As an avid fisherman, there’s nothing more relaxing than spending an evening on the river. It’s even better when you have the whole place to yourself. I’ve found that some of my best fishing days occur when I arrive with no expectations.
That’s exactly what happened one evening last week when I talked Tara into taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. On the drive over, we had the normal conversation of what section of river we wanted to fish and what mayflies would be hatching until I caught myself making a plan. “We’ll just have to wait and see when we get there” I said to Tara to erase away any expectations we had.
Upon arriving there were only a couple of vehicles parked along the road and we found a stretch all to ourselves. It was a calm evening with temperatures in the upper 60’s with no humidity. We walked to the river and I immediately noticed fish rising but they were on the other side. The other side was in the shade as well so we decided to cross.
I love throwing terrestrials this time of the year so I tied on a cricket and started casting. I worked my way up the head of the pool when all of a sudden, a snout popped up and inhaled my fly. I set the hook and the fight was on. Shortly after, Tara managed to slide the net under the first fish of the day which was a beautiful rainbow trout.
After that I walked down to check the bottom end of the hole while Tara fished the head. I noticed a big dark shadow out in the middle and threw a long roll cast towards it. My cricket hit the water and the big shadow exploded on it. I set the hook and SNAP, the big fish broke me off. I stood there dazed and confused for a few seconds as it was a big fish in the 20-inch range.
I walked back up to tell Tara what just happened and found a nice rock to sit on while I tied on another fly. She walked down to try her luck on a couple of other fish that were hanging out with the big one. There were a few fishing rising on the edge of the seam and current so I tied on a dry fly and started casting.
After 15 to 20 minutes with no luck I switched up my tactic and tied on a dropper fly. The fish were still rising but they weren’t taking my dry fly. This told me that they were eating the emerging mayflies just before they reached the waters surface. My tactic worked as I quickly brought 2 fish to hand within 5 minutes.
That’s what I love about fly fishing and paying attention to what’s going on. The river will tell you what to tie on if you just slow down and watch closely. I told Tara to put a dropper on and she also caught a nice rainbow after that.
As the peaceful evening wore on the trout started sipping something off the top in the calmer water. Tara looked at me and said “there are a lot of small rusty spinners on the water”. We both pulled our fly boxes out and found flies that would match. Spinners is the term used to describe the last stage of the mayfly.
Mayflies hatch out of the nymph stage into the adult dun or “fly” stage. As adults they only live for 24 hours. Their main purpose is to mate and then they die. The spinner stage occurs when the corpses fall to the waters surface which usually takes place in the late evenings before dark. With an abundance of spinners and food floating along the trout will start sipping them in engorging themselves for a late dinner.
I had noticed a nice snout in the middle of the current and focused my attention there after tying on the rusty spinner. A few casts later Tara literally hook set on a fish below me almost the same time I did. “A double” I said with a big smile on my face. I could feel that the fish on the end of my line was heavy and then I saw it.
“I have a really nice fish” I said as I watched Tara bring hers in. She let the rainbow go and came up to help me. After a tense battle I worked the big fish towards the bank and Tara slid the net under it but it barley fit. The big rainbow had been eating well and was over 20 inches long. I kept the fish in the net under the water while Tara got the camera out. After a couple of quick pictures, I sent the fish back to where it belonged.
“It’s your turn to catch a big one” I said to Tara as there was another nice fish rising in front of us. A few casts later Tara connected and it was an even prettier rainbow. It had a blood red gill plate and stripe running down it’s side. We admired the beautiful fish before sending it on it’s way.
We both could’ve just reeled up and called it a day but the fish were still rising. I noticed several small Sulphur mayflies fluttering in the air and along the waters surface so I listened to the river and tied one on. Bingo, a few casts later another fish was brought to hand. Tara did the same with similar results.
The sun had dropped behind the ridge by then and the trout went back to sipping. I put my face down to the waters surface and observed several Sulphur spinners floating down in a conveyor belt of food. Once again, I switched flies but light was fading fast. There was one fish in the 18-inch range that kept cruising the bank the whole time we were there.
Tara started walking back up the river to where we crossed but I was determined to catch that bank cruiser. I honed in and watch the fish rise 3 times in a row and managed to land my fly right in front of it. I saw the ring of the rise ripple on the waters surface and felt weight on the end of my rod. I set the hook and landed the rainbow in the light from my headlamp to end a great evening on the river.
At the end of the night I caught fish on 5 different flies. It’s amazing how the trout will switch from one fly to the next just like that. Pay attention to what mayfly is most abundant and match the hatch with the fly you tie on and listen to the river. That’s fly fishing at it’s finest right here in the mountains of West Virginia.
