Happily, it wasn't a fluke.

After my recent outing with Derrick, I was left to wonder how things would go, on unfamiliar waters, the next time I ventured out solo. Happily, I didn't have to wait long to find out.

My wife wasn't to excited when the alarm sounded at 5am and I rolled out of bed, dressed in minutes and headed to the river with the anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve. I had spent the previous evening constructing a straight leader, with bi color sighter material, one that was similar to what I had fished over the weekend. At first, I thought I was in for a long night as I watched the Uni knot tying video before trying it myself. For a first attempt, the leader turned out ok however, the ultimate test was still to come.

Having limited time, I bounced to a few spots, with varying success. My first stop yielded several newly stocked browns in the 14" range. Having had a taste for some larger browns, I was looking for that fix. On the positive side, my uni knots held up nicely and the bi-color sighter was easy to pick up when cast.

I moved to a second location and, within 2 casts, success. A nice sized feisty Rainbow to net. This bow was particularly enjoyable for me as I was actually able to see the fish slide out from its resting place, flash it's belly and take my offering. Almost like watching an aggressive brown taking a streamer. For whatever reason, I usually only know of the take from the sighter...this was a fun one to see develop right in front of me.

I will never again pass up a chance to cast into skinny water, even if it's just to prospect. This bow came out of water barely over the top of my boots.

I continued upstream from the area that produced the bow with the intention of heading to the car and my next spot. I wasn't far from the car when I had to walk past a spot that gave up a 20" brown in April 2011. I hustled down the bank and took up a position that allowed my to cast into the slack area behind a large boulder. The first couple casts didn't feel like they were getting down so a quick anchor change and success 2 casts later.

Now it's around 6:45 and I can hear the ticking inside my head, knowing that time is getting short. Off to the final spot, a new stretch of water for me and a good test. Everything came together as I slid into a comfortable position in some faster water about mid-thigh high. I had changed my anchor and trailing fly and the combination proved deadly.

almost lost as it was being landed

biggest Brookie to date

As much as I wanted to be a little greedy and keep fishing, since I had some good mojo going, I packed it in after snapping off a fish that was kind enough to show me how big his belly was before rolling and shaking a few times and, finally, taking off with my rig. That's usually a sign that it's time to go. It's funny, I had a non-angling friend comment on some recent images I posted to Facebook and, while he was amazed a the size of the fish, he commented that he just didn't get " the whole fishing thing ". Having acquired enough gear over the last few years, I offered to take him out and let him see what it was all about. He paused and politely declined. You can't explain it. Fly fishing is Nature's chess game. It's you versus the fish, the water, the branches, the leaves, the hot, the cold, the rain, the wind, you name it, it's all there. On some levels, I felt sorry for him...his lose. Images and words can only go so far...