Sunday, June 5, 2011

Playdate

Late yesterday afternoon I learned that my daughter will have a Sunday morning playdate with her best friend who will be heading to her grandparents for the month of June. This meant that I could go fishing for a few hours this morning, checking out things on Bear Creek.

Today was one of the hotter days this year; it was already 62F at 8.15am on the river and it was 86F by the time I left around 11.45am. The sky was blue, a bit hazy, but no clouds and wind (yes, NO wind!!!). I rigged the 12ft Iwana with a furled line I haven't fished much with, but after half an hour I switched back to the hand-tied fluorcarbon line of Tenkarabum, the furled line just felt a bit too heavy and I could not keep it off the water as easily as the hand-tied. I have to say, the hand-tied line is now definitively my favorite go-to line. 

Anyway, I had originally a Killer Kebari and a Partridge & Olive as a dropper, and all trout were hitting the soft hackle. So I added another one, the Partridge & Orange instead of Killer Kebari. Trout were taking both flies on the swing only, the best action was in riffles and softer water adjacent to currents. Twitching or stripping did not entice any takes. Then caddis began to come off the surface, small little caddis size 16 and 18. The soft hackle on the swing imitated the emerging caddis pupa. 

The Partridge & Olive and Partridge and Orange before fishing today:

The same flies after fishing today - the fish didn't seem to care, the were still hitting them when I had to head home:

Today I spent some very enjoyable time on the water; just a few hours but fishing was hot. I landed close to 20 trout with many more risers and close hook-ups.





And finally the surroundings started to green and bloom as well. 






River Notes:
8.15am (62F) to 11.45am (86F)
Flow: around 40cfs, clear
Weather: blue sky, hazy, no wind!