Year End Wrap – Big Fish Eat Little Flies

66th Day Fly Fishing – December 19th, 2023

Gratitude! Ok, it is the 19th of December, and I’m calling 2023 a wrap! It’s possible that I could fish again next week. But today was epic and if it was indeed my last day of ’23, it ended perfectly.

Frankly, it almost didn’t happen. I was actually afraid that it could be a bust and therefore not only a waste of time, but an embarrasment. I spent much of the morning before my 10:30am call trying to talk my way out of it. While at the same time, makng my lunch, getting dressed etc. It really came down to me not wanting to be bored today. It was a lovely drive to Ashton and I arrived about 12:30pm and was rigging at the water at 1pm. Trout were rising, at my usual spot. I was just delighted. The midges I was seeing on the water were about a size 38 in almost a cream color. I had a cream color midge in my box in a 24 and decided to tie it on. But first I knew that 6.5X in fluoro was going to be the ticket. The water was super clear but I think the overcast helped. I gave the cream midge more than enough opportunity and decided to change it out. This time opting for the no-see-um midge that I also tied in a 24. I must have spent 20 minutes trying to get this fly on, Not sure what the problem was. Perhaps a thread wrap or two encroaching on the eye? Then I thought, if I have to go to 8X, I can get this fly on. In the mean time I chose an Adams midge also in a 24.

Well this fly was the ticket. I had an eat on it right away. It was a smaller fish to the right of me, near the bank, After about six casts, I got the eat. I was excited and probably set a little too hard and a little too late. Well, I did feel the take and that was exciting! These fish are weird, but not unlike other dry fly meca’s like the Ranch, they rise for 5 min, then don’t for 7 min. it is really annoying ! About 20 minutes later after chasing some bigger heads, I got another eat and this time perfectly set the hook!

Right off the bat I knew this was a big fish. After the hook set it moved left about 8 feet and then dug in. This fish was an immovable force and I knew that I wanter her on the reel. Once I had the line up, I already knew I had a problem. The drag was too tight and I was looking at a breakoff, but I loosened it right away and then I could let the fish run. This fish was in control and she knew it. With 6.5X tippet, I could not pressure this fish and I did get the drag dialed in perfectly. Six of my seven reels are Galvans, and the drags are flawless. The Galvan Torque reel on my 3wt Scott G2 has an unbelievably smooth drag. The G2 3wt bringing much needed tippet protection. It would be next to impossible to land ths fish on a 5wt.

The hatch ended shortly after I landed that beautiful rainbow! But I changed up rods to my 4wt G2 and strung on my favorite midnight fire leech and swung my way down through the flat. I wasn’t expecting much but a got a decent tug at the bottom of one of my drifts and he was on. After a good fight I brought him to net. An easier fight because 4X tippet was the lightest on this rig and I tested my knots prior to rigging my fly. Yeah, I could pressure this one a bit.

It was a great day on the water!