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A Memorable Day Last Season - returning to Wets

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nativebrownie	A Memorable Day Last Season - returning to Wets		Lead	[-]
Posts: 642 01/25/2009 11:44	Tags : None I enjoyed many fine days astream last season - things were good here as heavy rains in May carried us throughout the season. But one day keeps coming back to me.. over and over. A quiet weekday in September on a heavily fished small stream here in the East. I was rereading some older works on wet fly fishing - particularly Ray Ovington and Larry Koller's works. Water was very low and remarkably clear and the day sparkled as they can in mid September here. It was careful stalking upstream flipping a pair of largish wet flies to likely holds - all day the flies remained - a #10 Leadwing Coachman on point and a #12 Coachman on a dropper. A 8'3" FET Dirrigo (beautifully restored from a 8'6" wet fly taper by one of our wonderfully talented restorationists) that is remarkably soft in the mid through tip - overlined with a DT6F for this short work brought me back to that earlier era - my, that cedar spacer glowed. In my habit rutted brain, I have fished wet flies seldom in past years. So maybe it was this newness or the reconnection to some times past on this beautiful September day that strikes me now. The fishing was good...some nice small wild fish ... interesting to see a #10 Leadwing Coachman in the side of a small brownie's jaw when my usual offering of recent years on those same waters would be a #20 ant or adams. The day sparkles still in my memory... I just keep returning... Funny for me how one particular day keeps coming back - for maybe unspectacular reasons... NB
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laxdad		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 26 01/25/2009 12:37	nativebrownie wrote: I enjoyed many fine days astream last season - things were good here as heavy rains in May carried us throughout the season. But one day keeps coming back to me.. over and over. A quiet weekday in September on a heavily fished small stream here in the East. I was rereading some older works on wet fly fishing - particularly Ray Ovington and Larry Koller's works. Water was very low and remarkably clear and the day sparkled as they can in mid September here. It was careful stalking upstream flipping a pair of largish wet flies to likely holds - all day the flies remained - a #10 Leadwing Coachman on point and a #12 Coachman on a dropper. A 8'3" FET Dirrigo (beautifully restored from a 8'6" wet fly taper by one of our wonderfully talented restorationists) that is remarkably soft in the mid through tip - overlined with a DT6F for this short work brought me back to that earlier era - my, that cedar spacer glowed. In my habit rutted brain, I have fished wet flies seldom in past years. So maybe it was this newness or the reconnection to some times past on this beautiful September day that strikes me now. The fishing was good...some nice small wild fish ... interesting to see a #10 Leadwing Coachman in the side of a small brownie's jaw when my usual offering of recent years on those same waters would be a #20 ant or adams. The day sparkles still in my memory... I just keep returning... Funny for me how one particular day keeps coming back - for maybe unspectacular reasons... NB Beautifully written.......You made it vivid and memorable.....Geo
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Chuck441		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 26 01/25/2009 13:20	My, what a refreshing change from "I killed 'em! Musta caught forty fish!". The latter attitude affects a percentage of us flyfishers, but my sense is that we cane folk are more likely to actually enjoy the act of fishing. Nicely done. Chuck
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corlay.fiberglassflyro...		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 11 01/25/2009 21:16	glad you had fun! I fish wets, with a down-and-across swing probably 80% of the time; and really enjoy it. I've been stream fishing for trout only 3 yrs. now, and my Father being my teacher and mentor, has taught me to fish this way. This past Fall, I started to experiment with dries, and also had lots of fun. But I find dry-fly fishing stressful in comparison: "Is my tippet thin enough" "Is my fly the right size?" "The right pattern?" "Is my drift drag-free?" "am I disturbing the water too much with my presentation?" etc. Wet-fly fishing is much more relaxing, IMO. And I like that you can cover a lot of water with this method. I will continue to fish dries this coming season, and will continue to sharpen the skills I've begun to develop; but I imagine that swinging wets will always be my preference. Side Note: Nice to see that you had some success with your wets in summer, with low-water conditions. I tend to strike-out more often than not, under those circumstances. The main reason I started using dries this Fall, was because they proved to be more successful during that time.
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nativebrownie		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 643 01/26/2009 00:30	Laxdad, thank you for the kind words... funny how that one day really stands out in my memory - the rocks, the day, the highlights... appreciated.. Chuck, yes, that was probably what stuck with me that day... the cane, mid Sept, the actions of that day...Oh, and the cane again... I agree that one could suspect that cane users may go in moreso for the act of fishing... Thanks... Corlay, it was fun and, as you mentioned, surprisingly so in low water- it all happened through the polaroids... Speak of important actions in fishing, you and your father are lucky to share a day together - swinging wet flies, even... NB
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jeffkn1		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1786 01/26/2009 19:02	Two of my most memorable holdover browns out of a heavily fished Eastern stream were taken with traditional wets, a March Brown for one and a Marryat for the other. Both were evening fish taken taken out of holes with a down-and-across, and a handtwist retrieve. They didn't convince me I could take fish with wets, because I'd learned that some seasons prior, but they proved to me that good browns could be taken with simple patterns and relatively unsophisticated techniques.
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blacknosedace	Returning to Wets	#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 57 01/26/2009 19:41	I've been a fan of old fashioned wet flies for while now - since I reread Ray Bergman. Corlay is right; swinging wets downstream is, for me, the most relaxing way to fish. And, for a bonus, the strike is usually an electrifying jolt. As much fun as the fishing are the flies themselves. They are great fun to tie. And those fancy patterns (reds, greens, yellows, jungle cock eyes) and evocative names (Blue Blow, Indian Rock, Orangto, Neverwas) keep us in touch with the heritage of the sport as much as the bamboo rods we love.
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slate river		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 34 01/26/2009 20:43	I agree some of my best days on Eastern waters have been swinging wet flies down and across. I get a chance to fish the Catskill rivers a lot in the spring and have caught some of my best fish with wet flies. There is some thing about fishing a brace of classic wet flies patterns on an old bamboo rod that gives one the feeling of harkening back to days gone by. Plus, it is a whole lot of fun...plain and simple. Bob
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Chuck441		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 27 01/26/2009 21:46	There is some thing about fishing a brace of classic wet flies patterns on an old bamboo rod that gives one the feeling of harkening back to days gone by. Plus, it is a whole lot of fun...plain and simple. Hey, Bob- they also catch fish! What a combination! Chuck
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nativebrownie		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 644 01/26/2009 21:47	I always enjoy reading how some great and real veterans just look at some the Catskill waters in mid - May and say "All I'd ever want to do is swing a pair of wets down through that stretch." Would be nice...real nice... NB
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wb4tjh		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 466 01/27/2009 13:55	I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who fishes a fly besides a dry most of the time. While I really enjoy casting to and catching rising fish on dries, but most of the time I find myself fishing the old across and down with a wet fly or nymph and I also find it a very enjoyable way to catch trout, as well as other stream fish. No flotant to worry with, no leader glare to worry with, no short float and then drag to worry about....just cast across and let the fly swing down, and I can't count the times the rod has almost been jerked out of my hand by a hungry fish. A couple of casts this way, and I take a few steps down stream and start it all over again. It's a darned good way to work a stream. I've caught hundreds of fine trout this way, and I have to admit, it's my favorite way to fish when no fish are rising. A lot of times I will tie on a wooly bugger or crawdad fly and as it swings downstrream, and impart some short, eratic jerks and twitches to the fly. I have caught my biggest trout this way. I love it when a big bow or brown hits a deep running fly like a freight train and the way the rod bends and comes alive under the throbbing load of a good fish. It just doesn't get any better than that. I've hooked some trout on the White and Norfork Rivers in Arkansas that really made me glad I had a 6 weight rod in my hands. I don't get to trout fish that often anymore since I moved to south Florida, but I am learning that these saltwater critters I now chase will also make the hair stand up on the back of my kneck when they slam a fly. A big pompano will tie a knot in an 8 weight rod like it's a noodle. But I have to admit, I do miss my coldwater trout fishing. Bill Anderson, Sarsota, Fl. "Bamboo is the Benchmark in flyrods".
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whatsleft2		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 673 01/27/2009 17:10	I fish wets more often than not and for me some of those old "tyme" flie names are quite familiar to me and have never left......who remembers the Hardee's Favorite...the Montreal. ..the Silver Doctor..!! As mentioned already such a traditional and befitting way to use banboo......!
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whatsleft2		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 674 01/27/2009 17:14	and so very nicely written nativebrownie....................you strung some words together there that really touched some memories .
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bobbeegee	Unforgettable days	#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 2332 01/27/2009 18:39	NB, Just read your post. Can't understand how I missed it............the senility creeps! Most certainly enjoyed your recollection of "one of those unforgettable days". Funny how the few I remember most took place in the autumn? bobbyg Go Heels!!!
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nativebrownie		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 646 01/29/2009 00:49	whatsleft2, much appreciated.. much... Bob, funny how Fall is so drop dead gorgeous.... my favorite time, easily..(what a minute, mid-March & brookies ain't bad)... NB
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Nympher1		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 325 01/29/2009 20:14	NB, Geeeez...the secret is out! There is nothing better than swinging a Leadwing Coachman with a Hare's Ear wet on the tail with a soft cane rod... I have to say I've been fishing that way since the early 70's... peacock is still my favorite tying material...it shows as much color variation as a fall day in New England... I love those old traditional wet flies and fish them often...but Syl Nemes has been pulling at me since his 1st book so I often combine a traditonal wet with one of his soft hackle patterns...I can feel the cabin fever creepin in... best regards.. ron
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A Memorable Day Last Season - returning to Wets

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