That being said, I left my fishing gear at home planning on returning home first thing Friday. Circumstances changed that, and suddenly I had a couple days of great weather and no fishing gear- you can see where that'd be a problem.
So I went down to Concord Outfitters, a fly shop in Mass, and they happened to have a pair of waders and size 11 boots (perfect!) to rent, along with a 9' 5 weight Redington. Great guys at the shop- definitely went out of their way to get me on the water and make a few suggestions on where to go."I would LOVE to be on the Swift tomorrow" they said. "That place is like an aquarium- gin clear water and tons of fish". They set me up with fine 6x tippet, some 22 zebra midges and size 18 RS2's, and just in case the water was really high, an olive wooly bugger.
First thing Saturday morning I was up and on the road with a little McD's in my tummy to stop the digestion (a fallacy my uncle has instilled on me- has the opposite effect, but the hashbrown makes the early hour much more enjoyable).
32 degrees and sunny when I opened my door- nobody there yet. What a great start to the morning. Strung up and made my way down the trail. I love being on the water first thing in the morning- just the sound of the river, the birds and the peaceful scene of mist coming off the water. That time of day on the river is often what I remember most from day on the water, and if the fishing sucks I still have that.
I saw a few fish along the way. Tried to fish them from up above, but as you can see from the photo above there was a lot of sh*t in the way. Spent most of those casts just untangling leaders and lead. OK, it was going to be a fun day, but not unless I was in the water.
I made my way down to a nice bend where I saw a couple slow rises. I couldn't see what they were rising to, but the fish were all nice size rainbows and I wanted a piece of the action.
Keep in mind I only had a handful of flies, all nymphs, so I started with a 22 zebra midge with some weight to get it down, and of course an indicator. Funny thing is, I could see the fish pass over my fly time and time again. I often wonder whether that's better or worse. I guess in the end it's a lot more exciting, because no matter how many times the fish says "no thanks", I always think he'll change his mind on the next drift.
I stayed in the water off and on (to regain feeling in my toes) for the next 4 hours, catching 2 healthy bows and losing one who broke off my 6x tippet. They took on the grey RS-2, but only after refusing time and time again. But hey, like a great business idea, it only takes one time.
It was about that time that I started noticing a few salmon in the river. You see, the guys at the shop had explained some of the landlockeds from the Quabbin Reservoir had flown into the river following a recent flood. The river had a few guys on it, and I overheard one of them saying after a catch that it was a salmon (the acrobatics should have been a dead giveaway).
I'd casted to a few but to no avail. Still, I had about an hour left before I had to return to my folks home and let my dog out and I saw a couple salmon hanging along the bottom. I put on a zebra midge (my only RS2 had broken off with my 6x tippet and a fiesty bow) and proceeded to dead drift it in front of the salmon for 30+ minutes. Couldn't even get a move. Tried different depths, everything. No movement.
Finally I saw a green leaf come tumbling down stream. The salmon attacked that thing like it owed it money. I decided maybe that wooly bugger would get used after all, so I tied it on below my indicator to try and dead drift it, much like a nymph. To my excitement he came to it when jerked, but backed away with the noise of the indicator popping. So figuring it was my last go before I headed out, I cut the line and tied it straight to the 5x. Threw it out, stripped it in and with a quick jerk in front of the salmon he took it! The fight was on. This guy wasn't happy, and who can blame him. He ran downstream immediately, right past a couple other guys who were fishing downstream. They could see how big he was and made sure to tell me I had a good one. Thanks guys, just what I needed, more pressure... After a good 5-10 minutes he had tired out. Fortunately one of the guys downstream came up to net him since my rental didn't include a net.
I couldn't believe it, the thing was FAT. He barely fit into the net, and he was thick. I had the 'netter' take a quick shot and then I let him go. He swam off in a hurry and I was a happy man. I had landed a beautiful fish, one of my biggest in freshwater.
I tried swinging the bugger through a few more deep pools, but to no avail. That was ok, I had gotten into some great action and restored my sanity with another day on the water.
I headed back to the car and took off back home.
Put another check next to the state of Massachusetts- my second time fly fishing it and it was a good one. I hope to be back again soon (Christmas?).
It seems that you don't need the fanciest of gear or the most thorough of planning- sometimes it's just being on the water and observing your surroundings that are the rewarding part. I guess that's why I started fly fishing in the first place- for the process, not the result.
I hope all you fly fishers out there keep that in mind!
