The thinking man's idiot fly angler

20th March 2011

Post with 2 notes

The end of something…

…is allegedly the beginning of something else.  I hate trite sayings but this shoe fits well these days.

After a long and excuseless drought, the Thinking Man’s Idiot Fly Angler has found some inspiration to blog again.  Forgive my absence - even though maybe only two or three people have noticed - but all of a sudden things changed.  I scored a new job way back in October (which, ironically, I’ll be vacating within a week), took on some serious home projects, mourned the loss of a computer and have been making room for a kid who is due sometime in late May.

But it’s been a good summer/fall/winter rife with fishing affairs.  Most recently I’ve been hitting the SNP with trusty fishin buddy Dan (of The Grey Sulphur) and new guy Buffalo Andrew.  The three of us assaulted a pair of trailless backcountry streams loaded with brookies and eventually I’ll start posting photos and stories from my own archives.  It’s really going to suck playing catch up, but if someone out there in ‘netland gets a kick out of it all, then I’m happy to oblige.

Yesterday I had some solo time up in the hills and decided it was time to fish a smaller east slope stream that parallels a popular hiking trail.  As expected, two things happened: I saw more people than I’d like to see when I’m fishing and I caught a mess of fish.  Even caught the first 10” brookie of 2011, so a grand success.  And yes, I caught him on a dry.

Great scenery and plenty of water up there…

Brook trout willing to eat dry flies in cold water on a 50-degree day: most excellent.

Did I mention just how hungry these little bastards are after a cold winter?  Two dozen or more of them - out of ONE HOLE - ate a brown para mayfly.

A decent fish - before and after the release

And the big fish that chomped an olive x-caddis.  He was pretty pissed about the whole thing and would only cooperate for one lousy out-of-focus underwater parting shot.

It was a fine half-day outing, even though I had to leave just as the air and water temps were peaking.  With all the water still up at the top of the mountain, and no real leaves on the trees yet, we should be in perfect shape for the spring mayfly gig.  It’s gonna be tough waiting.