Charles waded across and
fished an area down from a section I chose to fish above in some faster water. I
had landed trout here before, but the task at hand was getting to the place. No
one fishes this area, because one has to wade some distance over some very slippery moss
covered rocks to get into position to even make the first cast. Once there you
need to establish a good foot position, on the bottom of the stream to keep
your balance in the fast current. I never wade now without a wading staff and
it is an absolute must in places like this. The trout are always here because
of the deep fast run that extends at least 75 feet. It’s difficult to fish here
with an indicator, because of the rapid water causing the indicator to float up
and under fast. I have always fished this run either swinging a nymph or dead
drifting a nymph. I was using the soft hackle that Kevin at Feather Chucker
tied for me a while back. He mailed some other patterns that I will give a try
later on in the spring. The soft hackle beadhead really got my attention, so it
got the first try in this fast water. After a number of misses I got my first solid
hit. I knew this was a good trout and not your average stocker, because I could
feel the head shake and for a few seconds I thought I had the trout coming my
way, but that wasn’t going to happen on this day. As I was trying to maneuver the
trout out of the run it promptly snapped the 5x tippet and carried the soft
hackle with it. Sorry to say this was the only soft hackle Kevin gave me in
this pattern style. I tied on another nymph pattern and continued to cast
through the run without another hit. As I left the run I knew I would be back
here again to try to redeem myself, hopefully with another soft hackle Kevin
might tie for me in the near future.
Landing this trout made
me feel somewhat better after losing what I think was probably my best on the
upper tailrace. I landed 3 other rainbow in this
same area. Two went airborne trying to throw the tiny shrimp pattern, which just adds
to the excitement of landing one of these rainbows.
I seldom ever use anything
but a 3 weight when fishing this section of the tailrace. I think using
anything heavier would be overkill. The majority of trout landed here are all
stocker fish, with the exception of a larger trout such as the one I lost
today. The stocker trout in the 10” to 12” range can be a blast on a 3 wt.