January
2nd and 4th brought two really dedicated hard core fly fishermen to my
boat. Tommy and Andy are from the Boulder, Colorado area and these
guys live to fly fish. It's been a while since I have had the pleasure of
having two really good fly fishermen in my boat and these guys fit that
bill. Both Tommy and Andy could cast the lights out with streamer
rods and required very little instruction. All I had to do was row
the boat into position and they took care of the rest. Both could
drop a big articulated streamer in the perfect spot. Unfortunately,
the big browns didn't appreciate their casting skills.
January
2nd brought cold temps with rain the entire day. By the end of the
day I had gone through three pair of gloves and all three pair were dripping
wet. The temps were cold but we were all dressed with great rain
gear and layers of clothing that kept us warm.
Our
first day was a float on the White River from the State Park down to White
Hole. On our second drift through the State Park Andy managed to
hook two nice browns in the 20" range but he was unable to get them to the
net. We fished down to White Hole access and saw several other browns
who gave short takes but they were not able to stick any of them. We
took a lunch break at White Hole and then ran back up river above the Three Chutes area. We fished this section hard and worked our way down
through the Narrows. Finally at around 4:15 I told the
guys that it was getting late and we would make one more drift. Finally,
Tommy got a good hook set in a 20" brown and we got it to the net. After
a quick picture we released the fish and headed to the ramp. By this
time we were all starting to get cold -- me especially.
The
next day Tommy and Andy decided to fish on their own. It had rained
all night so they were faced with unfavorable fishing conditions. I
suggested they give the Norfork a try. Upon their arrival they found
the Norfork running like chocolate milk. They called me from the
Ackerman access and I directed them up to the dam area. They managed
to find clear water close to the dam above Dry Run Creek. They managed
to catch a lot of, as they called them, "dinkers" Then
later in the day they moved back down to the Ackerman access and found that the
river had cleared enough to fish. They managed to catch a number of
fish but nothing of any size.
January
4th I had them for the day. The water was at minimum flow in the
morning so we headed down river to an area where the water would be a little
deeper. It was cold and the wind was howling. We fished
this area until noon and headed back to the ramp where we were
treated to a hot chili lunch and apple pie served by my wife Mary. She
really spoiled us with a hot lunch. I then noticed that the
generation was up so I decided to head back up river to the State Park. We
made several passes through the State Park and the guys had several follows but
no takers. We then moved down river to a couple of spots that always
hold nice browns. Once again the browns had lockjaw. Finally,
Andy was able to hook into a nice brown and brought it to the net. It
was a 20" female that was fairly thin after the spawn but still a
beautiful fish. A quick photo was taken and she was returned to fight
another day.
As
the sun started to disappear and we were making our last drift, I started to think
about what a great two days I had with two really great guys who weren't
too shabby at throwing big streamers. They both had a good sense of humor but
also took their fishing seriously. It's really a pleasure to have
two guys like this in my boat.
So
thank you, Tommy and Andy, for two great days on the water.
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