Davy Wotton's Fishing Report
January 2010
Year to remember in a Fly Fisher’s Life
Another season passes for me. Yet again, after the more than 50 years since l caught my first trout on a fly rod, it brings back memories of the years past. This past year saw me out there on the White 217 days guiding my customers, days on the water fishing with friends. Then we had trips to the east, teaching the skills of fly fishing in the States of PA, CT, NY, OH, TN. Out west to MT for my annual twenty-day holiday, you guessed it, fishing. We fished many waters while there. The Madison, Big Hole, Firehole, Yellowstone, Red Rock, Missouri, Hebgen, Quake, Ennis, Lewis lake.
There is, of course, always the expectation of catching a fish that beats the existing personal best. Maybe, at the end of the day it really matters not; albeit there were many great fish along the way. For myself, at least, it was the 7 pound Bow l caught at Bull Shoals Dam and the 24 inch Brown l caught from the Madison. Although l have caught larger Browns here on the White, such a fish from the Madison is a very different matter. The wild Lough Leven Browns we caught at Lewis Lake were very special for me as were the wild Browns l caught on the hallowed waters of the Neversink, favored water of one Theodore Gordon.
Days at the fly vise also bring about memories of fish as new fly patterns were innovated and then cast. You never know what may happen, although years of experience give you some good idea of what will work. No doubt about it, for myself it is the way of the wet fly. as that is my fondness for what fly fishing is all about. It’s not the likes of Y2K bugs because there is nothing remotely natural in the river that resembles that. However, there are days when we need to use flies that incorporate high visibility color. But it should not be the norm. For if you adopt that approach, there will be many fine fish you will never catch. They wise up.
Bull Shoals Dam was this past season about as good as you can get. The high water of ‘08 and the continued higher water flows of this past year allowed the Rainbow trout to grow including many fish in the 18 to 22 inch size and a good few over that. Unlike last season, we did not see the numbers of trophy Browns at the dam zone during October but we did catch good numbers of great fish. The shad kill in the early period of the year did produce some very nice fish to 28 inches. Most of the larger Browns we saw this past season were well spread out through the river as far downstream as Calico. However, because of high average water flows, l did not fish the lower sections of the river as much as l would normally.
New items of fly fishing tackle were used. Rods, lines, and tippet materials all came under scrutiny including some of l did not care for and others which will certainly become part of my equipment for the future. I often wonder how much further the tackle industry can go. I remember the first carbon rod l owned in 1974. What a revelation that was from the hollow glass fiber Hardy rods l used at that time. l might add l still have a favor for those hollow glass rods, although there are some carbon rods that are pretty close to the action of those rods. Easy to cast, there were no such thing then as fast action rods. For the most part, we still do not need those when trout fly fishing. The average ranges needed are as a rule well less than 50 feet. It’s the presentation value and there-after line control that matters. Fast action rods do not work well with fine tippets.
The monofilament tippets and FC line we have today are way superior to what we used in the past. Did those of us who learned to fly fish way back then learn the hard way? You bet we did! On the other hand we knew no different at that time. It was at the end of the day the fly that made the difference and our understanding of how to present those flies given the prevailing conditions we were fishing at that time. Would l wish to go back 40 years? Yes, why not? I used to dry fly fish way more often than l do today, which l might add is one of my New Year Resolutions. It’s not the numbers game that matters!!!
Have a great New Year all and many tight lines.
Davy.