Fishing the Mystery Nymph with Success

I was back on the Sipsey Tailrace on Tuesday at daylight. There was a slight fog on the surface but I could still see the Bomber dry fly floating effortless through some of the runs. I had the luxury of not being so rushed to fish some of my favorite spots, because I had the upper tailrace to myself. I saw my first fly fisherman about two hours later.

I actually needed the extra time given me to try and present a pattern that the trout would take. It was the Bomber for a short period, but after the dry action stopped I had to go with a nymph pattern.

The one and only on the Bomber for the morning. I missed a number of takes before this bow actually pulled it under. It is so frustrating when the trout are sipping at the fly instead of actually nailing it. When I see this type action I know I have to start nymphing.

  Working my way up the Sip, through the fog and some awesome runs in front of me.

 Nice rainbow on the mystery nymph

 Yes the mystery nymph, this little fly was tied by David at The Trout Zone. It has no name at the moment, so hence the mystery fly. This was the one fly that I fished while nymphing the rest of the morning and landed some really quality trout in the process. I was fishing it under an indicator, but soon discovered that I needed some extra weight to get near the bottom of some of the runs. A tiny shot crimped about 10" above the nymph worked to perfection.

One of the runs on the far bank that produced early, it was kind of difficult determining a take, because of the fast water in the narrow seam, so when in doubt still set the hook; which enable me to land one of the better trout of  the morning in this run.

The better trout was this guy which gave the 9 ft. 3 wt. a real workout, especially against the current.  I discovered the fight was not over after I landed this bow. He wasn't about to pose for a pic in my hand, so an image underwater worked well before he darted off.  

Access 6 walk way right to the waters edge, where I started fishing early.

Some of the Mountain Laurel that line the banks of the tailrace. We are very lucky to have a place that offers some great trout fishing like this in the state of Alabama.

 

 

An Eventful Evening of Fishing With my Grandson

Getting to fish with my Grandson last weekend was a hoot to say the least. It brought back so many memories of some of my first trips with my son and daughter. We lived in Tupelo Mississippi at the time and we would go out to the local park on Sunday’s to walk the trails and of course fish for the bluegills that were stocked in the small 3-acre pond.

Well, all of those memories came back to me when Pops and his Dad carried Bryson out for his first fishing trip Saturday afternoon. His Dad told me on the way to the small pond that I was in charge of letting Bryson land his first fish. I had been talking to him for some time about this memorable trip and he was ready and pumped to go, to say the least.

We begin the journey by digging for night crawlers or red worms in the backyard. The name didn’t matter to Bryson; all he wanted to do was grab the worm as soon as we unearthed one and pull it apart. I kept telling him we needed the whole worm to make a nice meal for the fish, but his theory was that if you break the worm into, it would make 2 baby worms. So with that sound explanation in mind, we continue to dig for worms until we had enough for the evening fishing trip. Upon arriving at the little pond I notice there was some small bluegill still bedding in the shallows near the bank. So I showed Bryson how to bait the hook and we made our first cast towards the beds. I had explained to him that once the bobber goes under he needed to start reeling because that meant he had a fish on. We were lucky to be fishing in a pond that had lots of bluegills, because, within a few seconds, Bryson had his first fish with his Pops. I must admit it was a teaching experience for him to get the hang of reeling that first fish in, but after the first catch, he got better.

We battled mosquitoes, gnats, and extremely high humidity, all afternoon, but Bryson was a trooper and so was his Dan and Pops. For me, the elements were minor on this trip, because I got to teach my Grandson about the joys of fishing and how to enjoy the outdoors. I am looking forward to our first fly rod outing when he gets a little older.

One of many bluegills fisherman Bryson landed for the afternoon.

Is this little guy excited or what????? He is already asking Pops when are we going again.
Hope all Dad's have a great Father's Day!!!