First of the morning, with an exposed gill plate. I have landed trout with this gill plate deformity before. It didn't affect its fight.
A fatty that nailed one of the nymphs I was using in the log jams fishing deep. At times I added a little weight to get the nymph down to where the trout were holding.
Another quality rainbow landed in and around structure. Notice my free spool Gloomis fly reel; the best of all the fly reels I own. In fact, I just purchased another one on Ebay a couple of weeks ago.
I considered myself lucky today landing the number of trout that touched my hands for the morning; considering the number of fishermen on the water. It seems there are many more individuals fishing the Sipsey this year as opposed to years past. I wonder if the increased traffic comes from the virus causing more people to be outside more?
I have no doubt that the people you run into are spreading their wings after 3 months of "shelter in place". Although the advertisements out there that are "what to do this summer during the pandemic" are advocating fishing, camping, RVing, and generally getting outside, but stay away from people. This past Memorial Day Weekend saw huge crowds at the upcountry lakes and campgrounds.
ReplyDeleteThat said, those look like slightly bigger trout than you normally catch on the Sipsey. They planting bigger or have they grown because nobody has been chasing them for months?
Mark
ReplyDeleteYou're right I think this virus has pushed more individuals outdoors more than ever. Most everyone was practicing social distancing.
The fly rod area of the Sipsey is close to 3/4 of a mile and the rest of the 10-mile stretch is fishable only by boat. A lot of guys fish the remaining distance with live bait; no-fly rod fishing at all. There is no place for the backcast to layout with all the woods behind you. With all this fishing pressure on the place, you would think there would be fewer trout. Not so, because most fishermen that I have observed fishing, never land anything. Some may land a trout or two but most catch nothing. Those trout I landed on this trip were all deep and you had to work the nymph extremely slow to get a take, as stated in the post I was lucky to land the 10 to touched my hands for the morning. Thanks for the comment
Bill looks like your season so far has been great. Those are some big rainbows.
ReplyDeleteAlan
ReplyDeleteSome of these trout I caught on this trip are holdovers from previous stockings. The log jam area where I was fishing has some monster trout in it if one can get the nymph in front of them. I've seen trout in this area well over the 16" mark. Most never leave this area even when the generators are running because all they have to do is hunker down at the bottom below the huge logs and eat anything that comes near them. These trout are seldom fished for. Thanks for the comment
Fifteen cars along the river must have been an intimidating sight but, as you said, you were there, and you made the best of it. Nice catches, safely done.
ReplyDeleteWalt
ReplyDeleteFriday, Saturday, and Sunday is not the time to fish the tailrace. Those three days bring out the crowds. I used this trip as a challenge to see if I could actually land trout with that amount of fishing pressure on the water. I was fortunate to land the trout I brought to the net. Thanks for the comment
Glad you still made it in spite of the crowds. What's behind the gill plate issue? All three seem to have it.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear from a fly enthusiast aboard. As for the gill plate issue, no one really knows why they have part of their gill plate missing. I will talk to the hatchery and see if they know anything about this. I have placed you on the blogs I follow. Thanks for the comment