Germs, Deals, and BWO Weather
By Tom Chandler on Oct 5, 2006 in Fly Fishing, Underground Entertainment
Yesterday the first real “BWO day” of the fall descended on Mt. Shasta (drippy wet, not windy, grey), and if you’re a fly fisher who likes chasing working fish with tiny dries, you anticipate these days like a child anticipates Christmas (though xmas presents don’t swim away if you spook them).
The fantasy finds you out on a choice run, big fish sipping #20 BWOs, the weather just bad enough to make you feel like a monster stud, but not so bad that you’re suffering any real discomfort.
Sadly, the fantasy ran headlong into a raging virus (a gift from the L&T Nancy), and instead of doing my best crippled mayfly imitations on the river, I spent the day indoors, doing my best Steve Prefontaine imitation by dashing between the medicine cabinet and the bathroom.
Still not everyone was sick, and Chris Raine was last seen headed downriver, cane rod in tow, and I expect to hear - in graphic, minute, excruciating detail - just how good it was. When I do, you’ll hear it too.
Still, as long as you’re breathing and you’ve got an unbroken fly rod, hope springs eternal, and I’m much better today. Better enough that I’m squinting out the window, looking for any hint of good cloud cover instead of blue skies. Maybe that’s the beauty of killer BWO days. Unlike Santa, they come more than once a year.
See you on the river, Tom Chandler.
Technorati Tags: BWO, Blue winged olives
rriver | Oct 5, 2006 | Reply
I fished last night and expected a great hatch. There was … sorta. I went to a spot with a 6 foot 4 wt bamboo rod expecting to dry fly fish small mayflies with short 15 or 20 foot casts. The problem was the fish were taking emergers in the faster water, so I ended up fishing copper johns in the current. One really good fish, and a bunch of 12 inchers. Risers never appeared where I expected, in the water just off the current, or the foam line.
Fun, but not what I was hoping for. Wierd, because the clouds usually bring it, and there is nothing like catching fish on dries to make you laugh like a kid.
- rriver
Tom Chandler | Oct 5, 2006 | Reply
The olives are enigmatic. Two years ago you couldn’t swing a dead fly line over your head without wiping out a couple hundred of the things, but last year… not so much.