This past Wednesday (June 21, 2023) was a beautiful day for a FATC graduation at Montauk
State Park. The weather was great, the fishing pressure was light (except for 16 FATC guys).
Lots of us (but not me) opted for wet wading.
The cast of characters included:
Graduate Doug Smedley, Tom Kelly, Scott Payne, Steve Baker, Vernon Preston, Bob Hassett,
Pete Drochelman, Tom Petrie, Tim Klotz, Al Blair, Michael Gordon, Jim Turner, Dan
Staggenborg, Bob Becket and his friend Larry Hirt, and me, Jim Craig.
Doug and I got down to serious business as we walked to the river. I quizzed him on local and
out-of-state pre-trip research, aquatic insects and their stages, and water flow types in every
river. How do you think you would do on such a quiz? If you are a little rusty, make it a priority
to audit some of Kenny’s FATC fly-fishing classes this fall.
We geared-up at the Naturalist Cabin and by 9 AM everyone headed to their favorite spots on
the spring.
It was clear as soon as Doug and I entered the water that fishing was going to be challenging.
NO fish were moving. Oh yes, they were there, and some were pretty big. But, they were not
eating. That’s ok because our morning was focused on casting and presentation techniques.
Any morning fish caught for a graduate during the one-on-one with his instructor are always a
bonus. Doug is a very precise and methodical person. He thinks through every action before he
takes it and asks tons of clarifying questions. It was wonderful to answer such inquisitive
questions. Unfortunately, he probably got rather frustrated when I started every answer with,
“well, it depends.” We probably talked as much as we fished in the morning. Nevertheless, we
worked through all the presentation techniques and still got a couple takes when swinging a
soft hackle and stripping a woolybugger. No worries, we’ll put fish in the net after lunch. I had
a feeling nymphing was going to be the ticket for Doug in the afternoon.
Everyone met at the Staggenborg tables for lunch. WHAT A CREW! We filled the tables with
FATC guys eating lunch and sharing mostly sob stories about how challenging the morning was.
But, guys who had some success that morning shared how they did it. That, and some good-
natured banter put everyone in an optimistic mood for the afternoon.
Doug and I headed for the spring to start the afternoon. The fish still seemed to have lockjaw.
We tried many flies. After a while, I started fishing to see if we could zero in on what flies the
fish might accept — big or small, gaudy or natural, light or dark. After a couple fish took my
cerise worm, we had a strategy. Doug started nymphing a cerise worm near the bottom and
BINGO! He saw the indicator move and set the hook. The fight was on while I shouted a string
of fish-fighting instructions and Doug frantically tried to follow each one. I think I was as
excited as he was. No worries, that fish made it to the net. Now Doug was “hooked.” You
could tell by his ear-to-ear smile. It had been a tough day and Doug earned that fish. In just a
few minutes he brought another to the net. There were a couple others on too, but they were
able to shake the hook loose. Still, they provided a great learning experience for Doug.
Because I spent the day fishing closely with Doug, I didn’t hear what all of the successful flies
were for the day. It is safe to say, no one fly was the silver bullet. But, I know these flies were
mentioned: The Big Hurt, headlight caddis (as tied in the FATC fly-tying class), cerise worm,
HOP, yellow egg, North Fork special and the black zebra midge. Steve Baker, Bob Becket, and
Dan Staggenborg get the nod for catching some jumbo fish in the 16”-17” range.
We wrapped it up at 4:30 PM and headed for a wonderful pizza fellowship dinner in Salem. It
wasn’t just Doug who had a better afternoon. Guys had many more stories of success to share
from the afternoon. Overall, it was a challenging day, but it just goes to prove that “A man will
not lose if he will not quit.”
See you on the water!
