35 fish later

This week was spent in Wyoming on a friend's ranch. This is a gathering of five guys who fish, I am the newest to the sport; a great cook and four guides (that means in six fishing sessions (am/pm three days) you get a lot of fishing in. So it was a lot of fun. The colors in these wild fish are magnificent. The two photos are of different fish.

A couple of things happened this week. First, I think I got a chance to learn a lot more about all the things you need to know. On one of the fishing sessions I guided myself. It now takes me about 20 minutes to change a fly. A good guide can do it in about a minute. But I gained a lot of confidence in that session. I netted three fish that afternoon after I figured out what they were looking for. I started out with a small hook on the dropper and popped off three fish. When I went to the same nymph in a larger size - I was able to get three fish very quickly. There are a lot of details to keep track of - including what should be on your line, where to try to place the cast and then when to react. I brought two poles - one that I have used a lot since I started fishing and one I bought about two months ago - an Orvis Frequent Flyer. It comes in seven pieces. I was able to get it on sale (bought at 8 at the same time) and really like the feel of that rod. It is also very easily packable. That is a real good feature - performance and portability.

Second, each of the guides - which are some of the best guides in Idaho or Wyoming - has a slightly different way of teaching. One of the four is not the most patient guy in the world but each got me a bit closer to figuring out the mechanics of casting. Ultimately there are some similarities of style - everyone says a cast is between 10 and 2 on a clock face. But keeping your back cast from going too far back is tough - and that determines how far your forward cast will actually go. This week had some wind and that is always troubling. When I get it right I have now begun to feel it. That is a good sign. I just wish all the elements coming together was a bit more consistent.

Third, I got variety of types of trout including a couple of small brook trout - and then a couple of big browns and rainbows. My largest was about 21". I was able to fish under a number of different conditions and that was interesting.