A Morning on the Musky

There comes a time when drowning worms and essentially "feeding" fish becomes either too easy or just plain boring.  That's the time most fisherman start to fly fish. For me, it all started two years ago, when my wife bought me my first fly rod for my birthday.  I haven't put it down since, averaging 100 days or so on the water each year.  I have been lucky to know some really informative and talented fly fisherman to guide me along the way.  My friend Anthony is more traditional, using only dry flies, and Angelo who typically Czech nymphs.  Having both options really improves your chances of catching fish based on their behavior that given day or season of the year.  I honestly would not be where I am fly fishing wise without their knowledge and guidance.  And with everything else, practice and patience is key.  You can read every article written on the web, which does help, but nothing teaches you like being on the water.

That being said, I returned to work this week and my buddy Rooney told me that Rich (a mutual friend) decided to start fly fishing.  He really wanted to get on the water to prepare himself for his upcoming trip to the Rapid River in Maine.  The alarm rang at 4:30 in the morning, but with a different sound.  It's not the usual "I gotta go to work" alarm, but rather similar to a dinner bell ringing with a delicious meal to follow.  I picked Rich up at 4:45 and we headed west.  We stopped for a quick bite and a coffee, meeting Angelo at 6.  We geared up, and headed to the river.  Obviously, conditions were not ideal with the river flowing at 100 cfs.  However, the river was beautiful, the fish were rising, and soon was the sun.

We fished our first spot for an hour or so.  We had no luck hooking up, but I got to spend some time with Rich and give as much advice as possible.  That in itself was rewarding, seeing him make adjustments and improvements with each cast.

Surprisingly, almost every spot or stretch we went to had people there.  We found some spots to finally fish, turned over some rocks hunting bugs, and gave some advice along the way.

With the clock reaching 10 or so, we decided to check out one last spot, which was occupied earlier.  Rich was practicing his mends, Angelo was stripping streamers, and I was fishing a zebra midge under an indicator.  Finally, I hooked up with a beautiful tiny brown, which entertained me with numerous jumps. 

We soon packed up after that and headed to our trucks.  We all left saying it was a great morning even if we didn't have much success.  Hopefully, Rich learned something, Angelo practiced his guiding skills (Ten Footer Club), and I just enjoyed the company.

Even if your not catching numbers of trout, just being on the water will make you a better fisherman. And as my dad always says, "that's why it's called fishing and not catching".  So get out there and fish, and hopefully you will catch!