Jamie and Rachel

Phishtales

Rachel and Jamie are very good anglers and have been longtime friends. The friendship started one day on the Caney, a Hyde drift boat and a couple fly rods. That first trip turned into other trips that year, which eventually turned into a pursuit of a large brown for Rachel. That pursuit ended successfully late one evening with a hopper, a rise and a brown trout take.

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Fast forward to Saturday and 70 degree temperatures. The Army Corps has been on a low (how low can you go?) release schedule of 250 CFS four days in a row. Saturday was the second day of low water. The water was slightly green stained with visibility of about 2 feet. This was an all day trip so we were able to fish the river in a thorough manner and we fished some spots a couple times before darkness set in.  

Jamie Hooked Up or Hiding?

We launched the drifter and went right to work. The browns have been, for the most part, non-existent for almost two months. Chasing large rainbows is how we spent the last months of Summer and the beginning of Fall. The browns began to pair up about a month and a half ago and a week or so later, they for the most part had disappeared. It was nice to see Jamie hooked up and to bring a decent brown to the net to remove the skunk. 

The First Fish of the Day

Rachel soon followed suit and we floated down the river picking up our share of hatchery brats. We turned a couple nice nice fish on nymphs and tried some small midges. With no reliable rises we turned back to nymphs under the indicator. We found a couple places along the way that were worth a row upstream to fish again. The low water, with very little flow, made the row upstream much easier than usual. The river was more crowded than expected and with some jockeying for position we found a slot in the traffic.

Rachel Hooked Up Early

As with most friends we had a lot of catching up to do. While floating we discussed the usual family stuff, as well as camping in hot weather and Irish cavemen...it's a long story. The trip continued and as the sun began to set the fish slowed. The wind was coming in and bringing with it cooler evening temps. 

Happy Anglers and a Bloody Lip

We stuck our share of fish and missed some as well, but that big fish alluded us on this day.. What started out as a cool day, turned warm, then back to cool. The fleece that we put away early in the day was welcomed back toward the end of the float. Nymphs paid the dividends on this day. The high pressure may have kept the big fish in hiding or at least suppressed their appetite. Jamie and Rachel were as usual a pleasure to fish with and we accomplished a couple goals. We snapped some good photos of the couple along the way and a picked up a slam for each. Most of all it was good to spend a day on the Caney with a Hyde drift boat, a couple fly rods and good friends. 

Rach and Jamie at Break Time