|
|
 |
|
Oct, 20 2002 Mystery Creek Time: 7:30am - 3:00pm Narrative: Fishing on Mystery Creek was challenging today. Water temperatures were low and the fish were generally sluggish much of morning. The strikes were light and one had to set the hook at the very slightest hesitation or movement of the line. You had to sense that something wasn’t right with your fly and set the hook. In my case I had to set the hook harder than I might normally. I was fishing with one of my “other” Tonka Queen cane rods. This rod is in near mint condition and both tips are full length, unlike the TQ I normally fish which was short when I purchased it and is shorter now since I broke it on a steelhead some years back. Consequently, the tip on this rod is softer than my other TQ and much softer than graphite of the same length and line weight. My initial problem was that the springiness of the tip allowed a little slack to develop, which resulted in a lot of mid- stream releases. In the morning I lost about 75% of the fish I hooked before I learned to adjust my hook-set and play of the fish. This adjustment required a large, and in most cases horizontal, sweeping movement with my hand to employ the power of the rod butt; driving the hook deep. This increased my hook/land ratio to about 50%, which is about normal these days. 50% may not seem like much but I would much rather land 50% of a possible 30 fish than 15 out of a possible 15 fish. Days like today, keep me coming back. My fish play and casting skills are lacking but today I had that sixth sense that had me setting the hook when I hadn’t consciously perceived a strike. That’s encouraging. Mike and his friend met me on the river. A planned coincidence of sorts, I had planning to fish the creek and Mike had been planning to fish the creek or the Lower Stan. I told him the Stan was closed, so that left Mystery Creek by default. We mostly fished apart until we reached “big fish” water, where we rotated the lies among us. We then went down stream to fish near the outlet and again went our separate ways.
I hadn’t fished this section of the creek in many years and had never fished the entire creek. The lower section of the creek is open and allows for easy casting. It’s quarry like. Small rolling hills of dry grass and gravel characterize the landscape which is slightly less picturesque than it might sound. The creek butts up against the south side of a canyon wall. The creek here is a series of long shallow riffles with some pocket water where the terrain dips or the creek narrows. It would make good wet fly fishing if the conditions allow. I enjoy fishing new water and employed a stick and move approach so that I could cover as much new water as possible. There’s a fine line between covering the water thoroughly and beating the water to death. Each person finds his/her own balance. With me, on this creek, that balance is achieved at 6 casts. 6 casts to a likely holding area and I’m on to the next. Pockets require fewer casts and riffles, many more. You never really know if you’ve achieved the correct balance until given the chance to reflect on the day. The fish will tell the tale. At the end of the day I look for consistency, not numbers and not size. Am I consistently finding the right water, with the right flies and a good presentation? Am I sticking fish in both easy and difficult areas? Numbers aren’t important; with consistency they will come. Size is not important. With consistency, this too may come. Today the fishing told a tale of consistency. My reward was a 14 inch Brown Trout. A first for me on Mystery Creek and a true rarity on this stream which is mostly filled with Rainbow Trout.
Previous Pish Page Chronicle Next Pish Page Chronicle Pish Page Index
|
