I'm on vacation, and although I've been known to enjoy a good massage, everyone knows I'm not much of a girlie-girl, so a day at the spa getting my hair and nails done is not on my agenda. Besides, my nails are too short for a proper manicure, I'm not good at planning ahead enough to make an appointment anywhere, and I look rather silly driving up to the Aveda Spa in my truck.
Sunrise from my porch.
First rule of fishing: "Cloud cover is beneficial to catching more fish."
So I was happy that the clouds were in the sky.
So I was happy that the clouds were in the sky.
I'm driving toward Poudre Canyon and the mountains west of Ft. Collins thinking "go clouds!" I catch fish pretty well on a sunny day, so today ought to be awesome.
The view overlooking the river from Highway 14 toward the south, up at Moraine Park, just east of the fish hatchery. My truck looks much better parked in front of this view than in front of Aveda Spa.
After doing the "before" selfie, confident that many fish are just waiting to be caught, I clammer down the hill to the river and set up my rig.
I fish the first hole, and start working my way upstream to the next, and then the next, and then the next.
There are some more rules that I've learned fly-fishing.
1) "If you don't have a strike by the third cast, you are not presenting the right fly." This rule can be a pain because when using two flies at the same time, and then changing one of them after every third cast, you spend a lot of time standing in the river pulling on fishing line trying not to drop things into the river.
2) "Watch the bugs that are flying around you to see what the fish are eating." Ok, on this cloudy and cool day, there are only very small grey bugs in the air that I can barely see. That means if I match them, I will be tying on very tiny bugs that I can barely see, and my hands are already cold after only 1/2 hour on the river.....so I spend a lot of time standing in the river trying not to drop things.
3) "If you don't see fish rising, then you need to tie on a double nymph rig and fish below the surface." So.... I don't see any fish rising. I give up on the small grey bugs, and start tying on small nymph flies while standing in the water trying not to drop things.
Did I tell you it was cold?
So, now I'm crashing through the brush to the next hole, holding my rod high so I don't snag it on anything,
wondering where the fish are because it's fall and the browns should be spawning,
and that means they should be hungry,
and that means they should be eating indiscriminately,
and that means that I should have had at least ONE strike,
and really, I should have caught something by now,
and hopefully there's not a bear near here,
and now there's a perfect hole, but there's a large downed tree in my way and I'm on the wrong side of the river,
and wow! a bald eagle swoops down out of the tree right above my head and flies off across the river.
It obviously had its eye on the same hole that I did.....which means there are fish somewhere!
Lunchtime.
Well?
Did I catch anything in that first three hours?
Read on.
Refreshed after a sandwich and a can of Mama's Little Yellow Pills (thank you, Oskar Blues), I find a new promising spot on the river, and am ready to go at it again.
Colder, bundled up quite a bit more, but still pretty confident; can't you tell?
See the smooth water in front of those rocks? Fish tend to be right in front of those rocks on the edge of the rippling water just waiting for food to float by.
Big browns who are spawning and eating anything that happens to float by.
Brings to mind another rule of fly fishing: "Cast your fly just above the edge of the rock and let it drift through the hole; you're sure to catch a fish."
Well, apparently not today.
Alright, so maybe I'm a little frustrated at my lack of catching fish.
Time to take a break and remember my favorite saying of fishing and the most important rule of all:
"Standing in the river waving a stick."
It's actually the title of a book written by a famous fly-fisherman, and it explains perfectly the zen moment when you realize that it really is about being outside and one with nature. It' my go-to saying when I have days like today.
Now it's starting to rain, and once again, I've worked my way upstream from hole to hole to hole, not having any luck.
Time is running short on me.
Screw the zen.
I have a new secret weapon.......the panty dropper.
I'm breaking the rules here.
There is not a single very large pink foam bug flying around in the air close to me.
The grasshoppers probably all died a couple of weeks ago.
There's no finesse when throwing this bad girl on the water.
I really should be offended by the name, but couldn't help buying the fly thinking maybe it would bring good luck.
And wouldn't you know, even though I didn't hook any of them on the line, within ten minutes, several fish in the same hole eagerly rose and snatched at the panty dropper floating on the surface of the water.
I'll be fishing with her more often.
And yes, I caught one fish today right before lunch. A big beautiful brown that was at least 18 inches in length.
Picture proof? Nope, because I couldn't imagine that was the only fish I would catch all day.
You'll just have to believe me. :)
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