Gary and Scott's Day on the Drift Boat

Since the weather was near perfect and there was someone who needed to learn how to catch fish on the fly rod, in my mind we had two good reasons to go to the river. When Gary and I talked and set the date we had no idea the weather would be so good. The Weather Channel girl said 70 degrees and sunny, with a 15 mph wind (the only downside). That's OK some of our best trips were on windy days over the past few seasons. So we were off to help Scott catch his first trout on the long rod and to help Gary to catch his share of fish as well. And, unfortunately we also saw Mr. No Shoulders for the first time this year. 

Scott on His First Hook-up 

We pushed off from the gravel bar a little ahead of schedule, within a few minutes we were seeing bugs. Mostly we saw midges, but occasionally a caddis would pop. That was a good sign or so we thought. After some quick casting instructions and a lengthy mending discussion we were floating some productive water with nymphs. Scott got a hit and set the hook only to perform the perfect sportsmen's release. It wouldn't take him long to catch on to the take of a trout. Then both Gary and Scott began to bring fish to the net. Both anglers were into fish on a fairly regular basis. By the time we stopped for lunch the net was smelling fishy and both were in the groove.

After filling the tank with some lunch we got back to the fish. Scott was doing a good job with the morning's instruction and he "began to fish". What does "began to fish mean"? That means he was able to pick his spots, understands the currents and get a good drift. Oh, and he was catching fish.  Gary, who is a regular on the drifter, was in his usual catching mode and I was watching a plan come together. We stopped and fished a couple spots that usually we blow through. The new spots produced some decent numbers of fish and kept us entertained.

The morning bug activity was turning into an afternoon hatch and picking up. We found a pod of rising fish with only a couple trout actually eating adults. Although the fish were small they were active. We fished small adult dries through spinners, but the fish were spooky and were put down after just a couple drifts.  We stayed with them for a bit, but none wanted a sore lip. We went back to nymphs and immediately started picking up fish again. 
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The caddis were starting to come off and a large hatch was soon underway. I tried to get a good photo of the hatch (see above) but the photos don't do the hatch justice. As the hatch grew larger we expected the fish to rise. Except for the one pod of risers no other fish were willing to play with the caddis. As Spring continues we keep hoping the fish will begin to respond.

It seemed as though the guys enjoyed their day. As the sun started to fall behind the hills this trip was coming to an end. We slid into the takeout once again with Scott, a new fly angler, ready to pursue trout and Gary with another successful trip under his belt. The Weather Channel Girl? She hit the forecast and that made for another very good trip on a windy day.