With insanity creeping into the margins of my psyche, yesterday was a “must-fish” day. I got on the water about 1:00, hiked down the tracks, and though I saw few October Caddis, started fishing a big spent-wing caddis dry.
The idea is that it’s late in the year, the caddis are dying off, and the trout are looking for the easy meal. How’d I do? I tell you after a moment of Fall Zen:
Fall continues, though many of the leaves are gone. And it’s cold. Cold.
I hit two nice 12″-13″ fish in the first five minutes, and started thinking that this was My Day – the perfect storm of fish hungry for a dry, few people on the river, OK weather, and no screwups on the part of the hosehead holding the fly rod.
Sadly, the bite slowed, and continued to slow as the day went on. Chris Raine mentioned the bite was at its best midday, and I think this is one of the rare instances where he’s right.
The Big Dry
I was fishing low-on-the-water caddis pattern, and the final tally was four nice fish in the 12″-13″ range, two smaller fish, and a bunch of slaps from fish that weren’t committed enough to eat the big bug (probably those little bastards).
I made an “unhelpful error in judgment” at the outset by getting sentimental for an 8′ 6/7 weight bamboo rod built on a Dickerson 8014 Guide Special taper. It’s a little-fished rod designed to pick up a lot of line and put it back on the water again, rendering it less-than-wholly accurate at pocket water distances.
The strength was wonderful whenever I *did* hookup, but I got the feeling the hookup thing didn’t happen as often as it could have with a softer-tipped rod.
You learn. (Or more accurately, you try to remember what you learned before.)
What’s Coming
The temperatures have really dropped, and we’re at that time of the year where no matter what you decide to wear on the river, it’s probably wrong.
While yesterday was clear, grey skies are forecast for this weekend, and I’ll be back to the tug-of-war between the big dry and the BWOs. Pity me my suffering, Undergrounders. See you on the river, Tom Chandler.
[tags]fly fishing, upper sacramento river, trout, october caddis, fly rod[/tags]
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