Easterncaster | Thursday, 30 April 2015
Unlike Bernd, I couldn't buy a fish today. The water is still cold, below fifty (f) here. There were no bugs to speak of so in an act of minimalism I fished just one fly - not variations of, not different sizes or colors. Only this one, this small streamer. Call it an experiment.
It sort of represents (at least in my mind) a Fallfish fry or perhaps a crayfish, both we have strong populations of. I ran the fly deep on a dense sink-tip and short leader. I ran it higher up on a floater. It swam through shallow water and deep. Not one tug or touch - not one chase. Every bit of sexy water saw this fly, from late morning right up to early evening. Having always caught at least one fish with it. I consider it my 'get out of jail card'. Granted, and this is where my experiment gets deep in thought... , I usually fish it later in the season, with warmer water when baby fish are more active. Aha! you say, and so did I while driving home last night. But this morning it makes no sense. Back to square one. Back to waiting for the bugs to show and the trout to start looking up.