Brooke Wilson, I call her Brookie for short. Her full name is Brooke Rainbow Wilson. Yeah, her parents were hippies I guess. This time of year she pretty much owns me, I'll do dang near anything to spend time with her and so far this season, we seem to really be hitting it off.I've noticed some other fishermen, and spoken with a couple and I get the sense that most of them just don't know how to court Ms. Wilson. One guy today was fishing a dry fly down stream! I stood and watched him fish the top end of this run I had taken 15 trout from on my last outing and couldn't resist stepping into the pool below him and on my third role cast hooking a rainbow that jumped like his fins were on fire.
Took a second trout and then felt bad for showing the poor guy up and eased out of the pool, giving him a simple nod as we passed on opposite banks. As I moved up to the run above I kept an eye on this fellow and watched him switch sides and wade out to where I had been, but still, never saw him take a trout while I took 3 more from the small run above him. I spoke with another angler who shared that he'd only caught two fish. He boasted of his fly tying prowess and that he had "put a buddy on a 20" at the Davidson yesterday"- maybe so, maybe so. I didn't divulge what I'd done so far, or that I'd landed one probably bigger than his buddy's.
I did see one piscator in a group of three who took two small trout from a nice run while I sat slightly out of view and ate my sandwich. His one buddy must've been frustrated at the pool he was fishing because the "catcher" kept calling instructions out to him and as I got up to leave the novice moved over and stood right next to his pal, lessons I guess. The third guy was flailing like crazy in a run I had taken trout on 5 consecutive casts on opening week. I didn't see him take anything and he slogged quickly upstream, passing two or three nice looking runs. Ok, I feel like I'm boasting now, and pride goes before the skunk. On any given day the fish gods can fill our hubris with wind knots. I think most of Ms. Wilson's suiters are committed to nymphing, while I spend most my time drifting to a swing and then stripping it home- don't see any reason to change up an effective strategy.
I wonder if it's too soon to call and ask Ms. Wilson for another date. Were becoming quite an item.
Ms. Wilson had a bit of a cold shoulder today with some nasty gusts. But after cruising through some familiar sections I eventually worked my way up to new water and ended up at about 3:00 in a flat upper section with little structure. I took a spill and sat out for a bit to dry off, had a couple of hits but no takes in this so-so section and just for good measure, hoofed it back to the run where I took the big girl at the beginning of the day and took a few more from that section just for good measure before turning for home about 4pm.
After seeing a medley of fishing dog pictures in the Drake I decided I should take my mongrel and give her another try. She did much better this time. Oddly, for being a lab mix she doesn't like water, which is perfect. She only wades out to stand right by me and other than trying to retrieve a fish I'm landing, she was a good companion.
I wonder if it's too soon to call and ask Ms. Wilson for another date. Were becoming quite an item.
2 comments:
Great Googa Mooga! that's a hunk of burning love! sweet day Gov. I'm green with envy. I tell you, your home water is so much prettier than mine.. at least at this time of year. Wish yours were more fertile, and had native fish.
Yeah, it's beautiful water no doubt, it's fun to fish because there is so much variety. What do you mean native fish. The only fish native to these waters are brook trout and that's what I've been talking about. It's just a technicality that they spend the first few months or years of their lives in a cement pond- their still Carolina born and bred!
I wonder what would happen if DWR took a stream like wilson, but with out access and planted native Brooks there and closed it for a few years and then opened it for fly fishing catch and release only. Wonder how big the fish would get and how many of them. The native populations are in such small streams I wonder if that is what limits their growth or if that's just the size of the wild strain... need to do some research on that.
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