Anyone Want a Brittany?

DATE: Saturday, 3/12/2005

TIME: 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM

WEATHER: Mid-70s to low 80s, heavy winds

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, McClellan’s at or near the dock

HATCH: Moderate midge hatch, fish rising to hatch

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

FLIES USED: #14 furnace cockleburr, #14 olive gray Norfork River scud, #24 pear glass bead head zebra midge, #24 pearl glass bead head green caddis pupa, #14 bead head mini woolly bugger

OTHER: Wayne picked me up at 8:20 AM, and we were in the water by 8:45 AM. We fished right at the dock at McClellan's. Fishing was slow to begin, and it took me about an hour to break the code. Fish were taking a #24 pearl glass bead head zebra midge dropped below a #24 olive grad scud. I used 8X tippet to drop the midge. There were no hits whatsoever on the scud. The scud/midge combination netted about a dozen fish. I tried a similar combination with a small caddis pupa fly and fish were sporadic in taking it. With the wind (it was white capping as the winds were blowing upstream), I kept getting tangled, so I tried fishing with just the pupa, but no luck. I finally tied on a #14 bead head mini wooly bugger, casting perpendicular to the flow as far as I could heave the 5-weight, then stripping back immediately. WOW! For the first time today, I was getting a hit, or multiple hits, on every cast. I didn't count the fish but it was awesome, and probably, the best fishing (make that catching) time I've ever experienced. I had hookup after hookup, and Wayne was using something similar and was catching twice as many fish as I; go figure! That man is a fish catching machine. I broke off more times than I care to remember, and used half dozen flies completely up, so it’s back to the tying bench. What a day--ANOTHER GREAT DAY IN PARADISE. Retirement is all that it was cracked up to be!

P.S. My dog almost died tonight; she got the partridge skin off my fly tying desk and totally destroyed it. Had it been a neck, she would be gone! Is anyone looking to acquire a 12-year old, sweet Brittany? Otherwise, I'm in the market for a top notch partridge skin.