The day began by meeting up with Davie at 7:00 a.m. at the Curtis Switch put in. Our float would be an all day event taking out at Horseshoe Bend Park. I am here to tell you that it was a HOT and stagnant day! The fish were inactive, we saw no real hatch come off, and we never really got into the big boys. With no surface activity the dry flies were pretty much useless. Even the tried and true double nymph rigs almost seemed fruitless. No one actually counted but it is safe to say we brought 12-15 fish to hand for the day. Most were 8 -12 inches but I did hook into one really nice fish that came unbuttoned after about 30 seconds into the fight. It looked like a nice brown as we caught a glimpse of his orange/yellow color.
Craig, who has never fly fished in his life, came along primarily to film the trip for a possible story on a SNTV dvd. Craig captured some pretty good footage of the entire trip. When we reached near the end of the tape we put a rod in his hand and he wound up catching 2-3 fish which were his first ever trout and first ever fish on a fly rod. Craig had been practicing his casting with one of my rods a few days before the trip and with Davie's additional instruction Craig wound up doing well for a first timer. I think we've got a new fly fisherman among us. :)
I'll be fishing the Hooch with Davie sometime later this summer, or this fall, depending on our schedules. The Hooch is another piece of water I've never fished so it goes without saying that I am looking forward to that trip!! Even though we didn't hit the magic trip with large numbers, or large size, Davie Crawford worked his butt off and I have a great respect for him and his business. His boat is an excellent fishing platform as is his oarsman-ship skills. Look for a story on this trip in a future edition of Sportsman's News magazine (available at all Sportsman's Warehouse). I
On Saturday we all (my wife Kim, our son Stephen, Craig, and his wife Rachel) decided to fish the river where our cabin was located. We actually fished there for a couple of hours and then, allowing for the generation schedule and water flow, moved down to Horseshoe Bend Park to finish out the day. I wound up catching 9 on Saturday but it was still very hot and I had to work my tail off to get those fish!
Well, its time to post some photos so until the next time.....tight lines.
Davie tying on a nymph
Craig having a go at it...
One of my fish
And finally the house where we stayed. Awesome is all I can say!!
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