It was time for another graduation. Darrel Durst just finished the 2026 Spring flyfishing class and was ready to hit the water. What a perfect day for a graduation trip. The weather and water conditions were great.
We had a nice-sized crew of guys along to support Darrel on his adventure: Don Varner, Scott Morris, Glenn Haake, Larry Mangels, Matt McClure, and me, his one-on-one instructor for the day, Jim Craig. Dan Staggenborg and Don McCain met us there. As usual, we met at 6:15 AM at the Eureka Park and Ride. From there, we jumped in 3 cars for our ride to Montauk State Park. By 8:45 AM we were gearing up in front of the Naturalist cabin.
The guys started the day by spreading throughout the fly only area while Darrel and I headed to the “boulder.” We practiced casting, fishing streamers, and dead drifting nymphs. It may have been a few months since Darrel was in class, but he was spot on when I quizzed him about some of the things Kenny had taught in class such as trip planning details, fly fishing resources (the FATC website) aquatic insects, tippet sizes, etc. Darrel had even practiced his knots!
Darrel had two trout in the net before lunch, both nymphing the Walt’s worm. He had one more fish on that didn’t make it to the net. You can’t win them all. I have to give Darrel credit; he is one of the fastest students on the nymphing hookset I have ever had. The bite was very soft. If it weren’t for his speed, he never would have hooked those three fish.
The guys gathered at the Staggenborg tables for lunch where they got to know Darrel a little better. We also all shared what strategies worked that morning. Unfortunately, the guys reported that catching was challenging. No specific fly or technique was consistently working. We hit the water again after lunch with high hopes of figuring out what the fish wanted before the end of the day.
Darrel and I started the afternoon at the riffles below the powerline cove on our way up to the spring. Darrel hadn’t gotten a chance to learn the technique of swinging soft hackle flies in the morning since we observed the fish were staying very deep. I thought this would be a perfect spot to implement this technique as trout always seem eager to grab soft hackles in this water. After getting Darrel correctly positioned in the riffle and explaining the technique, he was on fish with almost his first cast. That is when he made the statement that says it all, “I love catching fish.” And so it went on for probably a couple hours. He perfected the swing and the very gentle hook set needed for this technique. Much different from the quick hookset when we were nymphing in the morning. He proceeded to net 8 more fish at that location.
We could have stayed there the rest of the day, repositioning in the riffle and catching more fish. But, I had to pull Darrel out of there. After all, today was not ALL about catching fish. If was a day for learning and I still needed to show him other areas of the river and discuss effective techniques for fly fishing those waters.
So, we hiked up to the spring and began working our way down. Darrel continued swinging the soft hackle in the riffles just below the spring. As we moved down river, he switched back to indicator nymphing as we had done in the morning. Sorry to say that fishing the rest of the day didn’t live up to what we found in that first riffle. Nevertheless, Darrel got to see a majority of the fly fishing only water before we had to call it quits.
There didn’t seem to be a hot fly or technique for the day. Rob and I did best on a Walt’s worm and a green soft hackle. Guys reported that the only other effective fly for the day was the blowtorch.
No FATC trip is ever complete without stopping on the way home for a brotherhood dinner. Following tradition, we allowed our graduate to choose the restaurant. After presenting him with our “approved” eateries, he selected Pizza Inn in Salem. (I put no undue influence on Darrel’s decision. But yes, I did smile when he made his choice.) As usual, no one left hungry especially when dinner was topped off with soft serve ice cream that comes with the pizza and salad buffet.
Twelve of us are headed to Lake George, CO, next week for the Advanced Fly Fishing Skills for Western Rivers school. So, I guess we will probably give the Montauk fish a rest next week. Our next graduation trip is already scheduled for June 19, 2026. Let me know if you can make it or schedule a trip on a day that works for you! Guys will certainly sign up for it.
