Ok, I did a bobber report the other day. I hope you liked it, and that it helped you find success on the Missouri. If so, you should know that I made it all up. I only swing a two hander this time of year. I’m a swinger.
Back to Spey. Spent yesterday on the lower river with Capt. Ryan McCourtney. Swinging the long rod with Mr. Kreelex and Mr. Mozuri. Very good fishing, though Capt. McCourtney is still at the uncomfortable level with the two-hander. He can do it fine. He’s just used to being real good.
Put him on the front of a Maverick, or stalking a backcountry stream in New Zealand and he’s so at home he’ll probably take a nap. But he’s still getting the swing of things spey.
Kind of like watching me throw at a Tarpon…
But it’s just fishing. And Ryan is an excellent fisherman. In fact he’s not really that good at anything else. Except Golf. And watching the golf channel.
And we found some excellent fishing on the lower river, which is no guarantee this time of year. A month ago, the area we fished would have been a better venue for the NHL Winter Classic than fishing.
But the crazy warm weather has melted all of the ice around Cascade, and we found a couple of runs that help good numbers of fish. They were all about the streamer, and deep presentations were not neccessary.
Fishing with Ryan was a good reminder for me about how you need to read water with the spey rod. Ryan knows this section of river way better than I, but is used to conditions from April thru November.
This time of year – no matter where you fish – you need to find those long beaches with a good seam. When we hit those spots we had success. Even if they weren’t the most productive spots during the rest of the year.
This holds true of the entire river. If you’re on the swing, you need to fish those long, shallow insides. I think that it is imperative that there is some deep and slow holding water somewhere near. This is where you find fish that are the most receptive to the swung/twitched streamer.
Lot’s of Brown Trout for us today, confirming the FWP numbers about Brown’s on the lower river.
Midp-depth presentations were the best. I was using the new RIO Light Scandi Versi-leader in a 7 ft. 5ips version, while Ryan was throwing the Scandi VersiTip with an intermediate tip. Didn’t really take more.
Looking forward to a big weekend on the river, with the forecast in the 60’s on Saturday of this Holiday weekend. See you at the shop, with your spey rod, I hope. If you need a nymph report, let me know. I’ll give you a good one…
