Smack!!!

I was driving up to home waters today and decided to start the day with fishing a stream section that has been dead all summer. Why I pulled into the access area, I don't know. This place has been fishing lousy this year, and here I am pulling in to fish it. I have no idea what possessed me to fish this area? Nope, no idea at all. Well, it's a good thing I did, because the trout came back to this area and were smacking my dry fly hard!  It was a great day of floating a dry fly. Smack!

The cool temperatures and afternoon clouds made for a very comfortable day. Today was part of my effort to check out streams in preparation for my brother visiting me next week. I want his fly fishing vacation with older brother (me) to be a good one, so I'm trying to confirm which streams should go on the fishing schedule and which ones to avoid. A plan is starting to come together.

I also wanted to test a fly line today. I picked up an old (mid-nineties model) Bauer M.5 SuperLite reel with a line spooled on it. I usually assume when I acquire an old reel with a line on it, that I will need to change lines. Well, this line looked familiar to me. And, the line's condition looked excellent. I knew it was a DT line, and it had the same color as my Ovis Wonderline fly lines I have enjoyed fishing through the years...good lines. So, I decided to test the line in fishing conditions before I just automatically remove it. Good thing I did. This line has plenty of life left in it, and performs like it was made specifically for the Winston IM6 7'6" 3wt rod I paired it with today. A perfect match.

I don't always get this lucky with used reels spooled up with line. Dang, this is a fabulous match of reel, line, and fly rod. Yup, that line is staying on the reel! Lucky me...this kit is so very sweet!!!

Both rod and reel are period correct for each other...even the fly line. You know, I bet Tom Morgan and John Bauer never had a thought back during the mid-nineties that their respective companies would be merged as one someday. Well, I've been pairing their rods and reels together long before Winston acquired Bauer Fy Reels. A great match!

Gear: Winston IM6 7'6" 3wt fly rod; Bauer M.5 Superlite fly reel; Orvis Wonderline DT3F fly line; Simms sling pack; Dry flies only.