Mika Lappalainen | Friday, 20 September 2024
Last weekend we had insane rain. It started Friday evening and went thru the whole weekend. During those two days we had about 70 mm rain. Sunday I was herding reindeers with dogs and quad, got totally wet and rest of the day, just warming fireplaces at home.
Monday started with nice sunshine. Some small things at farm and then I went to fishing. It was already afternoon when I arrived to river and kind of late for best fishing as I thought. My thought that I'm too late was not really because circumstances or timing but more that I don't have so much time to fish before I have to come back home.
My only schedule was made by myself as I got efatbike on Friday for testing. I rode that on Friday and Saturday and found it a lot of fun. My last bike ride has been over 10 years ago even I used to ride a lot during my twenties, almost 1500 km each summer. Anyway bike is here for me to test. Plan is to get one for me also as Satu will have her's today. I can see some great benefits with the bike for reaching some remote fishing spots next summer.
Back to Monday and fishing, water level was much higher than week ago because of the rain. It didn't make fishing bad, in fact it opened some superb spots as there was more water now. Those spots are really easy to miss most of the people. The thing is that we often look too far. You often come to the river and start to look main stream and then see spots around and there and there.
On that point you have seen so many potential spots that you go fishing and start to fish. What you often forgot are the ones on your feet or clostest ones from your side of the river. It might just me but that happens often especially in new waters. So you might realize too late that you went over good spot and fish are already gone from there. That is one reason why after fishing the area I just might wade around to see spots and holes. I have either ruined them already when entering or I have fished them. I just want to learn.
Anyway now those few spots had enough water. Those are so close to the bank that you have fish those from the river. If you try to fish them from shore it won't work. Firstly you can't cast or if you can cast you can't land fish. Main reason is that you won't get right kind of drift to fly if you fish from shore, trees and bushes will make sure for that.
There was no rises at all, no hatching either. You would probably go with nymph or small streamer, but my new and latest principal is DRY OR DIE. That means that always start with dry, if you got desperate then maybe nymphs can be used. So I fished some all water spots with dries and got few okay graylings. Then fished neck and got smaller ones. On the neck there was some rises and those were only ones during the whole day.
Then it was time to skip few good all water spots and go the ones I mentioned earlier. When I started to fish there was one rise on fly but no hooking. Sun was warming the spot still despite cold wind. After that rise there was long time nothing and I started to think changing the flies, not going for nymphs yet but different dries. I decided to give few shots as I was fully confident that there are fish and those flies should work, maybe my drifting route was not totally correct. As I changed that 10 cm things started to work. I landed three nice 40 cm graylings from same spot and then it was time to move.
Another higher water spot, over there I got drifting route right faster and landed two around 40 cm graylings. It was time to late lunch as wind got stronger and sun went behind of clouds. After lunch I headed back home as my plan was to test ride again bike before it is getting dark. I had 30 km bike ride in the evening on some small paths and gravel roads.
Just this moment it is sunshine and it is Friday. Looks like I'm out for fishing for afternoon.
It is Dry or die.
Have a nice weekend and go fishing,
Mika