Sunday, April 29—Broken Rod

DATE: Sunday, April 30, 2012

TIME: 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER: Mid-70s, mostly sunny, slight wind

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Brown Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge

ROD USED: Winston 10’ 4-weight WT

HATCHES: Midges, Caddis

OTHER: Fished with Wayne. The river was crowded downstream

our Mill Dam Eddy, and we both walked along the island to fish upstream, and it was crowded as well.  As I was crossing, a fisher was crossing in the opposite direction, and fell as he was answering the phone.  I politely asked if he was okay, and after a positive response, continued wading upstream.  Wayne followed soon after, and said the guy had 8 fish on a stringer—the area is right smack dab in the middle of a catch-and-release area, and even if catch and kill were allowed, the limit is only 5.  What a rube.  Wayne very nicely told him it was catch-and-release, and with that many fish jail was entirely possible.  I fished the tail-out of the riffle and sporadically caught fish, though it certainly wasn’t a fish every cast, or even every other cast.  One of the rainbows, shown here, was a nice fish and about 16-inches.  After 3/4 dozen fish, I waded upstream and talked to a fisher in the riffle who said he owned the land below McClellan’s, and that his fishing partner owned the 50 acres below him—interesting! I fished the left most riffle in the plunge pool and missed a 20+ inch fish.  Shortly thereafter, I noticed the reel as being loose, and when I tried to tighten it, it fell off; the reel seat had broken.  I continued to fish, with a bunch of line out and the reel stuck in my waders.  The balance sure felt odd.
As usual, Wayne caught quite a few fish, and still has the touch.