, we began fishing, Wayne at the riffle near his house, while I fished my way downstream along the right descending bank. The fast water in the riffle across from Ol’ Charlie's was open and I began fishing there with a #16 caddis. Though fish were not rising, I was able to take an occasional fish on the caddis. I began casting across the riffle to the seam on the left side and hooked up with a nice fish.  The fisher downstream apparently liked what he saw, crossed the river, walked upstream, and stood exactly in the place where I had just caught the fish--less than 20 feet from me. I began wading downstream, but he continued drifting flies in the water I was fishing. Rather than get involved in a confrontation, I walked across, made a few casts at old Charlie's, catching a couple of small fish, and decided that I had had enough for the day. Coincidentally, Wayne was having the same kind of day and after a short one hour session on the water, we opted to call it quits. I ended up with maybe a half-dozen fish though no large fish were caught.

A Crane Fly Hatch, and a Tough Day

TIME:  1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, breezy, low 60s
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to the Plunge Pool below Otter Creek
ROD USED:  8’ 9” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  #16 green body, tan winged caddis, #20 Kay’s Grey, #20 Furnace Cockleburr

HATCHES:  Midges, Crane Flies
OTHER:  I fished with Wayne and Bill. We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy; Bill remained downstream to fish the riffle below the island, while Wayne and I walked upstream. Wayne stopped to fish the run beside the island and I walked upstream to fish the left hand side of the shoal above the island. There was a tremendous crane fly hatch and the fish were definitely keying on them. I threw everything in my fly boxes that looked like a crane fly and the only thing that remotely worked was a #20 furnace cockleburr. Wayne fished the pool below the riffle and worked his way downstream to the pool below the island, catching several fish on his fly. Bill caught several fish along the island rising to caddis and caught fish in the pool above the island. I also fished the left hand riffle in the plunge pool but only caught one fish. With sporadic sunshine, a stiff breeze, mostly overcast skies, and finicky fish, fishing proved very difficult. I ended the day with 8 to 10 fish, and no big fish.