It was a cool cloudy October morning, me and my fellow trout fishing buddy, Chris Forth, set out down river in search of the perfect riffle, the one where the ever-elusive wild trout was hiding. Both of us have been fly-fishing for only a few short months and the sport has captured our attention and love for fishing. As we waded down river, near the bank, careful not to disturb the fish, we could not help but admire the beautiful scenery, very few words were spoken between us as we continued toward our unknown destination, but we both new why we were here. One half to three quarters of a mile down river we discovered a really nice cut where the river narrowed and moved swiftly through a gentle curve. We decided to begin about 50 yards down stream with the intent of working upstream toward the faster water. We were very careful not to disturb what fish maybe lurking in the swift water by walking the bank of the river. I tied on a #14 Wolff with a #12 tan scud dropper. I was using a 6X-tapered leader with 6X fluorocarbon tippet material connecting the scud to the Wolff. I am a firm believer that the smaller the leader/tippet the better your chances for a strike and the 6X fluorocarbon worked well on this trip. I also put a #5 split shot on the head of the scud in an effort to get the nymph down to the bottom of the stream in the fast moving current.
As I began casting, my anticipation was high, I had yet to catch a wild trout on the North Fork and my two previous trips to the River of Life Farm were unsuccessful. The first few casts hit their mark, no strike. It was difficult to see the Wolff in the foaming current so I decided to add a strike indicator to the leader about 20” up from the Wolff. Back in business, with better visibility, after a few more unsuccessful casts, I decided to move slowly upstream closer to the gentle curve where the water was moving very swiftly over small to medium submerged rocks. The water was rolling and it was difficult to see the strike indicator much less the Wolff. Due to the over hanging trees it became necessary to cast in more of a side ways motion. Slowly and methodically I worked the scud into the fastest part of the current. As it moved passed me, I was concentrating intensely on the motion of the strike indicator when all of the sudden it made an upstream movement, I pulled the rod up at a 45 degree angle and held tight on the fly line and set the hook, I instantly thought, I got him! I yelled down river to Chris that I had hooked a fish. Now, I thought to myself, you got to get him in, so I began to work the fish toward the shallow water taking care to keep just enough tension on the line. The fish rolled on the surface, it was not a jump, just an attempt to gain slack in the line in order to try and expel the fly. The trout was unsuccessful, I still had him. At this point judging from the fight, It appeared to be a nice size fish. As I slowly drew the fish closer toward me, all the while directing the fish into the shallows the trout became tangled in the moss. It was a beautiful rainbow, one of the largest I have ever caught. As I bent over to grasp the trout the scud dislodged from the trout’s mouth, however since the fish was somewhat tangled in the moss it could not get away. I picked up the fish, it took both hands, my first wild trout, I thought to myself. I hurried to get the trout to the bank of the river with the intention of taking a few quick photographs and returning the fish to the river.
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