Some Days

If you're a dry fly only angler, you know there will be some days when your floating fly will not fool any trout. This was the case today. Rich and I went up to a fabulous freestone stream to enjoy fly fishing in a beautiful canyon. Yup, it was indeed beautiful. However, there were no hatches occurring of any significance. Nope, not any caddis, or mayflies of any type, and no terrestrials were buzzing about. Just clear air over the waters. It happens.

I talked with one fly fisher and he was having the same outcomes with a dry fly as I was. And then, he said he tied on a red worm to fish below the surface, and the trout began to take the bite right away. And that's the down side of a dry fly only angler. There was a time when I too would re-rig with nymphs or midges in these conditions...but not anymore. I've committed to dry flies only, even though I know I could "save the day" or catch more trout if I were not such a purist. Honestly, I'm good with a skunk once in a great while or not having a higher catch rate. That's because I love dry fly fishing even though I know there will be off days as a result. Please note, I'm not whining. It just comes with the territory for dry fly guys.

The good news? The light was fantastic for photography today and I took advantage of that. After accepting the conditions would not be good for fishing the dries, I started focusing on photography with the landscape and my fly fishing tackle as subject matter. I can always use good photos in the library to support various topics of writing throughout the year. And, I think I composed some good ones today. You be the judge.

Gear: Winston TMF 8' 4wt fly rod; Hardy LRH fly reel (150th edition); Rio LightLine WF4F fly line; Simms sling pack; Handy PAK landing net; Dry flies.

Below are a few random shots on the stream today, and I have several more, but am saving them for future posts on dryflynm...a few are my favorites to reveal on a later day.