Another gorgeous May day, though the winds were epic yesterday! At one point there were so many seed pods and assorted tree litter blown onto the surface the downstream view resembled a field as much as it did a river. In between those catastrophic blows, lay periods of calm when, if you could spot them amongst all of that floating vegetation, were a few soft riseforms. It was a tumultuous though beautiful afternoon to stray along bright water.
I had a good laugh to complement the passion and solitude of the scene. Yes, that first rise, a soft little sip alongside a brushy hide, while straining to follow my fly amid the seed pod flotilla I managed a take! My hookset had him vaulting from the water and my mirth overcame me. Still hooked after the launch, I pulled him close, all five inches of him! Well, perhaps only four and a half, but I’ll call him five.
After a long blow I spied another little something and tossed my 100-Year Dun out there. Lost the fly in the vegetation for a split second and tightened out of reflex into a good pull. Wild and leaping, flashing in the sun, I could have sworn I had a rainbow. He put up quite a show, a silvery sided brown trout a bit more than sixteen inches, masquerading as a bow.
The flies were sparse, or at least the ones I could pick out of the blizzard hatch of seed pods were. Late, the pool showed little, but I heard a splash or two upstream and found a couple taking duns sporadically in the top of the little run. No takers though, at least not until the main event.
Every once in awhile you find one of those guys, the big trout with a hair trigger, lying in shallow fast water and sucking down a snack. I cast, saw the funny little disturbance by the submerged rock and raised the rod. That big boy took off like a bullet, nearly pulling the loosely held rod grip right out of my hand. It’s all reflex then, no time for thinking: the clutch! Tighten that grip to save the rod and…snap! I’ve still got the rod but no big, burly trout to admire, and he’s gotten away with my fly!
Bright Waters Catskill 