The tide turned as I stood in the half frozen water. Miniature Icebergs drifted by and and I could not believe my eyes. The sea run browns were slurping flies of the surface as if it were a warm june evening. A fairly significant hatch was transpiring, so I did what only seemed logical. I tied on a dry fly. Yup, the good old Parachute Adams. I put it out in the zone and watched it drift down stream. Then, I saw the sight that we all love to see. A nice brown came up and slurped my fly off the surface. I set the hook and that was that. He was on my line. What a blast. Catching trout on the surface is surely the best way to get em. I love getting them any way I can, but there is certainly something great about getting them on the surface. I love watching the fly drift aimlessly downstream, watching the trout take the fly and the sound of the flyline peeling off the water when I set the hook. I never get tired of it. So anyway, as the tide came to the end of its cycle things slowed down on the surface. So, I went for them below the surface and got em down there too. It won’t come as a surprise when I tell you what I was using. Yup! Ye Old Olive Beed Head Wooly Bugger. Never fails. I fished it a little differently than normal due to the cold water temperatures. I casted the Wooly upstream and dead drifted it for about 3/4 of the drift. Then on the last 1/4 part of the drift I would strip it in with 2 inch strips. I think this was…a good tactic because it emulated some sort of emerger making its way from the bottom to the top. I picked up another nice brown while applying this technique. Then it starting getting dark and I could not feel my toes, so I called it quits. I must say, I never expected to be catching Sea Run Browns on dry flies this early in the season. A good part of the river is still covered with ice. I guess you never can tell. Here is a picture of the fish and bugs that were coming off the water. I don’t know what kind of bugs they are. Do you? If so let me know.
Congratulations, jer. That’s an Early Black Stonefly and you got over trout when the hatch was in progress. Tom Ames’ New England Hatch Guide is a good reference to carry. Indespensable Bug Bible.
marsh
black stone fly – great to know – thanks marsh. is the kennebec river doing anything up there?