Today we watched the weather break before our very eyes. What started out as a cold day with ice all over the rods, turned quickly to a high blue sky, 60+ degree day. Some of the rivers shaped up from previous days and those who were willing to give chase were able to grab some fish.
Hot flies today were Senyo's Ice Man Minnows hands down. We got most of our grabs on those and other small streamers such as bunny zonkers and Robinson's Chicken Little. When the stonefly hatches fired up, we started getting fish to hit smaller stonefly patterns, but this was intermittent. Keep changing flies in challenging conditions and you will be rewarded.
With a bunch of guides out today, we covered a lot of water and it doesn't look to change anytime soon...the number of guides that is! The waters will be changing daily, as levels drop and warm with the high temps forecasted for the next few days. Here is a fish from one of John Miller's clients...a nice shiny hen....
Kevin with a nice fish for the day
My day was spent with a father/son team that have been repeat clients for years, and let me tell you that you don't find a better team. Conner is the young man in the photos below and his father Parker has a lot to proud of in this young fly fisher. He is definitely following in his fathers footsteps!
Conner with a first fish of the day on the first cast no less
The best story of the day was just as the sun was coming up. I had just rigged Conner's rod and handed it to him. I said, "Conner, now what I want you to do is catch a fish before I can get your Dad's rod rigged up!" This young man was a great listener, because before I could get the reel cover off his reel, Conner was fighting his first fish of the day (above). Now that is the way to get it started!
Parker follows suit to get the skunk out of our bags
Parker did a fine job as well in catching the fish, but on day one, it was all about his son and watching Dad's smile was almost as good as watching Conner's! For me, this is the pinnacle of the fishing experience.....family passing it on!
And here is just a short selection of photos from this young fly fishers day...
Conner with a heavy shouldered buck
Smile for the camera
Conner's trophy for the day
Yeah, there were more fish, but that is a good highlight of his day....and what a day it was!!! Every guide on the water put fish in the net today, and more photos of their days will be posted as they come in.
In the meantime, I want to give a shout out to a guy from West Virginia who I met on the water today. We talked for a few minutes following an awesome display of etiquette. He stepped in about 40-50 yards down stream and looked up toward me and asked, "Am I giving you guys enough room?" I almost chuckled to myself as he asked. What a gentlemen on the stream! So, since I didn't get your name sir....if you read this, you will know who you are....I hope you had a great day after we left, and you can share our hole any day. Just do me a favor and keep teaching people the etiquette that you display as you fish! It was truly refreshing to see it again!
We will be seeing you on the water.
Patrick "Flybum" Robinson
Head Guide
Steelhead Alley Outfitters
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