Thursday, July 25, 2012—Just Another Day

DATE:  Thursday, July 25, 2012
TIME:  9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER: High 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s to Mill Dam Eddy 
FLIES USED: Olive Norfork River Scud, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Cockleburr 
ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX
HATCHES: Midges, crane flies
OTHER: Fished solo, but met up with Donnie at the riffle above the island.  I caught a few fish before Donnie arrived in the tailout of the riffle, and then Donnie rowed down from upstream.  We tried to fish Cockleburrs, both dry and stripped in the film, but the fish were not cooperating.  Susie and Tony came through on their way downstream to fish the Pool, and Donnie and I worked our way downstream along the island.  Donnie hooked and/or caught about 8 fish in the skinny water; he’s an excellent fly fisher, but had not fished this particular water before.  After the skinny water, he rowed downstream to catch up with Susie and Tony, and I waded for home, disappointed that Donnie didn’t get to catch any fish on the Cockleburr, but glad he got to fish the reach along the island.

Monday, July 22, 2012—A Big Fish Day

DATE:  Monday, July 22, 2012
TIME:  6:15 AM to 1:00 PM
WEATHER: High 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Otter Creek
FLIES USED:  Olive Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #20 black/red zebra midge, #14 olive Norfork River scud, various other midges
ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX
HATCHES:  Midges, crane flies
OTHER:  Fished with Donnie, Susie, and Tony; used “loaner” frameless pontoon.  Today marked to earliest I have ever been on the river, not counting night fishing.  Mist hung in the air for almost 3 hours, but produced a beautiful sunrise.

The long riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole yielded 4 bites, but only one fish to hand.  I did not fish the Long Hole.  The riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole (above McClellan’s) did not produce any fish, though I fished it hard—it may have been too early in the day.  The Stairs at McClellan’s did not produce any fish.  Below McClellan’s, I hooked and caught 3 fish, and then fishing shut down for me for almost two hours.  I could not find a good drift, and with an upstream wind the fly would just suspend in the current.  Meanwhile, Donnie and Susie were catching fish fairly regularly.  When their action slowed, Donnie tied on two different midge patterns—one dropped below the other—and had consistent action.  I finally gave up fishing the pool below McClellan’s and fished along side the gravel in a leaf line where I found a decent drift.  With a #20 red/silver zebra midge dropped below an olive scud, I finally began scoring, and almost every fish was 16+ inches.  I caught a dozen fish within a short distance, including several 16-inchers, two 17-inchers, one 18-inch fish, and one shown below that measured 19+ inches (I couldn’t stretch it to 20, try as I might.)

Donnie and Susie had to leave at 12 noon, so we all began rowing downstream for the hour-long trip to the access.  I contacted Kay on the walkie talkie and she picked me up—what service!  The first 4+ hours were very tough for me, but the big fish the last 45 minutes made up for this long period of inactivity.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012—Retirement Cancelled

DATE: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
TIME: 7:45 AM to 10:45 AM
WEATHER: Low 80s to high 90s, mostly sunny, slight breeze
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Plunge Pool below McClellan's to just upstream of Mill Dam Eddy
FLIES USED: Green Wayne’s micro sculpin, #20 black/red Zebra Midge, #14 furnace cockleburr, #20 furnace cockleburr, #20 Kay's Gray, #20 Dunn's Dun, #14 soft hackle-gray with silver rib
ROD USED: Winston 8' 6" 5-weight WT JWF
HATCHES: Midges, Crane flies
OTHER: Fished solo. Wrote prematurely yesterday that I had retired the old Orvis wading boots. Before throwing them into the trash, I took the inner sole out and discovered quite a bit of gravel. I removed the gravel, and repaired the insole with Goop. The boots are now as good as new, except for new laces--no retirement for these boots!

I walked in that Mill Dam Eddy, walked up the Island and noticed this spider web highlighted against the sun.


I crossed the right-hand chute, and continued walking upstream to the Plunge Pool. I cast a number of flies at rising fish, but only caught a couple. I tied on a # 14 soft hackle, gray with silver ribbing, and the fish would take the fly on the surface. I caught a total of seven fish in the Plunge Pool. I began wading upstream and noted fishers across from Ottercreek, so turned around and waded back downstream to the riffle above the island. The soft tackle did not work there, so Wayne's fly, "Lucky", was tied on, and a black/red zebra manage dropped below. I caught 6 fish in the tail out below the riffle, fishing from the left descending bank. At the top of the island, I crossed to the right side, and fished "Lucky" in combination with the zebra midge along the island, taking another 4 fish before the water began rising.

Wading out I noticed this pretty bloom floating in the rising water.

Monday, July 16, 2012—Lucky is Back

DATE:  Monday, July 16, 2012

TIME: 10:00 AM to 12:15 PM

WEATHER:  Low to mid-80s, partly cloudy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:  #20 furnace cockleburr, Olive Wayne’s Fly (aka Lucky), #20 black/red zebra midge

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight Winston WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies, a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished solo.  I walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, waded across the river, walked upstream to the top of the island, waded further across to left descending bank. It felt like some gravel has gotten into my left boot/neoprene sock, so off they came, but nothing fell out.  I checked the boots and the lugs had worn through the insole.  These Orvis boots are over 10 years old, and were only being used for wet wading and boat fishing when waders were required.  They were good boots and are being officially retired today!

After putting the neoprene sock and boot back on, I continued upstream, fishing Wayne’s “Lucky” fly with a black/red zebra midge dropper.  (In talking to Wayne about this absolutely wonderful fly pattern, I told him I often referred to it as a micro sculpin; he laughingly said he just called it Lucky!  Having watched him catch thousands of fish with it, I can see why.)  I caught 3 fishing in this area at the top of the island, but wanted to try the cockleburr.  Wading in between the left and right riffles, I cast a bunch of times, but didn’t get so much as a look.  I waded across to the right descending bank, tied on Lucky with a red/zebra midge dropper and managed a couple more fish, both on Lucky.  Here are a couple of photos, upstream and downstream.  Notice that there are no other fishers.  It’s awesome to have a world-class river all to one’s self!

Wading back across to the island, Lucky was in a zone, and I caught 8 more fish between the top of the island and Mill Dam Eddy. all on Lucky.  A couple of casts at Mill Dam Eddy didn’t produce anything, and the old boots were getting pretty uncomfortable, so the boots and I called it a day.

Sunday, July 15, 2012—Swimming Armadillo

DATE:  Sunday, July 15, 2012

TIME:  1:30 PM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER:  High 80s to low 90s, mostly sunny, breezy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:  #14 furnace cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #20 furnace cockleburr,

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight Winston WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies, a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Kay.  We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, waded across the river, walked upstream to the top of the island, waded back across, and walked upstream to the riffle.  We both began with a #14 furnace cockleburr.  I managed a fish or two in the riffle on the left descending bank, switched to a #20 Kay’s Gray and caught a couple more, then switched to a #20 furnace cockleburr, and caught several more fish.

  Kay missed a few fish, but hooked up with fish in the right descending bank riffle.  Kay fished the tail out, but it produced nothing.  As Kay reeled in, we noticed an armadillo on the right descending bank upstream at the riffle.  It came towards us, then turned towards the water.  We both commented that it definitely would not go into the water—it did.  We then commented that it wouldn’t swim—it did, quite efficiently.  It played, dove, and played some more, very similar to an otter, then swam back to shore an waddled off.  We wouldn’t have believed it had we not seen it for ourselves!

Shaking our heads, we waded back to the island, and Kay hooked up with a fish just upstream of the leaning trees.

We continued walking/wading downstream to Mill Dam Eddy, and I managed to fool a couple on the small cockleburr, including one at the drop off at the end of the island, just like the old days.  I didn’t notice that the fish had a zebra midge fly in the center of it’s left gill plate until I saw this photo—the zebra midge is almost centered between the eye and the edge of the gill plate.The whole afternoon proved to be difficult fishing, but I ended the day with 10 fish, though no big ones.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

DATE:  Wednesday, July 11, 2012

TIME:  8:15 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER:  Low 70s to high 80s, mostly sunny, breezy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream

FLIES USED:  #14 olive Norfork River scud, #18 clay zebra midge, Wayne’s olive micro sculpin,#14 furnace cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight Boron IIX

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies

OTHER:  Fished with John.  John is one of the best nymph fishers around, and it’s always fun to watch him fish.  We fished the tail out from the right descending bank, and it was pretty tough fishing.  I waded across to the left descending bank, and fished the tail out across from John.  It seemed that we would alternately catch fish.  Here’s John with a “fish on” in the riffle.

 

I succumbed to the furnace cockleburr and took a few more in the film and on the surface.  We moved upstream to the plunge pool, where fish were occasionally midging, but were not successful in taking any fish, despite changing flies (John is shown here tying on a new pattern).

As we began wading downstream, I finally talked John into fishing a cockleburr, and he took 4 fish, mostly on top and fished dry.  We both ended with a dozen or more fish, and several were beautifully colored.  It was a fun day, and John is one of my favorite fishing partners.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012—Camera, Action, Roll

DATE:  Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TIME:  11:00 AM to 12:15 PM

WEATHER:  Low 80, mostly cloudy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

FLIES USED:  #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, Craneflies

OTHER:  Fished solo.  I only wanted to fish a short while, so walked in close to home, and it was crowded, with fishers scattered everywhere.  There was an open spot in the pool below the tail out of the riffle at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access far enough away from the other fishers so as not to bother them; still, I asked permission from them to fish the area.  The downstream fisher was a well known local guide making a DVD on midge fishing (he is an excellent fisher, a good guide whom I would recommend, and a world class fly tier—in other words, he’s a good guy), but he had a poor spot in which to fish, as did I.  I lucked out and caught a small fish, then two fishers at the riffle left, and I waded upstream to fish there.  Fish were taking midges on top and in the film, and I was able to take 5 in pretty short order on the furnace cockleburr.  I felt bad because the camera man kept turning the camera my direction, and it was a bit embarrassing.  I finally waded out, spoke to the guide and offered some insight into the fishing, and left.  It was difficult fishing, and none of the other fishers caught anything, but they were fishing nymphs, midges, and other flies that just wouldn’t work given the time and place they were fishing.