Everybody goes through phases. Two year olds have their “no” phase, teenagers have their “I hate you all because you’re stupid” phase, and apparently some fly fishers go through a “small stream, smaller fish, absolute minimum of humanity phase.”

The water was pretty, the fish were willing, and the bugs intense.

The last described me pretty accurately, though I wasn’t completely aware of it until Curtis Knight of CalTrout asked me how often I was fly fishing the McCloud these days, and I realized the real answer was “hardly at all.”

The last couple seasons I’m more likely to hike into a small lake or stream, and while I’m sure years of psychoanalysis would uncover the root cause of my affliction (perhaps I had a bad experience with a big trout when I was a child), I’m actually pretty content to wallow in my neurosis – especially when it involves a lot of brown trout that seemingly can’t say no.

The more battered a humpy gets, the better it fishes.

Following hard on the heels of my semi-successful trip to Stream X, Elderly Underground Friend & Alert Reader Jim Troyer and I found ourselves exploring water I’d never fished before (let’s call it Stream Y).

It turns out that exploration is good.

Every run on this tiny stream held at least one eager brown trout (sometimes many eager brown trout).

In fact, the action started on the second cast, and never really let up.

Simply put, it was the kind of day you tell yourself you’ve earned via all those other ugly days, though you know deep inside that would only be true if you’d been attacked and killed by wild animals on all those other trips.

To say too much more is to gloat unnecessarily (the Underground doesn’t gloat, we report). And yes, if it makes you feel better, the mosquitoes were intense – to the point that multiple applications of insect repellent were needed (for godssakes don’t breathe the stuff), as were lots of coverups.

In fact, the slightly built Troyer was at several points in danger of being carried off by hordes of the vicious bloodsucking beasts.

You can know that mosquitoes are part and parcel of the backcountry in spring, but that doesn’t mean I have to like or even accept it (suggesting that stubbornness is a another lifelong “phase” for me).

More Brown Trout Body Parts

This time, I caught no Brook trout, though the vibrant paint jobs on the brown trout meant I wasn’t too disappointed:

A neon scaled banana? One of my brightest brownies.

Cars would still have fins if they looked this cool.

One of those darkly pigmented brown trout that looks like it lives in a cave.

More Fly Fishing Gear Stuff

The bottom line on the fishing? I fished my Diamondglass 8.5 4wt, while Troyer got along nicely with an older 8′ 3wt Redington.

As often happens on small streams, the fish weren’t selective to flies – until you tried something new. Then they’d stop eating, and you’d think they were selective until you compared notes with your buddy, who was fishing a fly pretty much the exact opposite of yours.

For the record, a dark caddis did a lot of damage, as did a Beetle Bug and humpies. The small stimulator didn’t fly. That’s really all I know.

I also test-flew the new Korkers wading boots, and there’s plenty more to be said about these interchangeable-sole critters.

More Fly Fishing Soon

It’s been an odd week, and yes, I even wasted a couple hours on a media gig that couldn’t have turned out much worse, but this weekend may find me wandering around the backcountry yet again, though I wouldn’t necessarily make book on Stream X or Stream Y.

Maybe I’ll do both. I hear the fishing’s pretty good.

See you on the couch streamside, Tom Chandler.

p.s. – No, I’m not telling. But it’s right at the end of this path:

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