Rednecks On The River

TIME: 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM
WEATHER: Partly cloudy, low 40s,
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Top of Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access
ROD USED: 9’ 6 wt Winston
FLIES USED: #14 gray Norfork Scud, #20 Black Zebra Midge, Brown Wayne’s Fly
HATCHES: Midges
OTHER: Fished with Wayne. Generation stopped at 11 AM today, and we decided to fish downstream of our usual fishing locations. I fished at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access and Wayne fished at the bottom; he caught lots of fish. I managed a half dozen, and worked hard for each one, catching one or two on a fly, then having to change flies. The river was crowded downstream and upstream, with a couple boatloads of fishers working their way downstream. The first boat, filled with rednecks, fished all of our usual holes. It was pretty comical watching them come downstream; all had on brown neoprene waders, the motor operator had a beer in one hand and the throttle handle in the other, and the fisher in front stood trying to direct their path, but would fall every time they hit a rock, then giggle with an incestuous laugh, like in the movie Deliverance. They banged their way down the entire river, sending fly fishers to the bank the entire stretch. On a more serious note, this may be a sign of things to come with minimum flow; there will be many more boats, and wading will be more difficult because of the boats and the higher flows. We've observed more and more boats maneuvering through the "catch and release" area since the beginning of the year when regulations changed and treble hooks became legal. Be careful what you ask for.