It was Labor Day, and I do tend not to fish on Holidays and weekends, but after eight months of crafting a bamboo fly rod I could not wait to take it where it was meant to be. I enjoyed my solitude for most of the day, celebrating the craft I now have so much more personal an appreciation for.
The rod casts beautifully near and far, smoothly turning over fifteen feet of leader and my choice of dry fly. Indeed, combining a strong fast taper design with the milder properties of the Lo o bamboo has given me the ideal I imagined!
It was a gorgeous day, one to wade as slowly and cautiously as possible, as the river flows continue to drop. For several hours, there was little sign of activity, though I delighted in the casting, searching for a hidden ghost. Come afternoon though, I found early signs of trout stirring.
There seemed to be several, as their activity moved from simply finning near the surface to actually rising periodically. They seemed to cruise in one protected area. From distance, I could not make out what they might be taking, and there seemed nothing on the surface in mid-river. I had tied a pair of my Translucence Isonychia 100-Year Duns on Sunday afternoon, and I selected one to give these cruising trout a try.
The cruisers frustrated me, showing no interest in the dun, and I deduced they must be after something just beneath. There was no sign of an emergence, though I spotted a very few duns at a distance which may have been the Isonychia I expected.
One trout finally took a station along the riverbank, and one cast was enough to take him! He fought the powerful arch of the bamboo with diligence and vigor, but the cane wins such battles. The first trout brought to hand with my Angler’s Rest Special posed reluctantly before release.
It was a moment to reflect on those long winter afternoons, planing the cane from quarter inch sawn and beveled strips to tapered rod sections measured in thousandths of an inch. I am supremely happy that I had the chance to make this rod, and that all the hours of effort have resulted in such pure joy!
Bright Waters Catskill 