2/15/09 Winter Fly Hop

Going on yesterdays 1 fish high muddy water results(2500CFS creek), I had to head somewhere where there isn't much silt runoff to mud up the water. Target was a river with 0 adjacent farms and often high cliffs lined with trees. Found it less than half the CFS of yesterday. I headed down the highway passing over creeks and rivers- they were all up and dirty. Closed in on my target and all the feeder creeks were running green!

Water had that green tint I love. Visibility probably 8-10".

I spent too much time walking through woods and over barbed wire. 3 hours and 45 minutes of fishing took 5 and a half hours. When I did get to spots it took time to locate fish, but they were willing.

Hit a big 'S' bend and got a 3 13"ers, and a 15". Missed three bigger fish in a row. Berkley Sustain 8 lbs test seems to rubber band snap lures right out of fish mouths- going to ditch it. I have pulled a lot of flies out of fish mouths since I started using it so it's back to Pline.

As I moved from spot to spot, fish bit quick and seemed to spook. I couldn't get bit again after each fight. Smallies fought surprisingly hard. Most strikes came dead drifting the fly or on a long pause.

At the last spot- convieniently on the highway I nabbed 3 more fish to 15.5". All were skinny. Here's a pic:



Ended up with 8 all but two 13-15".