Big Fun
Wednesday July 14, 2010
Wow . . . that’s a big one. Rick landed this whale on a mouse last night. The boys were fishing huge flies after dark with no luck when they switched to something smaller and fooled this whale. Something very cool about stalking the darkness ‘til the thin hours of the morning. And you can’t argue with the results.
I nearly took the same approach last night, but got caught up in an olive spinner fall that had me casting size 18 spinners until nearly 11:30pm. I’d had my fill when it became mouse time. Of course, I’m kicking myself now—should’ve stayed out. Oh well, I had a great time anyway.
I think that’s part of what I like about this time of year; there’s lots of ways to skin the cat. If big fish in the dark is your thing, then you’ve got a great shot on any given night. If you just want to go toss flies all day at logs and bubble lines, then these rivers will certainly abide. If you want tough, technical dry fly fishing then mornings filled with tricos and olives will scratch that itch. And evening waters smattered with odd varieties of olives, cahills, and micro-caddis . . . well, that’s just fun. This is Summer fishing at it’s finest.
Tricos will be very early tomorrow morning as the night time low is only set to drop to 70, so I’m night fishing tonight. I’ve heard of some Hex left over on the mainstream and if they don’t show, I won’t care—this is a mousing night for me. It’s about a big one this evening. But if the forecast holds the tricos should be available for the 8am hour (more my speed).
I’ve got to fish the tricos quite a bit this year. I really haven’t spent enough time chasing them the last couple of seasons. We’ll blame it on the business. But now the young guys around here are doing such a great job, I think I can get out there in the morning.
Tricos are important. I see some of the best fishermen I see all year during this season. A lot of this big fish angling is a younger man’s game and is fueled as much by drive, enthusiasm, and desire as it is by skill. Though, often, these young anglers (like Rick and Mike from above) have equal portions of both. But the trico hatch is different. Walking further, staying later, pushing harder than the next guy isn’t going to help at all. Trico fishing on the AuSable is about patience, focus, and skill. It’s the most technical dry fly experience in the country. And it makes an angler better. If you want to be good at something, I mean really good at something, then you have to practice at the highest levels. If we’re talking about being a better dry fly angler then we’re talking about trico fishing. And I’ll save you the suspense—you’re not going to catch any big fish on the tiny white-winged black. Oh no, you’ll be hard pressed to break ten inches. If you do, smile to yourself because you just did something pretty cool. You’ll fish a size 20-26 imitation on 7 or 8x tippet during a blanket spinner flight. The bugs will be wing to wing. The water will be low and clear. The fish will be ultra selective. And you’ll have trouble seeing your fly. But you’ll get better. You’ll become a better angler.
Anyway, wish me luck. I’d like to get a big one tonight and a teener on a trico this season.
Andy
Oh! And no more road construction for us! It's done. At least until they paint the lines on the blacktop. But then it's done for sure. I hope. See you soon.
