My last trip to Stony, less than a week ago, was primarily to scout the stream. I was taking two friends fly fishing and wanted to make sure we were going to the right stream at the right time. We left around 5:40 a.m. and arrived at the end of Drakes Creek Rd. at 7:45 a.m. We suited up, assembled our rods and busted out of the trestles for Stony.
Like last time I was using my Tom Maxwell custom made 6'6" Little Tunk, Rob was using my 7' Orvis TLS Power Matrix (4 weight) and Jeff used his 7'6" Cortland (5 weight).
We arrived at the outlet of Stony around 8:30 a.m. I encouraged Jeff, who is an experienced large stream fly fisherman, to hit the pools leading up to the 30' waterfall about 300 yards upstream, while Rob and I descended to the outlet pool. Rob hadn't been fly fishing since since he was 9-years-old so we needed to spend some time working on his cast.
Before we began casting I went over a few important small stream tactics:
- Stealth is crucial. You can't walk up to a pull and throw your line on the water. You have to stalk the pool. My breathable waders are a good indicator of how you approach a pool of water. I've had these waders for only 3 years and they've been patched up and repaired countless times because I approach the pools like I'm playing crab soccer with a gym full of 9-year-olds. It is best to keep a low profile, find cover behind rocks and trees then fish the pool. If you don't do this the trout will spook and render the pool unfishable.
- Patience, patience, PATIENCE! You may think you're a pretty patient person but small stream fly fishing will either confirm or deny how you perceive yourself. There's nothing like crawling behind a rock, peering over it to watch small blue winged olives disappear on the rise, then cast and have your fly snag on dead log behind you. I've seen fly fisherman throw rods because of this - I've wanted to myself. It happens to all small stream fly fishers.
- I think therefore I am ... a good fisherman. This is coupled with patience. You're less likely to lose your cool if think while you fish. For example, you crawl up behind the rock and see you trout rising 14 feet in front of you. You cast to the fish and get snagged in the tree behind you. When you stand up to get the fly you spook the fish and must move on to the next pool. All of that work for nothing. It is best to observe what's around you and identify the most effective way to present the fly to the fish. If you can't backcast, perhaps you can roll-cast - or perhaps you have a small window to side-arm cast the fly to the fish. Now let's say you cast 14-feet in front and catch the trout. By some standards this is a win, but the reality is - you just scared all of the fish from 1 foot to 14 feet in front of you. Imagine if you thought to work your way to the rising trout - how many trout could you have pulled from that pool? Having learned from experience I've pulled upwards of 4-5 trout on a good day from a single pool all because I fished from the tailout to the head of the pool. Think before you cast.
- Pay attention. I've taken several painful tumbles onto rocks and seen friends disappear into pools of water. The rocks are slippery and the depth of the water can be deceiving.
Rob and I spent a good hour working on his cast and tried to encourage him by pointing out how it was improving. Unfortunately Rob was unsuccessful in catching fish. I only caught 4 since I spent the majority of time with Rob, and Jeff caught about 7-8. We fished for about 9 hours and covered roughly 1 mile of stream. The hatches were not as impressive as they were on Friday May 21st but the caddis hatch was fairly consistent throughout the day. A variety of different caddis flies were hatching so it was safe to put on almost any color (dun, tan, olive, black) for success. The BWO hatch was non-existent. A few appeared when we first arrived but disappeared shortly thereafter.
On our way up Drakes Creek Rd. we encountered a black bear walking on the paved portion of the road.
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