WINTER DRY FLY?

[Phil Lilley]

WINTER DRY FLY?

BY JOHN BERRY

Winter has finally arrived in Cotter. On Friday, I guided for ten hours in the cold rain. We caught plenty of fish but the rain never let up. On Saturday and Sunday the rain continued turning the local rivers and creeks into a muddy mess. By Monday and Tuesday, the temperatures had dropped into the teens. It was overcast with no hint of sunshine and the wind was howling out of the West sending the wind-chill plummeting into single digits.

On Wednesday, the sun peeked out and the temperature climbed to a balmy forty three degrees. The rivers had cleared up and the winds had lain down. I called the dam and noted that the Norfork had been turned off. I could not tempt Lori to leave the warmth and comfort of the house. She gathered up a good book and her beloved cats and settled in for the day. I was getting a serious case of cabin fever so I called my fishing buddy, George Peters, to see if he was interested in going fishing. I caught him in the middle of a complex legal case and he was all too willing to take a break from the tedium. We tossed our gear into the back of his Suburban and headed for the Norfork.

When we reached River Ridge Road and saw the Norfork for the first time it seemed high. The further we drove upstream toward the Handicap access the lower the river looked. The water was a little stained but appeared to be quite fishable. There were several anglers gathered there but they seemed to be more interested in talking than fishing. I looked up and saw a bald eagle circling overhead. I knew instinctively that this was a good omen for the day’s fishing. George and I watched it in awe for a while and then quickly threw on our waders, carefully rigged our rods, and walked up into the Catch and Release section. We were the first ones there. George stopped in front of Charlie’s and I continued on up stream.

I headed straight to my favorite spot. I tried several flies before I settled on a size sixteen olive scud. I was nymphing a nice deep run and I took several good fish. The trout were feeding well. The high water of the previous month had left them in good shape, fat and sassy. They all fought well. I moved around a bit, fished several spots, and tagged trout everywhere I went.

George took several trout on a small midge. When that slowed down he changed to a size sixteen parachute Adams. This was no real surprise. I looked in his fly box one time and saw that it was the only pattern he carried. He fished the Adams and took a really fine nineteen inch female rainbow with a substantial girth. He moved up stream a bit to try another piece of water.

He spotted a good looking current thread and put the perfect cast into it. The fly headed downstream in a perfect drag free float. After a few feet it picked up some drag and sunk. George was about to pick it up for another cast when he saw a silver flash near where he thought the fly to be. He instinctively set the hook. The fight was on! Since he was fishing 6X tippet he took his time and played the fish carefully. The trout was fighting fiercely.

I was fishing a nice run a couple of hundred yards upstream and noticed the extreme bend in his rod. About that time, I hooked a fish myself and had to concentrate on the task at hand. After landing and releasing my fish, I looked up and George was still fighting the fish. Another angler had walked up and was watching the struggle. I called down and asked if he wanted a photo (I always carry a camera). He yelled back yes that he had a big one on. I scrambled over to him and took several photos of the trout. It was a twenty one inch, vividly colored, hook jawed, male rainbow. George carefully revived and gently released the big fish.

We fished for a while longer but that was the fish of the day. We headed back to the car. As we walked out I got to thinking should that fish be considered to be caught on a dry fly? Technically it was. On the other hand, it was not on top of the water when the fish took it. Should I be worried about that at all? Or should I just be impressed that George had tagged a good one. Maybe I should just be glad to get out of the house and appreciate a good day on the river after what seemed like a long time.

John Berry is a fly fishing guide in Cotter, AR, Trout Capital USA, and can be reached at http://www.berrybrothersguides.com .

[jjtroutbum]

Beautiful Fish looks like that buck was still in breeding colors and very nice report its all ways great to have pics to drool over.

Even tho with this cabin fever I've got. A leaky faucet causing ripples in a breakfast bowl gets me thinking about rises.

JJ

[BuschTrout22]

beautiful fish. Im glad the fishing was good. I cant wait to leave this upcoming Thurs to go fishing at norfork. Since were off for the holiday this coming Mon, I only have to work two days this week and then hopefully four great days for some fishing