When the fishing is great, the great do whatever it takes to be on the water. This past week the fishing has been great. The famed Blue Wing Olive Mayfly has been hatching daily on a local trout stream, bringing some of the best top water action of the year, as well as producing a hatch of die hard fisherman. With the fishing off the charts I couldn’t sit around until Saturday to get back on the water. Fortunately I have a flexible job and was able to take a couple of half days and fish the river with some friends as well as hit it on Sat.  So with 4 days on the water this week, I was able to witness first hand the majestic beauty that God has giving us to experience and respect. During these days I have learned some great lessons about fly fishing as well as life. So here they are:

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Lesson #1. Know your water-Having consistently fished a river for over ten years, I have come to know the the river on a personal basis. I have grown to understand its flow as well as its spirit. Most people that fly fish haven’t put in the time to understand a water. They just arrive and hope to find a hatch and fish. (Cause they read a hot spot online) Those that respect the water are the ones that are rewarded with knowledge of where the hatches occur, the time to be there, and the flies to use. You can’t put a price tag on river knowledge, period.

Lesson #2. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to fish with someone that I had never fished with or met. This outing thought me a great lesson and one I hope to always keep close to my heart. His name was Jacob Dowse, he is a student of law and fly fishing. From our stream side introduction to our last cast together Jacob was constantly learning and growing. He was excited to gain new incites to fly fishing and would constantly pose questions and then try out what I would suggest. By the end of the day Jacob was on his way to becoming a great top water fishermen. So why do I tell you Jacobs story? Its because we should all strive to be more like Jacob, students of our sport and in everything that we do in life. Never stop trying to learn.

Lesson #3. Saturday was a cold morning, the freezing canyon breeze ripped through our clothing making fishing near crazy. The forecast called for 51 degrees, but by noon it was still a cold day with no sign of letting up or producing any kind of hatch. Knowing the river, I continued to tell myself as well as our large 6 man group that it will happen, just be patient.  Just like it was supposed to around 2pm, the wind died and the midges and BWO’s can out in full force. At one time we had 4 hook ups at once. There were hundreds of fish eating like it was their last supper.  So why do I tell you this? Its because at around 1:30pm one of our group members couldn’t take it any longer. He was mad the hatch didn’t come off on time and thought he was wasting his time and left. Not realizing if he would have just stuck it out a little longer he would have had some of the best dry fly fishing of the year. So from Jordan I learned to be patient, if the fishing isn’t great hangout and enjoy the surrounding and friends, because you never know what you might miss on the water if you go back to the city.

Lesson #4. Be prepared- Lately I have been getting a lot of fly orders. Which is a good thing, but I haven’t sat down to refill my my own fly boxes. Those that know me are probably laughing,(Cause they know of the 1000s of flies I carry around) but when I got to the river last Sat. I needed a size 16 para BWO, which I was out of. I had sizes 22, 20, 18, 14, but not one #16. I ended up using a double emerger setup that worked just fine, but it got me thinking that the next time I go out I need to be prepared, since this is important to me. So that night I stayed up tying, refilling my old BWO box as well as some bigger buffalo midges.  That next time on the river, I was prepared for almost any situation and the fished seemed to like the new flies. So do as you learned in Scouts and be prepared.

Lesson #5. Fish Emergers-Plain and simple. Fish like emergers, better than adults. SO FISH EMERGERS! 

Lesson #6. On Friday I though I would throw out to a couple of buddies that I would be hitting the river in the morning. It turned in to a 7 guy group. I usually don’t like to fish in large groups, (2 or 3 tops) but today it was a great time and half of the whole experience. We had great conversations as well as lots of smack talk. I guess larger groups can be awesome if the situation is right. I might have to try that again. Didn’t hurt that the fishing was epic.

Lesson #7. Do our part- As I walked the river this past week I noticed garbage, pop cans, flip flops littering the banks. Each time out I would pick up the piles I would create and pack them out in my net. I know that this problem will never end, but if we all do our part and pick up any trash we see, we can keep our rivers clean and pristine.  

Here are a few more of my favorite pictures of the week. Can never have too many, right?

I was so excited about getting out on the river this past Saturday that I could barley think straight. I was acting crazy, like a kid anticipating Christmas morning.  But honestly, what avid fly fishermen wouldn’t be excited about amazing dry fly action in the middle of the winter?

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To make it even worst I have been spending all of my time lately chasing hogs through the ice on ice flies that I have been tying.  It has been awesome, but its not the pure dry fly fishing like love. The craziness all started the night before, I stayed up way to late tying countless amounts of Midges for every situation. I made sure I had micros in the 30s, emergers in the 20s and just in case, I tied up a couple dozen nymphs. Honestly, I could have supplied a whole group, but like every fly fishermen I still felt unprepared and not having enough. The next morning, I awoke grabbed my gear and was out the door at 7:50 am. I wanted to get there early for the morning bite, as well as the hatch and after sippers. As I got about halfway around Deer Creek I stopped to check out a little creek, but as I searched for my rods, I knew they were still sleeping in my garage. SUCKKKKKK!!!!!! I yelled 10 times…I couldn’t believe I did that. I was so worried about making sure I had all my other stuff that I had forgot the most important piece of gear. So I made the 30 min drive back down the canyon, grabbed the rods, decided to get breakfast at Mcdo and take it easy. I finally got to the river at 10 am to be meet with another bombshell. As I was pulling to the side of the icy road to park, my brakes locked up on the ice and I slid half way down a little hill in 3 feet of snow and ice, I was freakin stuck! After 30 mins of pointless attempts I decided this can wait, but the fishing can’t. Luckily, an awesome fellow fishermen and his ford came to the rescue. (If you read this, thank you again) So, after all that, it was now closer to 11 and I still had a little excitement left in me.  But once I got to the river bank, all that stress washed away after I seeing a trout sip a little midge.  It was the only riser in the area and he was my target. I tied on a asher and foam-head emerger, walked out on a beaver dam and made my first cast. Just like it should, the 16 inch brown slurped my emerger and I was hooked up. It was a great way to start off 2010 on dries. The rest of the early afternoon found me stocking the banks for lazy sipping browns. Late afternoon I meet up with my little sis and bro-in-law. By this time the fish were starting to notice to little bugs flying around, so I took them to my go to spot.  It didn’t disappoint either.  We all had multiple hookups on tiny midges and Greg  took home bragging rights with a couple awesome  hook ups and a big healthy brown on 6x.

In all it was time well spent. The weather was comfortable, the fish were rising and I was spending time with my best friends. What more could you ask for…It was a great day