December 19, 2018 – My Father the Stockie Slayer (with Fly Rod) – SEPA Freestoner

The conversion continues?

My dad and I continued his fly fishing classes today at a small local creek, landing over 25 fish between us and hooking a half a dozen more, all in the span of 2.5 hours.  Since the last time I was on this particular creek with Chris H, the fish have begun to notice bugs, which they will have to eat to survive the winter, of course.  As a result, during the prime hours of noon to about 2 PM, we put a beating on them with anything small.  No need for a midge, but a size 16 or 18 nymph got their attention.  Midges were hatching in good numbers, however, so these fish may even begin to look up eventually.  I think the lessons today were patience and correct weight/split shot, especially in the winter.  You must let that slow drift slowly drift.  And if you are not on the bottom or close to it while nymphing, you will likely get little attention.  Once my dad learned to wait out the drifts and also to cast far enough upstream to allow small bugs to get deep, he put together 5 or 6 fish in a row, clearly no longer relying on dumb luck or good looks!

Doubled up.

We fished close to each other, and we even landed at least one double, captured on film above.  Most of the fish were cookie cutter rainbows, but a couple 11 inchers were in the mix, and I even landed a brookie, which was also stocked this fall.  There is nothing better than catching a bunch of fish—I think Joe landed 9 or 10 by time we quit—to confirm that you are doing something right, so I am sure this trip helped his confidence a great deal. 

Brookie in the mix.

The water is cold, with skim ice fringing the slowest holes and puddles, so the hits were very, very subtle.  We both fished small bugs under a small indicator, and even then there were takes that ended with a swing and a miss or a briefly turned fish that came off.  My dad is really excited at the prospect of fishing all winter and into the spring, which is cool.  It is a hassle to haul a boat out by oneself (I remember all too well), so this could be his new retirement hobby, chasing stockies with the long rod.  Even if I don’t go tomorrow, he is talking about going to another nearby creek, the same one I took him to earlier in the month.  Sure sounds like he is quickly becoming a convert, yeah?

I had to get in on the action too.