Sunday, February 8, 2015

Jerrys success

While waiting for the water temp in the lower sections of my home river to cool off for salmon fishing, I took Jerry out for a day of fishing on a tributary of the Winooski River.  He wanted to fly fish, so I rigged up a spare setup for him and we were on our way.  The water was low, which makes things difficult for trout fishing, especially when they're all wild. 


As per usual with this particular river, I moved a few big browns, but couldn't connect.  Jerry, however, was a fish magnet!  I had him setup with a big olive streamer, which has produced before. 

I spent a lot of time showing him the ropes, and once he got into the groove, he'd landed 3 small wild bows in a row. We were ready for the big boys....

One pool that I often visist usually holds 4-5 large fish, but they rarely take.  It's an impossible spot to sneak up to unless you're with another person.  I guided Jerry on where to walk and where to cast...and things just came together beautifully.

Gorgeous brown!




We spent time exploring more of the river I haven't yet seen, and also spooked a few big fish in total frog water...I'm talking 10" deep over mud.  Spots you'd never imagine a trout would be!  I definitely learned something about this river system and will be taking it into consideration next time I'm on it.

I did a little more fishing, and had one grab myself, but couldn't seal the deal.  I let Jerry fish for the most part, it was his goal to catch fish on a flyrod after all.  We approached some water that was slow, but looked perfect.  I could see it producing a big fish.  It was a long, deep pool with a large tree on the bottom.  There was tons of cover, tons of big boulders, and plenty of cover from up top.  I had Jerry get in the water and slowly approach the pool from below it.  When he got within his casting range, his very first cast landed directly upstream of where the downed tree was.  The water was so clear, I could see the Krystal Flash on the tail sparkle as it dropped.  Once it got deep enough, and he started to strip, all hell broke loose.  Two fish, one twice as big as the other - started to chase the streamer down.  I could barely contain my excitement, and from where Jerry was, he couldn't see what was going on.  Both fish competed for the fly for a good 30-40 feet before the smaller of the two grabbed it.  The big one, which I am sure was a brown, decided to stick around for a few more seconds while the rainbow struggled.  I almost thought he was going to take a bite out of him.  He ended up spooking while Jerry was fighting the rainbow.  Defeinitely a memory I won't soon forget!

J
Not a bad fish for a beginner!
Jerry mid-fight with the larger rainbow.

Another logjam ambusher he landed just after the bigger one.


We tried to get the big brown to come back out, but he was too smart for that.  Shortly after, we had to head out.  Another great trip, and Jerry is really starting to love fly-fishing. 

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