MACFLY
Too many streams too little time
Well as I sit here on a beautiful Sunday morning having some coffee and feeding my 2 (soon to be 3 ) year old twins, I was contemplating my fishing season thus far. A bit of history first .Since I have started to fly fishing in more local waters (not out west) about 6 years ago, it's been a great time hitting various streams in the Poconos and elsewhere in the state. I have managed a couple of trips a year to the upper delaware as well. Overall it's been very good fishing.
Going into this season I knew my opportunities were going to be more limited. My oldest has an increasing array of activities, my wife has a very demanding job and is also active in my oldest daughter activities. The twins are getting bigger and a lot more mobile ( heaven help me
) and my job is quite busy with some increased travel. All of this means less time for me to fish and I suspect it will be this way going forward. No regrets on my part I have been fortunate enough to fish more than most and in some of the most beautiful places around. My kids like to fish and this will be part of our Outdoor activities from here on out. However flyfishing is cathartic for me and I count on some downtime on the stream to help create some balance.
This season I didn't get out until the end of April. Of course I couldn't get on stream until about 3pm and this was typical of fishing this spring. I hit the brodhead looking for the tail end of the Hendo hatch along with some quill Gordon's. Targets were few and when I had a fish take i promptly s,et the hook too soon. This also became all too common this season.
Next time on stream was early May and again I didn't get on stream until late. This time we were in between hatches s not much happened. Finally the march browns showed up on the next time out in mid may. This is when I finally hooked and landed my first i fish of the year. This is pretty bizarre for me but I guess not too surprising. Another thing I noticed was that I wasn't really feeling relaxed while I was fishing. Primarily because I found myself rushing to get up to the river and only spending a few hours there before driving back home.
As the spring moved on the pattern repeated itself and I found myself staying later and later into the dark to improve my luck. The nice thing about that is you find yourself more or less alone and you get to take in the river with your other senses. This season has seen some serious frustrations. A few weeks ago I hit A run in late afternoon and decided to nymph until the ISO hatch began. I hooked 5 trout and landed none. I have no idea why. Same thing when the bugs came off. I was pretty annoyed at that point which is not how I want to feel when fishing. I decide To take a break as my shoulder was pretty sore. As the sun set on a clear flat pool the sulphurs came off in huge waves. The entire flats section erupted with fish. I have seen this before and often enough you can catch a bunch of fish by just tossing a parachute sulphur out there and letting swing on by. I sat on the bank and just watched. Then walked out while the fish were still working. One night we walked into a nice stretch that holds some big fish. The march browns were coming off and I had a fish erupt on the fly. It was a big fish and he got off immediately. Reeling in I examined the hook and it was bent pretty good. This about sums up my season.
The last couple of times out I had a little better luck. Good hatches and a good number of fish working. I didn't have a great night but a few fish to hand one night and this brings me to my last night on the stream. I headed up late Saturday to find a good number of people fishing so I walked down to get some open water. As I was walking I hit a broad shallow riffle and noticed the water on the far side of the riffle had some activity. Trout were breaking the surface trying to intercept ISOs that were trying to emerge. I waded in and fished this riffle for the next 2 hours as the sun went down. I managed 5 fish of average size but I was happy in any event. There was a god spinnerfall as I left the stream but it was already late and I had to head home. Had to get up early the next day and hang with the kids as my wife had some volunteer work to do
What this season has taught me is to reset expectations and to enjoy anytime on stream. I'm a pretty blessed guy and I don't ever want to lose sight of that. Still would be nice to take the cover off my boat and go for a float once this year
In a few weeks I will be in Utah on business and in between that and travel to Vegas to meet a partner I will get exactly one day to fish with my brother. He and I have fished all over the west but it's been several years since we have fished together. Barring any weather issues we will be fishing wild strawberry which is a small tailwater set among sandstone cliffs and not close to anything. It holds some really nice browns and cutthroat with fish up to 20 inches. Its referred to locally as little New Zealand. I can't wait to get there and enjoy a full day on stream with my oldest brother. Like I said I am a very blessed individual. Some pics from the season.
Going into this season I knew my opportunities were going to be more limited. My oldest has an increasing array of activities, my wife has a very demanding job and is also active in my oldest daughter activities. The twins are getting bigger and a lot more mobile ( heaven help me
) and my job is quite busy with some increased travel. All of this means less time for me to fish and I suspect it will be this way going forward. No regrets on my part I have been fortunate enough to fish more than most and in some of the most beautiful places around. My kids like to fish and this will be part of our Outdoor activities from here on out. However flyfishing is cathartic for me and I count on some downtime on the stream to help create some balance. This season I didn't get out until the end of April. Of course I couldn't get on stream until about 3pm and this was typical of fishing this spring. I hit the brodhead looking for the tail end of the Hendo hatch along with some quill Gordon's. Targets were few and when I had a fish take i promptly s,et the hook too soon. This also became all too common this season.
Next time on stream was early May and again I didn't get on stream until late. This time we were in between hatches s not much happened. Finally the march browns showed up on the next time out in mid may. This is when I finally hooked and landed my first i fish of the year. This is pretty bizarre for me but I guess not too surprising. Another thing I noticed was that I wasn't really feeling relaxed while I was fishing. Primarily because I found myself rushing to get up to the river and only spending a few hours there before driving back home.
As the spring moved on the pattern repeated itself and I found myself staying later and later into the dark to improve my luck. The nice thing about that is you find yourself more or less alone and you get to take in the river with your other senses. This season has seen some serious frustrations. A few weeks ago I hit A run in late afternoon and decided to nymph until the ISO hatch began. I hooked 5 trout and landed none. I have no idea why. Same thing when the bugs came off. I was pretty annoyed at that point which is not how I want to feel when fishing. I decide To take a break as my shoulder was pretty sore. As the sun set on a clear flat pool the sulphurs came off in huge waves. The entire flats section erupted with fish. I have seen this before and often enough you can catch a bunch of fish by just tossing a parachute sulphur out there and letting swing on by. I sat on the bank and just watched. Then walked out while the fish were still working. One night we walked into a nice stretch that holds some big fish. The march browns were coming off and I had a fish erupt on the fly. It was a big fish and he got off immediately. Reeling in I examined the hook and it was bent pretty good. This about sums up my season
.The last couple of times out I had a little better luck. Good hatches and a good number of fish working. I didn't have a great night but a few fish to hand one night and this brings me to my last night on the stream. I headed up late Saturday to find a good number of people fishing so I walked down to get some open water. As I was walking I hit a broad shallow riffle and noticed the water on the far side of the riffle had some activity. Trout were breaking the surface trying to intercept ISOs that were trying to emerge. I waded in and fished this riffle for the next 2 hours as the sun went down. I managed 5 fish of average size but I was happy in any event. There was a god spinnerfall as I left the stream but it was already late and I had to head home. Had to get up early the next day and hang with the kids as my wife had some volunteer work to do
What this season has taught me is to reset expectations and to enjoy anytime on stream. I'm a pretty blessed guy and I don't ever want to lose sight of that. Still would be nice to take the cover off my boat and go for a float once this year
In a few weeks I will be in Utah on business and in between that and travel to Vegas to meet a partner I will get exactly one day to fish with my brother. He and I have fished all over the west but it's been several years since we have fished together. Barring any weather issues we will be fishing wild strawberry which is a small tailwater set among sandstone cliffs and not close to anything. It holds some really nice browns and cutthroat with fish up to 20 inches. Its referred to locally as little New Zealand. I can't wait to get there and enjoy a full day on stream with my oldest brother. Like I said I am a very blessed individual. Some pics from the season.
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