It’s Time For A New Leader

TIME: 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to Otter Creek (McClellan’s)

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, #20 Tungsten BH Flashback Red Copper John

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne and Bill.  Prior to today’s fishing, Wayne and I visited our friendly discount box store where I purchased several 7 1/2 ft, 4X leaders, and promptly “tied one on”.  Equipped with new leader, tippet, and flies, we started out fishing the lower portion of our usual “beat” where I managed to fool over a half dozen nice fish—without a single snarl in the leader.  Bill also caught several nice fish, while Wayne fished further downstream and, as usual, caught fish at will.  We all moved to the pool.  After a short time there I waded upstream to the island, didn’t have a lot of success, and walked up to the riffle above the island.  It was awesome.  While most of the fish I caught downstream were on the gray scud, most of the ones upstream were caught on the red Copper John.  Both sides of the riffle fished good all the way from the island to the shoal, and back down.  Maybe the MOJO is coming back!

Tough Day

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to near Otter Creek (at McClellan’s)

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, #20 Tungsten BH Flashback Red Copper John

HATCHES:  Midges

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  It was tough fishing, today, at least for me.  I missed fish, the leader, strike indicator, tippet, and fly shared entirely too much togetherness, and a good dose of OCD wasted countless minutes trying to unravel things.  I ended up with 9 fish, maybe.  Wayne, on the other hand, caught fish one after another.  It’s time to do something about the long leader.   

Out Of Sorts

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to near Otter Creek (at McClellan’s)

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  Wayne’s Brown Fly, #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, #14 Special K

HATCHES:  Midges, Occasional Sulphur

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  Today’s fishing was one of those “out of sorts” type of day, when nothing goes quite right, but does not go terribly wrong either.  For example, several fish hooked up, but did not stay on.  Several wind knots mysteriously appeared in the tippet and leader, a few fish broke off, taking the fly with them, etc.  Then, I would look at Wayne fishing, and he always seemed to have a fish on, particularly above Otter Creek.  Part of this stemmed from a lack of sleep, and it was a weird feeling.  After an hour or so, things started getting better, with more fish being caught, including an 18-inch cutthroat just above the island below McClellan’s.  This fish was caught near a rock that has consistently produced large fish this summer.  A couple of spots upstream produced several fish, mostly cutthroats.  We fished our way back downstream, catching a few fish along the way, anticipating generation and a corresponding rise in water levels. 

One of those Special Days

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, low 90s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units, moderate turbidity, heavy fog

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to Island below Otter Creek

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  #14 Frank’s T-Worm, Wayne’s Fly in Olive, #14 Special K

HATCHES:  Midges, Sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Wayne.  We started at the riffle at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access, and had some success on Frank’s T-Worm.  Wayne said he had a feeling about the pool, and we should fish it.  He started at the bottom end, catching one fish after another on his brown fly.  I began fishing upstream of him and missed more than I caught, though Frank’s T-Worm was working well with lots of hook-ups.  Switching to Wayne’s brown fly, I continued breaking off fish, while Wayne continued catching them.  Finally, after putting on a new leader and tippet, I began catching fish more consistently.  We worked the pool for a couple of hours, and I moved downstream to where we began, fishing a #14 Special K to some emerging fish, catching 5, including a 16+ inch brown.  Wayne caught well over 5 dozen fish, while I managed to catch a few more than 3 dozen.  It was one of those days when fishing is so good, you can’t help but feel giddy. 

Still Good, but Slowing Down

TIME: 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

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

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  #14 Special K

HATCHES:  Midges, Sulphurs

OTHER:  Getting a late start after church and Sunday school, I fished the riffle at the upper end of the island, meeting up with Bill, but neither of us managed to catch many fish.  The pressure over the weekend had really taken its toll.  Wayne came upstream, I moved downstream, and tried the Special K in the riffle on the left descending bank near the bottom of the island, and had good success, but no large fish.

Great Fishin’ on a Pink Fly, Again

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to Island below Otter Creek

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  #14 Special K

HATCHES:  Midges, Sulphurs

OTHER:  I replicated yesterday’s fishing, with similar success; that pink fly is really working!  After catching a dozen and a half emerging fish at the bottom of the island below Otter Creek, I moved downstream to the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access, meeting up with Wayne who had successfully fished downstream.  As Wayne hooked several fish, including a 17-incher, ,a rainbow, cutthroat, and brown, all 16+ inches, fell prey to the Special K in succession.  We each caught several other fish in this confined area, and called it a great day.   

The Pink Lady, aka Special K

TIME: 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 80s,

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Island above Ackerman/Handicap Access to Island below Otter Creek

ROD USED:  10’ 4 wt Winston

FLIES USED:  #14 Special K

HATCHES:  Midges, Sulphurs

OTHER:  I finally got back on the water after traveling for a few weeks, waiting for the holiday river traffic to subside, and was surprised to find the sulphurs still hatching.  Fishing solo, I tried a #14 gray Norfork River scud in the pool but had limited success.  At the bottom of the island below Otter Creek, fish were emerging like crazy, and because a few sulphurs were hatching, I tied on a pink cockleburr, aka the Special K.  This fly only works a couple times a year—during the sulphur hatch and early fall.  Anyway, the fish began slamming the fly as soon as it hit the water,  I caught at least a couple of dozen fish in that area, with over half of them 15+ inches.  Maybe more of the same tomorrow…