The Weary Angler: Slow but steady

As I continue to clear off the dust that gathered on the nymphing rig due to a summer of re-aquainting myself with dry flies, I find that I need to dust of my seemingly diminished skills as well.

Recently, I had a short window to hit the water and decided to venture to spots along the Farmington that I had only driven by in the past. There are days when I just need a fix and head to areas that I know to be productive. However, this was a day where I wanted to test myself. Overall, the fishing was a bit tough. Each of the areas I hit was productive but not to the degree that I really would have expected. Early on, the fishing was about missed bumps and finding a groove. Once I was into fish, they seemed to be mostly cookie cutter browns on the 12-14" range.

the leaf hatch is in full effect already

Fish took tiny Strolis DT nymph or a tiny Bead Head Prince. After awhile, it all came back and, once I remembered to look for over-hanging trees before I cast in a new area, I was back in steady action. Once again, the best fish of the trip came from some medium speed skinny water. This spot was new to me and the area that looked to be productive was a short run that you would take no more than 5 to 10 minutes to work. As I worked from the bottom up, I cast into a shallow area and my sighter was very close to the surface. The sighter was so close, I could see the flash of a nice size fish slide from his holding spot to take my fly. By far, the best bend of the day as we battled for a moment and brought this beauty to net.

I am still amazed at the fish that sometimes come from such a small amount of water and the tiny size morsel they are after as they move for a crumb of a fly.

I ended this quick foray with a little dry fly action to a pool of sipping browns whose sole purpose was to torture me and possibly make me go blind. I threw everything at these few fish, who were not put down by my continued casting. I started looking around the water nearest me and could not see anything buggy floating nearby. So I followed my new dry fly philosophy - when all else fails, go small. Now my hands aren't mitts by any means but even I had a hard time with the little sz 24 BWO emerger that I tied onto the end of my line. First cast, missed the immediate take. Second cast and I was right on this guy. Frankly, I was hoping this would be a larger fish as the sipping was slow, deliberate and gave the appearance of a larger fish. Not today...