Mark Throwing Streamers on the River

Crappie on the Fly

The phone rang and Mark was calling. He was coming in from St. Louis and wanted to get on the water. I started explaining the recent rains and how they have had an affect on generation and if he wanted to nymph fish we would have to reschedule. To my surprise, and I was darned glad of it, Mark wanted to throw streamers. Mark was working on streamers, single-hauling and double-hauling and of course he wanted to catch a fish.

High Water Everywhere

We left the dam and immediately we worked on the single-haul. After Mark found his timing we worked on his double-haul. It wasn't too long before the rod was bent and Mark was bringing the first fish to the boat. Water was rolling as the generation continued throughout the day. We kept at it, throwing streamers and looking for soft water. We would get an occasional drive-by, flash and a hit here and there. On this day it appeared the secret wouldn't be connected to the banks.  

Large Pockets of Soft Water

The beginning of the day found fish rising on the gravel bars in the middle of the river. We went to the middle of the river and a large brown took a swipe at a Zoo Cougar. The fish didn't commit but it did bring our excitement level up. We stayed on the lighter side of the color chart and went more for depth. Mark worked deer hair headed flies and got the speed just right. He was walking the dog almost right away as he learned to swim the fly. We went back to the banks working the soft water and the fish began to respond with more of everything but takes. 

The fish were still rising in the middle of the river on gravel bars. A fish rose off to our right. I told Mark we needed to go catch that one because the fish looked very similar to the "big one" we had been chasing all day. I back the drifter over in the area, Mark hauled the big streamer and dropped into the zone. The fish responded immediately and the fight was on. Mark played the fish perfectly as we chased it around the river. Finally we gained control and fish came to the net. We ended the day on that fish and another entry in the 20+ Club. Mark was accurate before he stepped in the drifter and he came a long way in his hauling skills. Mark put in the work and grabbed the reward.