A Dry Fly Story
By: Warren DeMark
It was the middle of June this year, and we were heading out for the last day of a two day trip. My dad and I both had single anglers in our boats and we were going up river for a Wolf Creek Bridge to Stickney Creek float. We had singles so we were just going to hunt heads. The day before we floated the canyon and had hard rains, making for an epic PMD hatch. The angler in my boat was Linda, and I had guided her the year prior. Linda is a dream lodge guest. She’s nice, a well-versed angler, and just wants to throw dry flies. That’s it. She won’t touch an indicator rig and just wants to see some risers. But with this approach, she’s realistic and understands that sometimes dry fly fishing won’t be the most effective technique. As a guide, I love people with realistic expectations and a positive attitude, especially when we’re trying to just throw dries or streamers.
After rolling down the river for a couple hours in the morning and getting a couple fish to the boat on PMD patterns, I came to a side channel with softer water that I was hopeful about. As I slowly drifted into the channel, about 20 yards downstream I pointed out a pod of fish to Linda. She asked, “By the riffle?” The riffle she was looking at was the pod of rising fish. There were about 20 fish eating within about a 10 foot radius of each other. With how aggressively they were eating PMDs, it looked like a riffle bar in the river. I parked us upstream from the glutinous trout and put some floatant on her dry fly. Linda is an efficient angler and has a great reach cast, so after about 5 drifts through the fish she was hooked up. The trout shot upstream like a bullet until it was level with the boat. It then proceeded to run straight across the front of the boat then back downstream. After a bit of tug of war and some expert side pressure to the fish, we got it to the net. A brute of a rainbow was boatside. After some high fives and a quick picture we let him go and were back on the hunt. We sat for a while and let the pod get comfortable again and threw another cast in. Her fly got eaten immediately and after a quick set and a jump the fish was off the hook. We sat on the same pod of fish for the next two hours and landed around 6 fish and had double as many eat.
We cruised down river to meet up with the other boat for lunch. We shared fish stories over a delicious river lunch, debating on what fly was the best for the day. I vouched for a spinner style PMD pattern, while my dad, Craig, is biased towards a cripple style dry. We watched a couple trout rise about ten feet from our boats while chatting until we decided to get back at it.
I pushed through a couple miles of river after lunch to get to a spot I knew had big fish. We had already caught more than our share of solid trout this morning, so I figured it was time to get more selective with our targets. As we approached the giant flat with scattered riffle bars. I saw a couple heads towards the bank. Linda and I watched like hawks until we both saw it. A snout that stood out among the crowd. A jaw that protruded further than its peers. A big brown trout.
The water we were parked in was quite swift, while the brown trout near the bank was in softer slower water. We threw some floatant on the fly and Linda gave it her best reach cast with plenty of slack to ensure her presentation had no drag. Throwing across different speeds of water makes a proper presentation tough, so a proper reach cast helps your odds at success. Her first drift was a little inside the fish so she threw again. No takers on the second drift. After about fifteen minutes of cat and mouse, she found the right drift. The big snout we had been giddy about earlier slowly lifted and broke through the water, inhaling Linda’s fly like another natural on the water. Linda set the hook perfectly and chaos ensued.
The brown busted like a bat out of hell down stream, making a wake through the shallow water he was in. He crossed into the fast water we were in and decided to dig down to the bottom of the river. After some head shakes he finally started moving up stream towards our boat, with some zig-zagging back and forth. It took a long time before we finally saw the fish’s glimmer in the water. He slowly came up towards the boat, then shot downstream again like a freight train. Linda worked him back to the boat again before he did the same thing and darted away at the sight of the boat and net. I had a bad feeling in my stomach, as we were using 4x tippet and this fish was too heavy to muscle to the net. As the fish came closer again, about three feet away from the boat, I had to do something. So I made a decision and jumped in. I figured the water was to my thigh and that I could wade through the swift water fairly easily. I figured wrong. The water was at my belly button and too quick for comfort. With the net I made a deep stab at the fish, with adrenaline fueling my attempt to land the trout. I was successful on the first try and we had the beast in the net. I felt my feet slipping as the water rushed around me, both hands on the net with the brown in it. I bobbed/ tiptoed on the gravel, slowly making leeway towards Linda and my drift boat. I stretched my arms out to hand Linda the net and as I looked up I saw a mortified look on her face. As I handed her the net she chastised me for jumping in the water. I laughed as I hoisted myself back in the boat.
As I went to remove the hook from its mouth I noticed something peculiar. Another strand of line was coming from its mouth. I followed the line to the fish’s toothy tongue and saw another fly. This fish had another broken off rig in its mouth, a PMD spinner. The same fly we were throwing in a different color. It was first hand evidence that popular patterns are popular for a reason. We laughed about the coincidence and got a picture of the well-earned brown. We targeted a couple more fish with no success but we were satisfied with our day.
Everyday I spend on the Mo’ I’m reminded of how lucky we are to have access to a resource like this river. The ample bug life, absurd amount of fish, and the opportunities to target dozens of them in pods on the surface. A good dry fly day on this river is something I believe every angler should experience. It’s beyond what I'm able to put in words. Bring your favorite five weight and a positive attitude, I’ll help you with the reach cast.