A Winter Quickie – A Swing and a Miss below Tan Vat

A couple weeks back I was lucky enough to be in town and attend Pat Dorsey’s lecture and fly tying
demonstration. The afternoon session with Mr. Dorsey provided us all with many new patterns which
looked deadly (well, let’s say VERY enticing as I was thinking like a fish). He deftly tied his Mercury
Midge (using a clear glass bead with silver core imitating a trapped air bubble) , a simple Blood Worm
pattern with a peacock herl collar, his “Black Beauty”, the Dorsey “Top Secret Midge”, Matt’s Midge
(courtesy of Matt Miles), a very cleverly tied pheasant tail nymph, the Buckskin Caddis (aka the Bread
Crust Caddis, a cased caddis pattern which originated in PA’s Pocono Mt. rivers) and lastly the
Hooterbaugh Caddis (Dan Hooterbaugh) who made this one famous on the Arkansas River. What the
heck – I had a lot of choices to make concerning what to tie and of course, when I could use them.

I made time to tie several of the patterns for a winter trip to the Current River. Didn’t know when this
would happen but late last Friday night I decided I was going early the morning of 1/26. Of course a
weather and water check. Possible showers (no big – no such thing as bad weather, just “bad clothing”)
and the water was low – guage reading 1.2’ – and typical “fishable” flows were usually in the 2-3’ range.
I was in. So – an early start and with a lunch in the back pocket of my vest I was walking into the river at
Tan Vat (below Montauk Park) at 8:45A. 35F and a light drizzle. I didn’t expect things to be active until a
little later in the day.

I put on a new 9’ 5X leader and a length of 6X tippet as I was trying out a new tandem rig with a couple
of the pale Mercury Midge larvae patterns. (a Cream-colored size 22 midge with the clear glass bead
head). Adjusted my indicator and made several passes through the first hole just upstream of the
parking turn-out. Nada. Depth? Indicator position? Tried again with a single split shot above the top
fly….working the hole systematically and came up with nothing. Not a bump. I worked my way
downstream and tried again – adjusting my casts and looking for likely holding lanes. Fished the
seams…the runs, ahead and behind the boulders I could see in the stream. Nada. I noticed that even
though the flow was on the low side – the water was not clear and looked a bit “milky” for the first
quarter mile below Tan Vat. (maybe this pattern is just too small and too light for the water color?) It
was a steady drizzle now with a little wind but nothing hard to work around.

Are these fish smarter than I am? The thought of getting skunked crossed my mind. No way. Not
possible. I re-rigged and went to a fly that I know has worked well here in the past – a bead head hare’s
ear nymph with a partridge soft hackle collar (darn – that is a mouthful!) Three casts and I had a fish on
– right as the fly was starting to lift at the end of the drift. Three more to the net – all in the 12-15”
range.

It was really raining now – pelting raindrops and it was 2PM. I was pretty sure the fish didn’t care and
with their release – they could tell their own stories about the Big One that walked away. ��
Tight Lines Everyone!
Tim Welsh