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.