LORI’S BIRTHDAY HATCH BY JOHN BERRY

My wife, Lori, and I share a passion for fishing dry flies for trout. There is something special about watching a good trout rising to the surface and taking a dry fly from the top of the water column. It is the most exciting and rewarding aspect of fly fishing.

Dry fly fishing is also the fussiest and most difficult technique in fly fishing. First you must match the hatch. That means that you must figure out what insect the trout are keying in on and then choose the closest thing you have in your fly box based on size, shape and color. Then you have to douse them in fly floatant, before you begin fishing them, so that they do not absorb water and sink.

The difficulty comes in with the casting. The favored aspect of fishing dry flies is that you cast to rising trout. You have to cast at least eighteen inches upstream of the riser and then drift downstream over the trout in a perfect drag free drift. Then once you get that perfect drift over the fish you need to set the hook after the fish has taken the fly (the tendency is to strike too soon and miss the fish).

If this were not enough, we just do not get that many opportunities to fish dry flies. We have some reliable hatches but the big problem is the constant changing of the volume of water flow and water level on the White and Norfork Rivers because they are tailwaters (the outflow of dammed lakes).

Because of all of these factors, taking a fish on the top with a dry fly is a very rewarding occasion for any angler. I would rather take a dink on the top than a hog on the bottom.

Lori’s birthday was last Sunday. For her birthday, she wanted us to go fishing. We had both been guiding our clients on the Norfork to take advantage of the sulphur hatch, our best mayfly hatch of the year. This year’s hatch has occurred much later than usual. Though it has been sparse, the trout have really keyed in on it at times. We had both been able to fish it once each but we had not been able to fish it together and we had not been able to fish it enough to satisfy our appetite for fishing dries.

We got a late start because I had been ill the night before. I had been throwing up and had little sleep. I was not going to let that mess up Lori’s birthday. We arrived at the Ackerman Access around 8:30 AM. We donned our waders, strung our rods and were on the stream in no time. I went far upstream into the Catch and Release section and Lori started close to the access but agreed to join me later (her last client had landed a stout twenty inch brown there a couple of days before).

I began the day with a sulphur parachute and was into a great sixteen inch cutthroat in a couple of casts. I picked up a small rainbow and then lost my fly, when a bruiser of a rainbow broke me off during a frenzied struggle. About this time, Lori showed up. She had landed a few nice ones downstream but was ready for some bigger fish. We fished together for a while and she picked a few more trout.

I had gone cold. The sulphurs had disappeared and I decided to try nymphing a nice run upstream. I rigged up a double fly nymph rig and took a few fish on a copper John and a root beer midge. I returned to where Lori was fishing and I watched her land a couple of trout, as I walked up. She was fishing a partridge and orange, which is a great fly to duplicate the emerging sulphur. I switched over to the partridge and orange and landed a few more trout.

By this time, I was worn out. The previous night’s illness and little sleep were catching up with me. It was around 1:00 PM and I was ready to sit for a while and watch Lori fish. She had returned to the sulphur parachute as there were a few insects coming off. I watched her deftly casting and picking up trout with the dry fly. It was pretty amazing. She is a great caster and has superb line control. All the while, we were chatting about the experience.

I noticed a big rainbow rising just in front of me. I asked if she had seen it and she replied that she had. Lori moved slightly to improve her casting position and carefully cast toward the rising trout. It took three perfect drifts, before the big rainbow fell for the fly and took it. Lori lifted her rod and set the hook. Fish on! I had a front row seat to the action and it was intense. This trout was a handful and made several long runs. Lori was not to be denied. She fought him well and he was eventually landed. He turned out to be an incredibly stout eighteen inch male and easily the fish of the day. It was the perfect way to end the day, sight casting to a great trout with dry flies.

Happy Birthday Lori!