flyfishnevada
07-28-2010, 11:38 AM
I received a private message from a guy who goes by 'fly addict' on the Fly Fishing Addicts forums, which I post on from time to time. Mark, his real world name, had seen my blog and he a couple of buddies, all from southern California, were planning a week of camping and fishing in the Bridgeport area and wanted to know if I would like to meet up and fish the East Walker one day. Sounded like fun, so I accepted and we agreed to meet Tuesday morning at the Hays Street Cafe in Bridgeport.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2556.jpg
After meeting Mark, and his buddies, Larry and Tom, and having a hearty breakfast we headed out to the East Walker a little after 8:00 am. We rigged up and Mark, Larry and I walked downstream while Tom fished near the dam. Just about every good spot was taken until we were about a quarter mile from the dam. Guides and clients were everywhere and were were surprised to find a nice little hole empty and proceeded to fish nymphs until Mark and I spotted a nice sized fish tailing in some slack water across the river. I was closest, so I tied on a little yellow sally, the only fly I had that matched both the size and color of the few caddis on the stream. It didn't take but one good drift and the fish took the fly. It turned out to be a nice 16 inch brown and our last fish for a while.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2553.jpg
I switched back to a nymph and we fished up and down the section of river with nothing to show. Now the flows were up around 290 CFS and had been jacked around for the last few days, so we figured the fish were just doing what a good East Walker trout does in that situation. Sulks. That was until Mark noticed a nice fish about 2 feet from him. Then another and another. We had unwittingly waded out into knee deep water to fish the riffle beyond and were standing amongst the fish! We backed up and began fishing for the 8 to 12 trout we could see. These fish were not spooky in the slightest. You could all but step on them before they would move. Still it was slow, but we all managed to catch some of those trout and played around there until Tom showed up and we headed back to the trucks for lunch.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2564.jpg
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2559.jpg
A couple of notes on the morning fishing. The trout were mostly browns and were very active. The fish were feeding, some clearing the water chasing damsels, some tailing in a back eddy, some in just a couple feet of water taking nymphs. Mark showed me a neat technique to get a damsel imitation to hover over the water with a bead head nymph as a dropper. It took a little finesse to get it right, but it worked. Unfortunately, only the other damsel flies were interested in my imitation. The trout continued to sporadically take the naturals, or try to anyway as many misjudged the little flies. Larry and I, as we were spotting trout in the current, saw troutzilla for an instant. Now it could have been a carp, but I don't think so. This thing was huge!! You know how your mind plays tricks, but it was 1.5 to 2 times the size of the 14-16 inches we were spotting.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2561.jpg
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2565.jpg
Anyway, after we had a much needed lunch under the apple tree by the dam, Tom and Larry both wandered off as Mark showed me how to tie his modified Czech nymph rig. He learned it from a real Czech guy named "Z". He didn't spell it for me and I didn't ask. We then headed out just a couple hundred yards below the spillway and and I practiced throwing the rig. Again, the fish were active, but not interested in what we were throwing. Mark caught a couple, and I got zip. After a trout shot out from behind a boulder and then refused my flies immediately after they hit the water and seeing all the other trout jumping and rising, I thought I needed to change things up and went to a hopper and dropper. Nada!
Then Mark found a bunch of fish again stacked up in couple feet of quieter water picking off nymphs as they floated by. We fished for them, for about an hour, with little luck. Eventually, I was doing all the casting as Mark, and then Tom, searched their boxes for something that might work and tied them on for me. We got some follows and bumps, but no real takes. Very frustrating. We finally gave up and headed back tot he trucks. Then Larry shows up as I'm getting ready to head home and holds up six fingers. I didn't hear what he caught them on, but he got them right below the dam.
Thanks to Mark for inviting me along. All three guys were great and good fishing companions. I fish alone a lot, so it was nice to get a little different perspective and learn a couple of new techniques. Besides the camaraderie, that may be the best thing about fishing with others. It can get you out of your rut. I look forward to meeting up with Mark, Larry and Tom again.
A few more pics on the blog, as usual. Link in signature.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2556.jpg
After meeting Mark, and his buddies, Larry and Tom, and having a hearty breakfast we headed out to the East Walker a little after 8:00 am. We rigged up and Mark, Larry and I walked downstream while Tom fished near the dam. Just about every good spot was taken until we were about a quarter mile from the dam. Guides and clients were everywhere and were were surprised to find a nice little hole empty and proceeded to fish nymphs until Mark and I spotted a nice sized fish tailing in some slack water across the river. I was closest, so I tied on a little yellow sally, the only fly I had that matched both the size and color of the few caddis on the stream. It didn't take but one good drift and the fish took the fly. It turned out to be a nice 16 inch brown and our last fish for a while.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2553.jpg
I switched back to a nymph and we fished up and down the section of river with nothing to show. Now the flows were up around 290 CFS and had been jacked around for the last few days, so we figured the fish were just doing what a good East Walker trout does in that situation. Sulks. That was until Mark noticed a nice fish about 2 feet from him. Then another and another. We had unwittingly waded out into knee deep water to fish the riffle beyond and were standing amongst the fish! We backed up and began fishing for the 8 to 12 trout we could see. These fish were not spooky in the slightest. You could all but step on them before they would move. Still it was slow, but we all managed to catch some of those trout and played around there until Tom showed up and we headed back to the trucks for lunch.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2564.jpg
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2559.jpg
A couple of notes on the morning fishing. The trout were mostly browns and were very active. The fish were feeding, some clearing the water chasing damsels, some tailing in a back eddy, some in just a couple feet of water taking nymphs. Mark showed me a neat technique to get a damsel imitation to hover over the water with a bead head nymph as a dropper. It took a little finesse to get it right, but it worked. Unfortunately, only the other damsel flies were interested in my imitation. The trout continued to sporadically take the naturals, or try to anyway as many misjudged the little flies. Larry and I, as we were spotting trout in the current, saw troutzilla for an instant. Now it could have been a carp, but I don't think so. This thing was huge!! You know how your mind plays tricks, but it was 1.5 to 2 times the size of the 14-16 inches we were spotting.
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2561.jpg
http://flyfishnevada.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/img_2565.jpg
Anyway, after we had a much needed lunch under the apple tree by the dam, Tom and Larry both wandered off as Mark showed me how to tie his modified Czech nymph rig. He learned it from a real Czech guy named "Z". He didn't spell it for me and I didn't ask. We then headed out just a couple hundred yards below the spillway and and I practiced throwing the rig. Again, the fish were active, but not interested in what we were throwing. Mark caught a couple, and I got zip. After a trout shot out from behind a boulder and then refused my flies immediately after they hit the water and seeing all the other trout jumping and rising, I thought I needed to change things up and went to a hopper and dropper. Nada!
Then Mark found a bunch of fish again stacked up in couple feet of quieter water picking off nymphs as they floated by. We fished for them, for about an hour, with little luck. Eventually, I was doing all the casting as Mark, and then Tom, searched their boxes for something that might work and tied them on for me. We got some follows and bumps, but no real takes. Very frustrating. We finally gave up and headed back tot he trucks. Then Larry shows up as I'm getting ready to head home and holds up six fingers. I didn't hear what he caught them on, but he got them right below the dam.
Thanks to Mark for inviting me along. All three guys were great and good fishing companions. I fish alone a lot, so it was nice to get a little different perspective and learn a couple of new techniques. Besides the camaraderie, that may be the best thing about fishing with others. It can get you out of your rut. I look forward to meeting up with Mark, Larry and Tom again.
A few more pics on the blog, as usual. Link in signature.