Two Hours Fly Fishing a Small Stream: A Small-Scale Fishing Report
By Tom Chandler on Jun 2, 2007 in Fishing Report
Two hours isn’t very long. I recently watched some Hollywood movies that went over two hours, and frankly, I wish I had the time back (not to mention my money).
So today (Saturday), I wrote a book review (look for it soon), did a little work, then invested the two hours I had left on a nearby small stream, figuring it couldn’t be any worse than the movie I saw last week.
Once again, I was completely right.
They weren’t all this small, but it wouldn’t have mattered if they were.
The fish were small, aggressive, and willing to eat a dry — a worthwhile combination, surpassing even the latest computer-generated special effects.
It was warm so I wet waded, and the stream itself is beautiful — nestled into a tiny, rough-and-tumble canyon that looks like it was built yesterday.
The only difficulty I encountered all day was the decision about which rod to bring, an ordeal for me on the best of days.
The Diamondglass 7′ 3wt is a nice size for a stream this small, but the 8.5′ 4wt Diamondglass offers much better reach on a stream where there’s little in the way of overhanging trees. (I took the 4wt, and wished I had the 3wt. Such is the battle for the angler’s mind.)
The water was surprisingly comfortable; a reminder that this year’s low flows probably mean I should dig out my thermometer and bring it along, if only so I’ll know when I shouldn’t be stressing the fish (Heddon17, you have an upper range for us?).
Big shadow. Little bug. Let’s hear it for surface tension!
Tomorrow, the L&T Nancy and I could easily end up hiking into an Alpine lake. You’ll hear about it second.
See you where there are fish, Tom Chandler.
Technorati Tags: fly fishing, fishing, small streams, upper sacramento, fly rod
ijsouth | Jun 2, 2007 | Reply
I’m trying to think of the last movie I saw in a theater…it was a kids movie of some sort, since I was taking my kids and some of their friends, and naturally I paid. The admission wasn’t bad, but the concession stand killed me - $100 out the window in a matter of seconds. Anyway, that was a year ago - certainly, time on a stream is better spent.
Just got a new 2wt - the streams I fish up in the Smokies that are that size look a lot like that, only with a lot more trees. We’ll be up there next week - can’t wait.
Tom Chandler | Jun 3, 2007 | Reply
IJ: I don’t own a rod lighter than a 3wt, and I’m basically terrified when bringing anything lighter than a 4wt, thinking “this is the day those six-inch trout will get selective to a stonefly pattern.”
I just know it.
The freestoners out here undergo significant runoff events in the spring, and slow to a trickle in the late summer and fall, so — on this side of Mt. Shasta — they’re not as productive as the small streams of the Smokies.
Of course, it also means they’re not fished very much…