WRITING ON THE FLY
By George Liset
The weather looked perfect for a day of fly fishing. The forecast was for a partly cloudy day with temperatures around fifty degrees and winds around five mph. So I grabbed a cup of coffee and a protein bar at my local 7-11 and headed north to some of the tributaries that flow into Lake Winnipesaukee.
I had taken a ride up the week before to see if any fish were coming up river to spawn.
The week before I had seen and caught a big sucker on an olive bead head wooly bugger. I enjoy casting streamers. Casting is quintessential fly fishing. The purists would argue that any other method is not fly fishing, and the consummate purist would say that you also need to use a bamboo rod. However, I like to catch fish, even small ones. So on this trip I decided to start by using my nymphing rod.
For the casual fisherman, nymphing in the fly fishing world is considered one step up from bumping worms on the bottom, although nymphing has gained in popularity.
The concept behind nymphing is that ninety percent of the fish that are caught are below the water’s surface and nymphing is a technique that allows your flies to drift near the bottom where the fish are holding. The casting motion is more of a slinging action than an actual cast.
I rigged up my ten-foot Douglas five weight and attached a small weight to my leader and then tied on a size sixteen bead head soft hackle with a size eighteen soft hackle as a dropper. A dropper is a fly that is attached to the top fly either at the hook bend or above the top fly on the tippet. I had not used this set up for awhile.
As I was heading toward the river the temperature dropped and a big cloud came by and dumped some rain on me. My first reaction was this was going to be a long day. I slung my first cast up river and watched my line slowly drift downstream. As I was about to pick up my line and cast again, I felt a tug and reeled in a small Dace. I breathed a sigh of relief that at least I wasn’t going to get shut out.
As I moved up river I could see pods of suckers sitting on the bottom eager to spawn. A few minutes later I thought that I was hung up on the bottom until my rod tip started bouncing. I then realized I was into a big sucker. Suckers are like the tanks of fish. They sit on the bottom and dare you to reel them in. They also have soft mouths that make it difficult to land, especially on small hooks.
I took my time and tried not to rip the hook out of his mouth. After about five minutes I had him to the net when the hook came out of his mouth. I touched him with the net so I think that counts! I continued up river with not much luck. I came to an area that had riffles and tried my luck. After a few casts I had a big tug and the water exploded. It looked like the cover of Fly fishing Magazine. After a few minutes I landed a beautiful twenty inch plus Rainbow Trout. It was so big I couldn’t hold it in one hand. Well O.K, I have small hands, but it was big.
I released him and continued up river where I caught his little brother, another beautiful Rainbow. At this point in time a seasoned fisherman might have retied his flies, but noooo, I didn’t. That’s when I caught a nice Landlocked Salmon. This Salmon was a jumper. On his third jump I felt my line go slack. As I reeled in I saw my tippet had broken midway between flies.
As it began to flurry I decided to call it a day. The weather in the Lakes Region is so unpredictable, just like the fishing. I decided on the drive home I might keep nymphing until dry fly season on the ponds. I enjoy casting, but I enjoy catching more.