Windy, But Productive

TIME:  1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
WEATHER:  Partly cloudy, mid 70s, windy with gusts to 25 mph 
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Mill Dam Eddy to Riffle above Island below McClellan’s
ROD USED:  8’9” 5 wt JWF Winston
FLIES USED:  Yellow Wayne’s Fly, #14 Norfork River ICE Gray Scud, #14 Norfork River Gray Scud, #20 Zebra Midge (Black with Holographic Tinsel)
HATCHES:  Midges, Caddis
OTHER:  Fished solo.  Water was still dropping, but Mill Dam Eddy already had a boat with 3 fishers, so I opted to fish the skinny water along the island with Wayne’s fly tied a few inches below a hard egg bead pegged on the tippet.  I began to catch fish immediately, though not as many as my good friend Wayne would have caught.  I worked my way up along the island, and while I was wading up, a local husband/wife guide team was kayaking down to fish the area I had just fished.  Fighting the wind with every cast, at the top of the island I ended up with a tangle the size of a small bird’s nest.  I removed the egg bead, tied on the gray ice dub Norfork River scud, and dropped a zebra midge about 9 inches below.  Wading toward the riffle above the island, I caught a few fish on the zebra midge, but caught nothing in the riffle itself fishing from the right descending bank.  Wading across the primary riffle, I fished the secondary riffle and caught 3 fish, all on the zebra midge.  I waded downstream on the left descending bank, fishing the bubble line, and managed to fool another 3 or 4 fish, all taken on the zebra midge.  At the top of the island, I fished the tailout of the pool just before the water began spilling down the right chute, and was surprised catching several fish on the zebra midge.  This is the first time I had ever fished this small pool.  Wading downstream, the right chute produced another 3 or 4 fish.  At the bottom of the island, all the fishers had left Mill Dam Eddy, the wind had abated, and I was the only one within sight.  Here, I caught another half 3 or 4 fish before a boat with two fishers "floated" downstream through the very run I was fishing, bumping bottom the entire way.  They apologized, and I advised where to find deep water to motor downstream.  After they moved through, I managed to catch another couple of fish before calling it a day.
Though one brown was caught, no large fish were taken today.