It
has been a busy spring and I have not been able to fish much on my own and I
have not been able to kayak any of our streams at all this year. This has been
a bit of a disappointment, although it is nice to make a living as a fly
fishing guide. I just had to wait for a little down time. It finally came last
week when my wife, Lori, and I were able to plan our first trip together. I
need to point out that she had been out a few times. We invited our friend
Cheryl to join us. She is an avid fly fisher and kayaker.
We
considered all of the alternatives to determine which stream and what section
to float. We finally decided to float from a point below Wildcat Shoals (a
private access) down to Cotter. It is close to home, holds plenty of trout and
contains no tricky water. The generation prediction was for minimum flow which
is about 700 cubic feet per second. That is plenty of water to float a kayak
and low enough for us to wade several sections of the river. The kayaks gave us
access to wadable water that we could not normally reach.
We
took a while to prepare for the trip. Our kayaks were already loaded on our
kayak trailer in the garage. We gathered up fishing gear, paddles, pfds
(personal flotation devices) and a small cooler with snacks and bottles of water.
We dressed for the weather. It was warm with a slight threat of rain and we put
on waders to accommodate our wading.
We
drove to the access and loaded our gear into the boats. Lori drove her car and
the trailer to the Cotter Ramp so that it would be there when we finished our
float. Our neighbor, Schuyler, met her there and drove her back to the access.
This was an easy and convenient shuttle.
We
launched our boats and headed downstream with the current. We stopped at the
first riffle below Hurst and spread out along the fast run there. As I was
wading into position near the top of the run, I saw a sulphur adult. I only saw
the single insect and did not see any fish keying in on the top so I opted to
fish a nymph. I tied on a beadhead flashback pheasant tail with a ruby midge
dropper under a bit of lead and a strike indicator. I immediately caught a nice
rainbow on the pheasant tail. I worked my way downstream picking up a few fish
in the process.
We
decided to move on downstream to the next riffle. I thought a partridge and
orange soft hackle would be more effective in this water and I took a couple of
minutes to strip the nymphs, lead and strike indicator off. I then tied on a
fresh 5X tippet and a partridge and orange soft hackle. I fished the entire run
without a bump. Lori and Cheryl had similar luck so we decided to kayak further
downstream.
I
carefully attached my rod and fishing vest to my kayak. I put on my pfd and sat
in my boat. I pushed off and began my float. I was broadside in the current and
before I could correct my drift I lost my balance and flipped the boat dumping
me into some pretty cold water. When you are kayaking, it is not if you will
flip your boat but when you will flip it. I was in pretty shallow water and was
on my feet quickly. I had my paddle in my hand and took a few steps to catch up
with my kayak. I righted it and checked my gear. Everything had been secured to
the boat and I lost nothing. I was a little damp and I only took about a cup of
water into my waders, because I was wearing a tight wader belt. My vest got
soaked and my fly boxes took on a bit of water. Nothing was damaged but my
pride. I sat in my kayak and continued downstream.
The
next riffle was much more productive. Lori had some early success with the
partridge and orange (an excellent sulphur emerger) and Cheryl and I followed
suit. We spent the rest of the afternoon there and caught several trout. We
finally decided to float on out and head home. When we arrived there, we put
away the kayaks and all our gear. I took a while to empty my fly boxes and
spread the flies out on paper towels to dry.
I
finally had a chance to kayak. I had a minor spill but recovered quickly,
because I was wearing a pfd and had all of my gear secured to the boat. I look
forward to my next float this week.
John
Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, Arkansas and had fished our local
streams for over thirty years.
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