Just got off the water, showered, ate. It is Saturday, January 15th. I worked quite a lot this week and came up to the Teton Valley on a Wednesday, had busy work days Thursday and Friday. Headed out when the temperature was 12 in Victor. Made it to the Henry’s Fork around noon. Decided to rig my Scott G2 905/4 5wt today as I planned to swing streamers. It is also universal for nymphing and dry fly fishing too. Although, not my favorite for throwing dry flies. It lacks touch and accuracy too. For dries, I will take my 3wt any day! There is a long flat with consistent current all the way across that is just perfect for swinging streamers. The flows are down, but that makes this flat better. Easier/safer wading and a perfect depth for a bead head streamer or leech. After walking down via a path in the snow, taking a bio break along the way, I saw another dude fishing the ramp area. It was the popular spot here for nymphing. There is a riffle above flowing into a nice long run. Those of you who know me know that nymphing is my fourth favorite approach to fly fishing for trout. I prefer dry fly fishing, followed by swinging soft hackles, and streamer fishing. Therefore, I’m always inclined to choose something other than nymphing as a starting point.
Heading downstream along the bank in order to give the other dude some space, I made my way to the flat. I started off the wade with a streamer I tied on my last trip up called the Scotty’s McFly. It is basically White and Orange marabou with lots of pearl flash. It’s a conehead and weight-wise it is at the upper end of streamers that I will throw on my 5wt. I did tie on a 3x tippet so I wasn’t expecting to “throw it off”. Bigger, or doubles and I go with the 6wt, which also has a sinking head. Anyway, I waded the flat, directly downstream almost halfway from the bank. The bulk of the current was still in front of me so I primarily cast right and got a really good swing. After 30 casts and wading 50 feet downstream I decided that the Scotty wasn’t getting it done. Going smaller, choosing a midnight fire leech with a tungsten bead. I tied it on a size six Fulling Mill jig hook. I really like this hook for all my leech patterns, which are tied balanced using a pin lashed to the hook shank. Anyway, it was about the tenth cast, the line was through the swing and directly below me. I had paused, thinking of something else, when I got a nice bump. Stripped first and then raised the rod tip and it was fish on. Right away I knew it was a brown. They fight differently. If you get this tug, tug, tug, right away you know it is a brown. Unless the tugs are fast and real staccato, then you know it is a whitefish. Anyway, this was clearly a brown and 40′ directly downstream from me. I say he was a good fighter, but the fight included pulling him 40′ upstream against the current. This fish to hand was about 15″ and nothing outstanding appearance wise, classic brown trout spots and coloring. Now I at least have some confidence in my leech pattern. But I also am very clear of the circumstances by which I got that eat. The fly was stationary at the end of a swing, and because I was distracted, it remained there for maybe 15 seconds, prior to the tug. Anyway, another 50′ down and 40 more casts and no more eats.
So, I needed to change it up and decided to walk upstream beyond my starting spot and closer to dude. He had stayed upstream rather than working his way down, which gave me an indication that I could tuck in a little closer without bothering him. However, just as I was arriving at my original put-in spot, I clearly saw a fish rise and as I stopped, two more rose. OK, now I’m getting excited as I noticed that one of the fish heads rising was pretty large. But now I have that dilemma, do I put smaller tippet on the 5wt or head back up tot he car for the 3wt. I was a hike to the car and I knew it would take time to rig the 3wt, check the tippet, etc. So I decided to re-rig the 5wt. The termination weight was 3X that I put on earlier for the streamers. Now I needed to go down to 6x. Fist, I tied on a section of 4.5X with a blood knot, yeah I still tie blood knots! I like the profile, love tying them and I get decent breaking strength. Next in line was 2′ of 5.5X. OK, it is not 6X, but I felt that I could thread my size 24 Adams with it and that the extra strength was needed for a couple of reasons. First, my reel was locking up with the ice. I was concerned about a lock-up with a fish on. Second, I was fishing my 5wt!!! I could easily break-off on hook-set.
Ten minutes of rigging later and I was ready to engage the fish. First off, I was really happy that they were above me, directly above and that there was zero wind. Even after the warm-up it was only 18 degrees causing that nasty ice build up in the guides. Every third cast minimum, you had to stop and pick the ice out of each guide.
Back to the trout! My ideal, most accurate dry fly cast is about 20′ of line, so closer to 35′ or so with leader and rod. So being directly below them, it was easy to put myself 25′ below them, far enough away to remain stealth. There were three fish rising, one to my left and closer. The other two were directly upstream about 4′ apart. Adding a touch of Lonn Aquel the Adams was now ready the hit the water. This fly was an adult as this hatch consisted of small swarms of adults both on and hovering slightly above the water. The rises came on when the bugs were near. My fly was going to ride high and that was a good thing today. The closest trout was rising very infrequently. However, I gave it a good 5 or 6 casts and then realized, my odds were slim. Kinda like that slot machine that just won’t hit. It is better to find the one that does. So I began casting at the two fish 25′ above. My casts were fairly accurate, but I also knew these fish were not going to move much for a midge. They needed to land above the fish 3-6′ and drift within 3″ of the fish either side. It is a little like threading the needle, but doable with several attempts. Timing is critical too, the cast can’t land right after a rise, the fish needs time to get back in position.
Eventually, BAM! A big head comes up within a couple of feet of where I felt my fly was(I can’t see a size 24 at 30′ without a white post) and I set! Thank god, not too hard! I knew this was a decent fish right away. It swam toward the current, toward the far bank. But I was able to turn it which was no small task given the state of my icy drag. This fish was a good fighter and displayed beautifully, the cut-and-run style of a rainbow. Sure enough, when it came to the net, the beautiful coloring shone brights, a beautiful rainbow trout! There is a pic of this fish below. Note, it is in the net in the photo. Rarely do I ever remove the fish from the net, not for a hero shot unless it is a potential PB, and never just for a measurement. I’m OK with guessing their size. The bow of my net is 18″ at it longest point. I look at the fish based upon that gauge and make a best guess. It is always best to not handle fish! I use my hemostats to get the (barbless) hook out, and keep the fish covered with water at all other times.
Without moving an inch, I hooked and landed two other fish from that spot. A smaller brown and an even bigger rainbow, a real football! After the brown, there was a lull in the action. I realized that my fly was no longer floating after being in two fish mouths. So I quickly swapped it with another and kept casting. I noticed a swam of bugs right over the area where this fish was rising. He rose again, I paused, and placed a perfect cast with the ideal drift. WHen he rose to eat I had no idea it was my fly in his mouth, but I set just the same, and my line came tight! OK, let me ask the fishermen and women out there. Is there a better feeling than watching the take, setting the hook and having the line come tight? That’s just it for me. If it was a big fish, its a bonus, in that it leads to a good fight. This one was big, and he fought. After running toward the current, I kept him on the line as I could not trust the reel, he headed downstream. I knew this would be a very difficult fish to land from below on 5.5X. So angled my pressure and was able to get just enough on him to turn his head upstream and back toward me. There is a video of this fish below. Twenty minutes more of casting and the the bugs dwindled and the rises stopped. At that point I stopped and took it all in. It was a perfect day, complete.
As I walked back up to the truck i realized how blessed I was and grateful for the day. They are all like this one, so when they come along, you have to cherish them. A quick stop by Broulims on the way home and I would be having Cabin dinner – salmon style tonight, and it was delish! A recipe is in the Apree Dinner Section, under the Cabin Life tab.
