Fish Ninja's

Sitting by a bush, watching fish the other day.
Slow movement out of the corner of my eye, caught my attention.
Creeping up the stream was a fish Ninja.
I could tell, because he was dressed like I was.
Camo hat, Olive shirt, darker waders, and a very low, stealthy approach.
He carried two rods held low, one rigged with a dry, the other rod rigged for nymphing.
Dropping one rod in a bush, he crawled towards the water.
He made a short cast, sidearm, and dropped his bobber into the foam seam and did a quick mend.
A nice fish immediately ate his offering, and he directed it downstream.
I laughed, and he saw me for the first time.
With a smile he nodded, and continued to school the fat rainbow he had on.
After the release, he waved and crept off through the bushes for the next one.

When you come here to fish, remember, there are people who spend a lot of time around here training fish. The fish dislike all the attention, and raise the bar on the entry level of fishers.
I constantly see people who wear a white shirt, and stroll up to the water, make a few ill considered false casts, and then splat something (not on the menu), on the head of a spooky fish.

If you burn to catch the best fish anyone has seen (or you've seen), you may consider improving the game you use.
When you hear 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish, this is a big part of it.

Most importantly, don't let them see or hear you coming.
Next most important, get the drift, the first attempt. No flailing please.
The bugs have a scedule, the fish follow it, so should you.
Do some research, seine the water, turn over a couple of rocks, just sit and gaze into the air.
If you raise your game, fish stats will improve.
When you do land a fatty, get your hands wet first, before you handle them.
Leave them in the water, tell the fish how beautiful it is, how well it fought.
When they go to school next time, it just might put in a good word for you.
"That guy with the camo hat was cool."
Every little bit helps.

Fishiness

We've got some Fall color starting to show.
Frosting more often at night.
Water temps are dropping, fishing is picking up!
Seeing some isonychia swarms, and I found an October Caddis house yesterday.
It was sealed up. I popped it open, and the tenant inside was almost fully developed.
Won't be long now.

Not everyone likes fly fishing, lakes, but I do.
Spent a few evenings on the water recently.
The inlets are going off!
Fish of dreams, in shallow water.
What more do you want? An invitation?
The little guys are rising, and macking on midges, caddis, hoppers on the surface.
Big guys waiting for a distracted little fry.
Try stripping a bugger with a midge off the back.
The best of both worlds.

Kokanee are running up now.
One great seasonal joy, is to walk the inlet streams.
It's like a mini Alaska. Eagles in the trees, spawned out salmon on the banks, bear tracks,
big fish chasing each other around.
Once in while, even a mackinaw, comes up to eat.
Everything seems to be bulking up for winter.
Must be coming a little early.
October is the "norm" for this.
I don't really care when it happens, as long as I'm there for it.

The evening window is the best, but if we don't get windy, you can catch them all day.
Come on up!

Dippers and such.

I watch birds. They often convey info that is beneficial to my fishing, and add pleasure to my time on the water to boot.
After all, many eat the insects, that the fish eat as well.
Birds often help me determine what's hatching, or what stage of insects the fish might be eating.
Since the different varieties of birds feed in different ways, once you learn what their normal style is, you can spot changes in feeding behavior.
Much like fish, birds will adopt the easiest feeding style, for the most food possible.
When a ground feeder like a Stellar Jay, is acting like a Gnat catcher, (Perching on a strategic limb, flying up, nabbing a bug, then returning to the limb.) I can safely bet that there is a large emergence of a flying insect like Termites, or Carpenter Ants.
I've seen ground feeding Brewers Blackbirds crash the surface of a stream to catch a green Drake. A risky business, since they aren't water birds.
I've seen Gulls, and Geese swimming together in aimless circles, sipping Callibaetis Spinners on the surface of a lake.
American Dippers, are my local favorite. I've heard that they mate for life, and since they stay here year-round, I see them most often.
They mostly feed subsurface, walking on the bottom of a stream.
One day this winter I was standing in the water, wondering what fly to fish.
I absently watched a Dipper.
It took a moment for me to realize, both Male and Female birds were feeding on freshly hatched midges dotting the snow bank like pepper.
Tree Swallows will chase emerging Mayflies near the water, or forty feet up during the bugs mating swarm. Once female Mayflies return to the waters surface to ova-posit, the Swallows will disturb the surface tension, leaving rings when they make a grab.
The up and back feeding style of a Gnat catcher, will change to a hover style, with the May's return to the water as well.
A birds, feeding frequency, will closely indicate the numbers of insects available to them.
An infrequent feeder reflects a sparse hatch, where as, busy birds indicate a feed is on!
As a fly fisherman, I need insights into insects of the watery realm.
Birds can give me an edge.
Spend some time watching our feathered friends, and you might catch more fish.

I thought I hooked the bottom.......

It's feeling more fallish all the time, a beautiful time to be alive and on the water!
No color change in the trees yet.
Seeing a small surge in bug hatches on slightly overcast days.
On the bright/hotter days it still slows a bit during midday.

A guide-friend and I were gentleman fishing a few days ago on the local tributary.
We traded off on each hole, in the intermittent rain and wind.
The flow was up a bit, and we needed more weight to get down near the bottom.
Suddenly my friend raised his rod in the middle of a drift.
He pulled hard for a moment or two, then started making one roll-cast after another to get his fly off of, whatever was holding his fly.
After the third hard cast to the spot where he was hung-up, the spot started moving across the water.......
He later uttered the near famous cliche for waters around here.
"I though I hooked the bottom...and then it moved".
A chase down-stream a-ways, finally produced a fine colorful wild rainbow 17"+.
I get to travel around the west fishing/guiding a bit, but I hear the this phrase used more, around here, than anywhere else I fish.
Nothing makes me happier, than to hear a client say this. But it's a hoot, to see it done by someone who knows how to fish, and fishes often.
On our local water, the fish get a lot of pressure.
Many of our best fish won't rise to a dry-fly.
Feel free to add some weight, be bold enough to risk losing flies, fish down where they hide.
Try this style, and you may also "hook the bottom".*

Edit* Same thing happened to me a couple days later.