So I just got back from a few days of trout fishing in the Eastern Sierra, and I finally made it up the status rung to "That Guy". You know -- "That guy just caught another one!" "What's that guy using?" "How's that guy getting so lucky?"
I started out my first day by getting thoroughly skunked at Lake Crowley, one of the top trout waters in the Sierra for big lunkers, where I usually spend most of my time when I'm up there. The lake right now is totally covered in algae and has tons of weeds. Some boats were doing okay in one small area, but one of the reasons I go fishing is to escape crowds, not seek them out. So I dropped my tube in another part of the lake that usually does okay for me, but with all the algae, my black Wooley Bugger was turning green and doubling in size every five minutes from picking up algae, and after an hour I finally got tired of it and called it quits (and then caught one stupid perch just as I was reeling in my line). Ended up spending the rest of the day just farting around catching little dinkers in a couple of streams.
The next day, I went to this little lake that I'd always passed by but never fished. Decided "What the heck?" and gave it a try. I started by just dragging a Matuka on a sink tip line, but then realized both that this was a really shallow lake (like averaging 8-15 feet) and that there was a hatch going on. I luckily had the little reel to my 2 weight rod with floating line on it in my vest, so swapped out the reel on my 5 weight rod with that, tied a little #18 Adams on, and gave it a go. Over the next couple of hours, I caught nearly thirty fish -- most of them little 9-10 inchers, but also quite a few 12-14s, and one 16. I was actually almost getting tired of fishing, because sometimes 30 seconds after I dropped the fly back on the water, I'd get another hit. A few other guys were getting a fish now and then, but I was the only guy on the lake with a hot rod. Usually I'm the one talking about "that guy" so it was nice to be him for a change -- especially doing it with a dry fly while the power bait guys were coming up empty.
I'm actually going back up there again in about a week and a half, so we'll see if my streak holds. :)
On a tangent -- anyone have any recommendations for a good glue to glue a felt sole back onto a rubber wader boot?
