A Beautiful, Sunny Day (Damnit). Bugs Flying. Trout Hiding.

I tossed my fly rod on the passenger seat of the Bronco and drove to Chris Raine’s shop, where we loaded enough gear to invade Canada into his truck and headed for one of our downriver BWO flats.

It was cloudy in Shasta, but the farther south we drove, the sunnier it got. Of all the rotten luck…

Sure, Chris may be old and largely decrepit, but he can still break through a half-inch ice sheet with his wading staff.

Waiting for us at a backwater part of the river was a half-inch thick sheet of ice, something you only see once or twice each year. (Think it’s been cold?)

Sensing danger, I made a bold decision to let Chris go ahead and whew! I’m happy to report it wasn’t dangerous after all.

Soon after we arrived (12:45 or so), the olives started in earnest. Too bad the fish didn’t.

Slightly different than the #22s of two weeks ago, Thursday’s bugs were a #20, their wings are a light dun instead of dark dun, and I got the distinct impression of a lighter olive body.

It looks like the BWOs are slowly getting bigger as the weather gets colder (the same trend we saw two years ago).

It was one of the stronger hatches I’ve seen. But very, very few trout were eating them, apparently afraid to linger at the surface on such an osprey-friendly day. Cowards.

Trout 4. Me 2.

When we first arrived, I eased up on two working fish, dropped two good casts on them from at least 40′ away, and neither showed again. Line flash? Leader flash? Angler’s shadow? Moon phases?

I dunno.

Technically this picture sucks, but you can see the bugs on the water, an October Caddis in mid-flight, and Chris looking for rising fish.

The hatch lasted little more than an hour, and later (after putting down two more fish) I hooked two 11″ trout - and this only after a long stalk and a pair of long, nice casts.

It’s tempting to pat myself on the back - and it was a day where catching two fish could be considered a moral victory - but I probably could have caught the earlier, bigger, spooker fish if I’d been a little quieter, hunched a little lower, and cast a little farther.

It’s odd. I love this kind of fishing, but can’t quite shake the feeling that it’s prematurely aging me.

Gearhead R Us.

I was fishing a fairly light-actioned 8′ 5wt Steffen Brothers glass rod but frankly, would have done better with the extra reach of the 8.5′ model.

Still, Sully’s 16.5′ Extraterrestrial Leader continued to perform impressively (even under the reduced impetus of a soft-tipped, low-modulus rod).

What’s Next?

The forecast is for largely sunny, windy days and temps in the mid-40s. That’s hardly a prescription for BWO heaven, but I’ve got something else in mind for Saturday or Sunday.

If it works, expect to hear about it Monday. See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

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