It was a big surprise to me that there were only five FATC fly fisherman that signed up for the trip I posted for the third week of August. It was a beautiful day with partly cloudy skies, temperatures in the low 70s to low 80s and with very little wind. Larry Mangles, Scott Payne, Don Varner, Bob Born and Me, Steve Baker. ALL planned on having a great day. After arriving at the park, we could see that the stream was very clear and shallow just as it has been most of the summer. We all stopped at the lodge to purchase our tags and go to the naturalist cabin to gear up and start fishing. I noticed that Larry and Scott had gotten to the park before us and Scott was already on his way to the stream. I would say his Marine training has a lot to do with his organizational skills but the rest of us were all right behind him “SORTA”. The plan was to be back for lunch at 11:30 and to find out how the mornings results were for everyone.
Everyone headed in a different direction to get to their favorite spot to fish? There were not a whole lot of other fishermen on the stream, so it was easy to find a spot to start. I started out with the dry dropper set up and had very little luck until I found the right combination. I caught my first fish after about an hour and started working my way upstream to just above the cut bank. I was able to net a few more fish before it was time to go to lunch. I met up with the rest of the group at the picnic tables where we always meet to have lunch and talk about our morning. Everyone seemed to have a fair morning’s catch using midges, perdigons, and some on dry flies. There did not seem to be any one particular fly that knocked them dead.
After lunch, we all wanted to get back to it and planned on meeting back at our vehicles at 4:30. My plan for the afternoon was to switch to my sinking fly line and Fish with streamers, crackle backs and caddis flies. As I made my way down from the Boulder, I started picking up a fish here and there. That lasted for a couple of hours, and I had six fish in the net by 2:30 and then decided to switch back to my floating line and fish with top water flies. Beatles, hoppers, renegades and crackle backs worked well for the rest of the day. As it was getting closer onto 4 o’clock, and my legs were starting to cramp, I decided to make my way back to the car and call it a day. I just can’t seem to make it for the whole day without wearing out, but it’s great to be able to enjoy the weather and the nature surrounding us.
I got back to the car, and I was in the process of changing clothes when the other guys started drifting in, and I think we were all in the same boat, too tired to keep pushing it. We were all ready to go by 4:45 so we made our way to Salem to have dinner at JB Malone’s
The best story at dinner was from Scott Payne, who had been snagged on some fishing line, and when he pulled it in, he found one of his famous House of Pain flies, tied onto that fishing line. That fly could have been lost by any number of FATC fisherman but leave it to Scott to recapture it.
After enjoying our dinner, we were all ready to make our way back home and call it a day. It was a day well worth spending in fellowship with other FATC members.
