I love fishing out west, here’s a picture of a 20+ inch caught on Tarryall Creek in Colorado. What a wonderful day to fish.  It was early April and the willows were starting to put out their buds.  I remember as a youngster gathering the budding stocks and taking them home to put in a vase to display them.  A few weeks later the fluffy ends would disintegrate but they were a beautiful arrangement with a few violets feathered between the stocks.  A wonderful reflection on my sixty third birthday. 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎈🎊🎉🎊🎉🎂🎊🎉🎊🎉🎁🎊🎉🎊🎉

Newbies in fly fishing somehow come to me with some peculiar ideas. Like, that they have to cast a fly 25-30 feet in order to catch fish. I think to many would be trout fishermen have watched "A River Runs Though It" or some fly casting video, where they observed someone making long casts, and hundreds of false casts while standing in a vast tirade of fast running water in a large Western stream.

The scenario, and, idea is almost as notable as the myths and legends of classic greek literature.

Most of the really big fish I have caught were no more then 10-12 feet away.    In fact, the largest brown I have ever landed ( not hooked ) Was laying in a location which I had just jumped over in an area of a small stream that was six to eight inches deep, and only 3-4 feet across. He was laying close to a rock and never moved when I came by,  10 minutes later, After many casts with no bites, I flicked my fly in that direction in a half hearted attempt to be met with a violent explosion!

One of these sorts arrived from parts unknown to me, and asked, how many big trout are we going to catch today?

To which I replied, we will see many 20-30 inch fish, but the catching will be strictly up to you! Follow my instructions lets start with watching how you cast. He then took a rod, I had two prepared, and started showing me how not to do it whipping his whole arm and body into a frenzy while I heard the line pop like a whip behind me.  I showed him a simple roll cast several times and asked him to emulate it. Later that day after he broke off the sixth $5 large Stonefly, I wanted kick him where the sun doesn’t  shine!!  But, I needed a more diplomatic approach of instruction that would help me, help him to catch fish!

My answer to the dilemma was to ask him if he knew where most of the predators which eat trout come from? He said most  likely from above. Right, eagles, Osprey, bears and most other large predators attack sitting trout from above, so then I asked, what do you think happens to the disposition of an animal in extremely clear water that sees all kinds of movement from above?  

He replied I guess they hide or flee. I said, not always, most of the time they hug close to the bottom, and not waste energy and become trap mouthed and ready to bolt if the water above is disturbed. So, if you are flailing your hands arms and a rod in all directions, a trout seeing that, will not take even the best placed fly. It is not interested in eating, but ready to bolt.

It looks pretty, all the false casting, but it is not affective. Even if you could cast 30-40 feet upstream, your presentation will be lacking. Your fly will look unrealistic to picky eaters especially those who have been hooked before, the big ones. Those kinds of casts work best for retrieval of large wooly buggers or a quick float of a surface fly that you will retrieve.

After a stealthy stalk to another pool, where a few real bruisers were hovering a few feet from the surface, he made the short 10-12 foot loop cast I had taught him, and, WHAM! right off a strike by a nice 18-20 inch brown. No, it wasn't one of the big fish in that pool, and the fight spooked everything there, but now I had him thinking right where he needed to be. 

A few pools and an hour later he had a 28 inch bow on, which he landed, later a 20+ inch brook trout. 

I had converted him into a stealth fisherman.

I have fished many a stream from East coast to the West, many a fine bodies of water to include all the major rivers of Montana,  Colorado and Idaho, yet  I still love my favorite spots on the upper Toccoa River in North Georgia.  I’ve caught some fabulous fish in these home waters. A few below.

A day on the water

A few weeks ago while guiding a fellow guides client who was having a bad day fishing asked me. "Why do you pursue these stupid fish?"  I had never been asked that question before! It took me by surprise and I had to think for a moment how to answer.  I said stand here a moment, look, listen, breathe, feel. Look at the trees as they move and sway with the breeze. See the faint reflections of branches as they play like fingers on the water. Listen to the rustle of the breeze, the gurgle of the stream as it cascades over rocks. Smell the different fragrances that float through the air? Feel the cool water as it slaps against the wadders and it wets the hand as you play the line.  Fishing’s a myriad of experiences that have little things to do with chasing the fish.  That’s why I am on the water as often as possible.