dag

Skunked for the season, I went to a spot that had been stocked, after fishing last weekend to rising fish and hooking up once, landing nil—and that on a streamer!

 

Yesterday things turned out differently. Happily, after a few minutes, I got a couple stockies. I love all fish. Here's the noblest one. Sorry about the light lines—I think it was from having the flash turned on for every picture and not remembering how to turn it off:

 

 

That wasn't the surprise. 

 

The real nice guy fishing near me moved over a bit, so I headed up to the strong current and white water. I changed to my normal nymph rig, and after the second cast, that strike indicator went down with that violence we all like to see. After a run, I see a leap, and a landlocked salmon bigger than almost anything I've caught at GLS, and maybe bigger. Then, I remember that I'm fishing on 6X because my spool of 5X had just run out. After getting him to the net, I've made some noise, and the nice fellow fisherman comes over. In the problem I like to have, my net wasn't big enough and of course seeing the net, my landlocked friend took off. My co-pilot helped me out, and took this picture with the camera still attached to my waders:

 

URL=http://s706.photobuc...86a07.jpg.html][/URL]

 

 

The rig was a wooly bugger as top fly, and a number 12 stone as the dropper. He was hooked, actually, on the bugger, but by the time he was released, the stonefly was gone. 

 

Where there's stocked fish, there can be other ones too! 

 

 

 

Had to go to California—had drifted the famed Lower Sacramento before, but decided to figure out how to wade this time as flows were doable. These bows are 20" plus and quite feisty; fishing for them is done with 7 weight rods, dropper rigs with a kind of rubber-legs top fly and basically, this day, a prince nymph with brown shuck underneath. Almost 12 feet from indicator to bottom fly. The first fish I caught—I know it sounds fishy—but he was too big for my net (20" net). No picture possible as I couldn't handle him (or the next one) by myself that way, but that was the best fish I've ever caught in California. This one was a favorite:



I saw some extremely big ( I mean BIG) fish rolling in the middle of the river, but didn't get them interested; you don't need a steelhead endorsement this far up, and it wasn't pacific salmon seson (they do run up this far). The next day they dipped the flows and only had one hookup and no fish—but it was great learning to wade in an unbelievable fishery : and at the right time of year, I'll be back! Was glad to get out on the water when our Maine season is still a gleam in the eye—for most!

What are the best things I can read on the ethic, the science, the history, and the philosophy behind catch and release fly fishing?

How did it develop? Was it always the way it is now? How do wildlife biologists view it?

What's a good read on the "I keep one" and the "I never keep one" kinds of battles we sometimes see on sites and in real life?

Any recommendations—fishing magazines, books, chapters of books—anything people have found useful—would really be welcome.

thanks a lot!

After attending Mal's Newbie session a couple of years ago, I've hit the striper water without success. Didn't hit it as hard as as the freshwater, but was ready for the tug. Thanks to Mal's teaching and some help from FreeportD, I finally hooked up. A Schoolie, not big--but it was GREAT to beat the Striper Skunk, as you can see from my smile:



Really appreciate it, guys!

The full report is at:

http://web.colby.edu...hing-professor/

FreeportD and I met up in the north country. We managed to rouse a few salmon—carefully and quickly, and healthily I might add, returned to the water in the heat—using griffith's gnats and a fly D learned from joela:



A couple days later we met up with Lost510 stripering, but mostly it was us who got lost. D did better the next morning out on the ocean, teaming up with a sharky kind of guy, where after a few steel-leader adjustments, they went tight with some blues:



Those really look like they'd pull! Maybe a good idea I didn't hook up on my 7 weight!

I did get out a few days later with my friend Shedman, an experienced raft guide. This is the way you fly fish hopping out of the raft:



For the full story of the northern adventure, see:

http://web.colby.edu...hing-professor/