The Ignorant Angler

They're called pale morning duns, not pale crack of dawn duns.  Standing in the water at 5:30 guarantees that not much will  happen until let's say, ten.  I learned that lesson a couple of weeks ago on the Missouri.  Yesterday, different river, they arrived later.  Much later.  Like in the afternoon.  I was starting to sweat it, literally.  No bugs, no fish activity, it was hot as hell too. Thankfully the bugs eventually showed.  It's impressive when the bugs start hatching and the fish get on them.  A lifeless stream surface can suddenly bustle with fish breaking the surface. 



While waiting for the vaunted hatch, I watched and tried in vain to catch one sizable brown trout. For hours.  It was content to sway in the current and grab bugs as they drifted by.  I attached some fine netting to my trout net, caught a few PMD nymphs.  Actually the screen job was unnecessary, the nymphs were clearly visible.  I thought, piece of cake. I'll get him lickity split.  I tied on a…

The caddis made their inaugural appearance of the season this week.   Normally, I find no need to hurry out to the river.  You can if you like.  Arrive too early, and its too bright, and surprisingly, a bit warm already.  The last hour or two is the best time of the day.  Once the wind settles, clouds of caddis fly en masse.  It's an incredible sight.  I think that you'll agree.
This week, I went twice.  When I arrived at the river, a few tree swallows busily flew over the water.  They're a good indicator of the presence of winged insects.  In this case caddis!
Once fishing, I stuck with adult caddis patterns.  Basically an elk hair type.  I also use deer, caribou and antelope for the wings.  They all work.  The antelope and caribou hair is more brittle though.
On the first night I had a devil of a time trying to spot my imposter on the surface of the water. So, after I got home,  I tied a few with a fluorescent post.  That helped a little.




Interestingly, the real bugs, b…

Normally, the rise to magnum food forms is attended by a more violent effort , causing a more pronounced break in the surface, sending out concentric circles that expand in all directions.    Vincent C. Marinaro --- A Modern Dry-Fly Code

Does the sight of surface feeding trout quicken your pulse?  How about the dainty rise of a midging fish.  And what of the "toilet flush rise" or fish hurtling skyward like cruise missiles?

I fished the other day, started the day nymphing half-heartedly. But once I noticed some sporadic rises, the jig was up.  No more nymphing for me.  It was dry fly leader time.  Time for a midge cluster and midge pupa too.
I cast.  Cast again.  Threw in some slack.  A fish rose.  I snubbed it.
The process was repeated, several times.  Same results.
After educating these few fish, the pool got quiet.  At least I got a couple to eat.
It was time for an exploratory walk to look for heads.  I eventually found a few more risers. Patient sippers they were, thei…

I got a late start today, I knew that it would warm slowly.  High winds were forecast too.  I made the drive anyway, figuring that I could always do the Livingston fly shop tour if I got blown off the water. 
It was blowing in town.  And…it was blowing where the creek entered the Yellowstone.  When I arrived at the "Big House", I expected whitecaps.  Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad.  Betty was waiting for me at the door.  New Years Day was  a busy one on the creek she said.  Lots of anglers.  Today, I'd be the only one.  At least so far.
It was thirty-one degrees at 9:30 a.m.  Overcast.  Snow hung low over the Absarokas.



No hurry today.  Just the way I like it.  I got settled in and built a fire in the barrel stove.  Chunks of snow from the boots of the previous days anglers were frozen to the floor of the hut.  So, I did a little housekeeping and swept the floor.  
With the chill off, it was time to get rigged.   The fish probably saw a little of everything to star…

A few weeks back, I fished a small creek that wound lazily through a meadow.  Once in a great while a fish would rise.  It wasn't a feeding frenzy.  I had no clue as to what they were taking.  There were no winged insects.  Couldn't see much of anything drifting in stream either.  I remembered reading "When in doubt, use a beetle", courtesy of Mike Lawson.

So I stripped off some line, measured my cast and sent the beetle on it's way.  A couple of funky drifts and I figured out the current.  A fish rose again.  Out went another cast.  The fish took.  A nice little brown.  I got three more out of that little run.  Clearly, they liked the beetle.

It's a simple tie. I used whatever material was available.  In this case, a dubbed body of peacock ice dub, some black electronics foam packing, black flashabou for legs, orange post for visability.

This version is a low rider. Even with a short line, it was a $#%h? to see.  When a fish rose wherever I thought the fly …