BDD
Steelhead
Meeting today went through lunch and we got done about 1:10 PM. Skies looked dark but that might help with the mayfly hatch I told myself. I heard there were a few March Browns on the Yakima so I thought I'd give it a shot. I grabbed my 379 LL that I have not used in awhile, 3 weight reel with floating line, and my lake bag, which I assumed I'd have a MB dry fly in one of the boxes. Not really prepared but didn't have time to do any better and figured there was a good chance I wouldn't even fish or string up a rod. Didn't bother with waders as I had a pair of Crocs that I wanted to rinse off anyway. During this time of year I know it's going to be a quick trip. About a third of the time I string up a rod but never even make a cast as there are no risers, a third of the time, I look for a hatch that doesn't materialize and don't even string up the rod because there's no hatch or no risers. And about a third of third of the time, I actually fish for 30-45 minutes, if at all.
By 1:30 I pulled over to a spot to look for bugs or fish. I saw a few BWOs and a few splashy risers that looked like small fish but that was all the incentive I needed. I quickly parked, strung up my rod, and made the short hike to the river in the Thorp area. I have fished this same spot for at least 10 years, it is convenient and easy access. The water was as low as I'd ever seen it. I knew I would not fish long and so I tucked a spool of 5 lb tippet, nippers, pliers, and a small box of flies in my cotton jacket (dumb, you'll see why). Wading out to my shins in shorts and Crocs (kinda dumb again but requiring no setup time) I saw a number of small fish rising but it looked a little off. Casting left handed because of debris, I did catch a small fish on about my fourth cast. It took a dry fly but it was not a trout...rather an unclipped coho smolt about 5 inches. After watching a bit more, I realized there were dozens, if not more and they were not feeding necessarily but rather hitting the surface as if they were becoming acclimatized with their new environment. About then a hail storm started dumping and I hunkered down and watched the event unfold. It was was heavy but short. About the time it started tailing off, the MBs starting popping pretty heavy as well. I watched for about 15 minutes with rod in hand, waiting for any trout to rise but nothing did. I watched thousands of MBs float by and the Coho smolt never really starting hitting them as they were farther out and never moved over to the seam where the MBs were passing by. I can appreciate mayflies hatching, looking a lot like tiny sailboats floating down the river. There is something a little romantic about the whole scenario, which is partly why I do it a few times every year. Again, I don't think those Coho smolts were cued in on feeding, rather just out flipping on the surface...maybe they were content just with being out of the raceway? I never made another cast and was content with the short outing. I got my Crocs rinsed off and got back in time for the last couple hours of the work day.
By 1:30 I pulled over to a spot to look for bugs or fish. I saw a few BWOs and a few splashy risers that looked like small fish but that was all the incentive I needed. I quickly parked, strung up my rod, and made the short hike to the river in the Thorp area. I have fished this same spot for at least 10 years, it is convenient and easy access. The water was as low as I'd ever seen it. I knew I would not fish long and so I tucked a spool of 5 lb tippet, nippers, pliers, and a small box of flies in my cotton jacket (dumb, you'll see why). Wading out to my shins in shorts and Crocs (kinda dumb again but requiring no setup time) I saw a number of small fish rising but it looked a little off. Casting left handed because of debris, I did catch a small fish on about my fourth cast. It took a dry fly but it was not a trout...rather an unclipped coho smolt about 5 inches. After watching a bit more, I realized there were dozens, if not more and they were not feeding necessarily but rather hitting the surface as if they were becoming acclimatized with their new environment. About then a hail storm started dumping and I hunkered down and watched the event unfold. It was was heavy but short. About the time it started tailing off, the MBs starting popping pretty heavy as well. I watched for about 15 minutes with rod in hand, waiting for any trout to rise but nothing did. I watched thousands of MBs float by and the Coho smolt never really starting hitting them as they were farther out and never moved over to the seam where the MBs were passing by. I can appreciate mayflies hatching, looking a lot like tiny sailboats floating down the river. There is something a little romantic about the whole scenario, which is partly why I do it a few times every year. Again, I don't think those Coho smolts were cued in on feeding, rather just out flipping on the surface...maybe they were content just with being out of the raceway? I never made another cast and was content with the short outing. I got my Crocs rinsed off and got back in time for the last couple hours of the work day.
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