I returned home from work on Tuesday afternoon and decided to travel to a nearby river with one of my roommates. We have been fly fishing it for the past several months, as it is close and also open year-round. Rumors of hold-over and sea-run brown trout had filled our ears from various fly shops and individuals, but we had yet to confirm that any type of fish species resided in the river’s cold winter water. We arrived at the river and rigged up. I tied on a black bead-head wooly bugger with a bead-head copper john tied behind that. I have been fishing similar rigs on this river for a little while, trying to improve my nymphing skills on this water which is new to me (I just moved to Portland last fall). I walked down to the river and saw a tasty pool on the far bank. I took three steps in an attempt to cross the river and on the fourth, I found the river’s depth increased by an amount that was more than I was willing to actually determine. After a short walk up river, over a bridge and back down the other bank, I was in position. There were several currents of varying velocity and size entering this pool and I floated them all, roll casting different lengths of line, trying different retrieve speeds, or no retrieve at all. Some amount of time passed as I fished the pool from different angles. The pool looked so good; I was sure there was at least one fish in it. I was about three casts from changing flies and rigs completely when I let one drift go from my 10 o’clock to about 3 o’clock. As I picked up my line to flip it forward, it did not move. A quick pull and I felt the solid hookup; my first of the season, and first since last fall. Every possible tactic I had ever heard about how to not lose a fish was cycling through my head as I followed the fish downstream for a few steps, then got him up-river of me. A few minutes later and he was in my net, a beautiful brown trout. The feeling of success on a river that had left me skunked and frustrated too many times was amazing. I’m sure all can relate. A quick picture and the fish swam free. First fish of the season and that got the skunk off the water.
bfc:
It’s great to get rid of the smell for a while. It’s also great to see a nice fish from the North lands that I know have been a little cold of late. I was fishing on the Yellow Breeches a few weeks ago (early opening water in Pennsylvania) and was very lucky to lose the stench for a while, too. I was able to bring a small 12″ brown to net after he attacked my strike indicator. (I guess he was a stockie; but, it’s been a long winter for me too!) The lucky part was that I hooked him in the anal fin. I know that this means I still stink, but it’s not the same as the skunk stench!
Congrats on the nice fish!
Dave
Nice fish…Congrats!!
Jesse, I think the harbor porpoises out there in Casco Bay may be considering a migration up that river after all of this rain. Just heard that several rivers down your way are cresting their banks and getting well beyond flood stage…….no end to this rain in sight.
Good looking fish. Way to get the skunk off!
Nice! Thanks for sharing the story.
great work …. in my experience, it is not easy finding fish, never mind catching fish in river systems .. very early in the season … the water temps are typically just still way to cold .. and although warm air temps might be “warm” … it still does not help much because all of the snow run off is literally making a river “ice-water” … so, i have found that april can be a tough month becasue the fish are still back in the deep pools/lakes or ponds .. and just too cold and lethargic to move much … so, great work .. all your hard winter and early-season work paid off … congrats