klingy
Active member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 591
So I had a few hours this morning to fish, and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to do some hopper fishing. I headed out to the Letort. I noticed a breeze as I was setting up, and hoped that might help keep my flailing hidden and maybe blow some bugs on the water.
I quickly picked up two small fish, and thought that this might be one of those days when it all comes together. I made my way upstream and paused at a nice section of stream. I positioned myself at the bottom of a sweeping bend that had undercut banks on one side. I just watched for a couple minutes. Nothin. As I started to unhook my fly from the keeper, I caught a slight swirl out of the corner of my eye. It was at the top of the run, tucked way back under a cut with grass hanging all the way into the water. How the heck was I going to get a fly back there?
I made a few false casts and popped one toward the location of the fish. Too short. I let it drift, then tried again. Short again. The angle to get the fly where it needed to be was just about impossible (for me anyway). I figured I'd give it a shot, and hope it somehow snuck in the perfect spot. Three false casts and I let it go. I watched the fly slowly fall into the bullseye. It was going to land on target! But the Letort had a different idea.
At the last second, the fly landed (very delicately I do have to say!) on a blade of grass. Of course. This is nothing new for me on this stream. Many "perfect" casts are doomed before the fly ever hits the water. The flow carried my line downstream until the fly had some tension on it, and my leader was suspended out of the water. What are the chances that a little tug would drop this fly? This was going to be one of those days when the fishing gods were smiling.
I gave a slight pull to the line and the fly slipped off the grass and hit the water. Almost immediately, I saw a triangular head appear, and the fly disappeared down the toilet bowl. It was on. The brown sank to the bottom, and bulldoggged upstream. I followed. It cut under some grass as I kept tension on it. When it realized I was still there, it bolted upstream, shaking its head. It went on for a few minutes until it was tuckered out and came to the net. What a beautiful fish. I admired it for a minutes while it rested in the water before gently swimming away.
After that, everything else was gravy. It was a perfect day for hoppers, and I ended up with somewhere between 12-15 fish, and another few on nymphs. I hooked another nice one just a few inches shorter than the big one and it leaped out of the water as soon as it was hooked, and landed with a thud on the bank right beside me. It then flopped back in as my hook got stuck in the weeds. Days like today make me love summer on a spring creek!
I quickly picked up two small fish, and thought that this might be one of those days when it all comes together. I made my way upstream and paused at a nice section of stream. I positioned myself at the bottom of a sweeping bend that had undercut banks on one side. I just watched for a couple minutes. Nothin. As I started to unhook my fly from the keeper, I caught a slight swirl out of the corner of my eye. It was at the top of the run, tucked way back under a cut with grass hanging all the way into the water. How the heck was I going to get a fly back there?
I made a few false casts and popped one toward the location of the fish. Too short. I let it drift, then tried again. Short again. The angle to get the fly where it needed to be was just about impossible (for me anyway). I figured I'd give it a shot, and hope it somehow snuck in the perfect spot. Three false casts and I let it go. I watched the fly slowly fall into the bullseye. It was going to land on target! But the Letort had a different idea.
At the last second, the fly landed (very delicately I do have to say!) on a blade of grass. Of course. This is nothing new for me on this stream. Many "perfect" casts are doomed before the fly ever hits the water. The flow carried my line downstream until the fly had some tension on it, and my leader was suspended out of the water. What are the chances that a little tug would drop this fly? This was going to be one of those days when the fishing gods were smiling.
I gave a slight pull to the line and the fly slipped off the grass and hit the water. Almost immediately, I saw a triangular head appear, and the fly disappeared down the toilet bowl. It was on. The brown sank to the bottom, and bulldoggged upstream. I followed. It cut under some grass as I kept tension on it. When it realized I was still there, it bolted upstream, shaking its head. It went on for a few minutes until it was tuckered out and came to the net. What a beautiful fish. I admired it for a minutes while it rested in the water before gently swimming away.
After that, everything else was gravy. It was a perfect day for hoppers, and I ended up with somewhere between 12-15 fish, and another few on nymphs. I hooked another nice one just a few inches shorter than the big one and it leaped out of the water as soon as it was hooked, and landed with a thud on the bank right beside me. It then flopped back in as my hook got stuck in the weeds. Days like today make me love summer on a spring creek!
