When I went out Saturday, I crushed trout for about 3 hours; from 10 a.m. to about 1 p.m. It was about that time that I broke my rod. OOPS! First fly rod I have ever broke, but second time on the same rod this season as a client broke it earlier in the year. What a great time to work at a fly shop, right? So I headed down the canyon and back to the shop. When I got back to the shop and asked Randy to borrow a rod, he said sure. On my way out the door, with rod in hand, he came out and asked if I wanted to try the Tenkara rod. Google Japanese Art of fly fishing if you don't know.
Having never tried the technique, because it was described to me as art and not fly fishing, I was at first hesitant. He then stated that if I wanted to try it out and I took to it, I could take a client out Tuesday for a Tenkara trip. Why not, I thought. Another technique under my belt, and a chance to make more work.
So he explained the set up, which is way different, and off I went. Well, crush on. It was like I didn't miss a beat. I actually caught one within the first minute on that Tenkara rod. I think I got it figured out I thought. For the next hour and half, nothing changed. It was just straight lights out fishing. Long story short...these things are pretty fun, especially if you already enjoy fishing small water.
Highlights of the Tenkara experience include:
- Being able to cast to the other side of a 30' wide river without having to pull out line (an impossibility with Tenkara as there is no reel).
- Having your fly achieve a perfect drift by just lifting the rod/elbow.
- Catching fish with no net is sort of fun, not great but still fun.
- Playing the fish on a super lightweight 13' rod almost always guarantees a fun fight.
So that's that. I don't wanna take anymore time on that subject so if you are interested, check it out for yourself, or better yet, let me take you out and show you some stuff!
Now to the report part...Fishing great. I am finding that they are liking attractor nymphs, natural dries, terrestrials, emergers, stones, and I think you got the idea, right? Just try it. With that said, here is a list of flies that have been working lately (roughly in order of most successful to least successful):
Mirage Nymph (size 16, only available on this site), Caddis (foam, green), Screaming Banshee Caddis (available on the site soon, a Charlie Craven original and a real fun pattern to fish), Stimulators (smaller, yellow), copper johns (size 16 and red), Para Adams (large and small), RS-2's (gray and small, although larger will work too), Beetles, prince nymphs, rainbow warriors, etc.
Another fly that I have been playing with lately is this crazy looking pheasant tail that I have designed that has a crazy purple hue (yeah I said it) glass beadhead, a flashback abdomen, and all kinds of other fishy things connected to it. Once I name it, I will put it on the sight. Both days I fished it, it really had trout moving. I mean cast it and you see trout dart to it like a grasshopper pattern landing 6" off the banks. Crazy action. Very similar to the Mirage nymph, which was the loose inspiration, it just catches trout. A twice proven pattern, I will it throw it on the Flies for Sale page soon.
One thing I also noticed was that if the fishing slows, at all, just throw something else on and keep em' coming.
Well get out there as the fishing is great. Stay low. I have been staying below Four Mile and it's been great. Another guide went up to the Sugarloaf/Magnolia stretch today and said he had the same results.
By the way, I got back to the shop and Randy asked how I did with the Tenkara. I told him I crushed it from the get go and his response told me that he knew I would. That was a good feeling, having the confidence of your fly fishing peers, especially one that knows his stuff like Randy.
As Always...Tight Lines!
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