Nobody was catching  fish at Montauk Day

After getting a blood clot in my left leg my balance has not been what it should be and caused me ( Sid Aslin) to fall while getting out of the stream at Montauk in October.  I had to be taken out in an ambulance.  Fortunately for  me  no bones were broken .   As a result, I agreed with my wife and doctor and decided that any fishing I would do, would be done from the bank.  However as all of you know it is just not as good as “being in the water”! 

I have recently started seeing a new doctor and working hard ( but honestly not as hard as I should be!) to get to where my balance is better.  On March 10 I decided I was doing well enough to put my waders and boots on again and “mildy” fly fish Montauk again.

With my good friend and best fishing buddy Tim Klotz along we set out for Montauk!

With a recent rain water was at around 2.1 and murkier than what we liked it, but what could we do, but fish?    I used my usual beaded wooly buggers, but did not see many fish all morning.   None saw my net!   I did have a few strikes and was only feeling good about not having any trouble wading when the agreed on 1:00 lunch time approached and I was going to have to tell Tim that I struck out!   

Come to find out Tim had the same kind of morning with just a few played fish, but none to the net!  Neither of us saw anybody taking a lot of fish!   Guess the expression “misery  loves company”  might be the one, but it did make me feel better about my fly fishing skills!

After a quick lunch at “Dan’s table” by the Naturalist office we headed back out.  I had had some  “almost caught trout” at the end of the day when I helped out with our recent tournament standing on the rocks right below the dam and I was eager to try that spot  “high sticking” spot again, but to my regret “it did not work like last time” so those “bait guys” must have pulled them all out since “catch and kill” has started.

I went to almost off the top of the park and then waded downstream until I met Tim  at  “the barrel hole”.  Right before I saw him I finally got my first trout of the day to the net on a ginger colored beaded Woolly bugger.  It was pretty small and may have been on my line for a while before I noticed it as I was stripping in my line!  Lesson to you “newbies” use a strike I indicator, but I just do not like fly fishing with them because I never used one growing up and  “teaching this old dog” tricks is difficult!

Tim had used about every fly that he had ( his fingers work a lot better on the water than mine) and also had just one fish to the net so I did not feel so bad!  We had agreed to fish until the ending horn so I decided to go to the “kiddy pool” to finish the day on the bank and I got one more to the net! 

I stopped fishing a little sooner than Tim and saw him fishing  “the social hole” and did not want to interrupt him so I let him fish on.

He got to my car and as we were getting ready to leave the ending horn blew.   We discussed the day and were of course discouraged by the number of fish , but we both decided it was a great day to be out together and we look forward to doing it again!