We took Dan’s across the street neighbor, Ken (he is a very nice guy, by the way). He’s only fly fished a couple of times before. It was great to hang out with someone who hasn’t fly fished much and is interested in learning how—not just the motions, but actually asking questions and using the advice given to him. We may have overloaded him with info (sorry Ken!).

But it made me think about all of the little things in fly fishing that eventually become natural to you. Everything from casting to fly and line management when the fly is finally on the water. Lies (uhhh…not that kind of lying, those come automatically to all fishermen) as in, where the trout are in the water. Insects. Fly selection, etc. But I was more focused on this little fishing time with fly drift and line management—making that fly look right on the water.

In trying to vocalize to Ken what to do with his arm/hand to make the fly look like it should on the water, I realized ho involved it really was. Cinnamon Creek is small with lots of overgrowth. So getting a “real” cast just isn’t typical there. This also means that most of the fishing was done within 20 feet of us, usually more like 10 feet. There is plenty of pocket water too. So this isn’t your 50′ cast and then let fly and line float back to you.

Since the float line catches in chutes going from one pocket to the next, it’s important to keep the float line out of the fast water. If you don’t the line is going faster than the slick water in the pocket above that has your fly in it. Therefore your fly just drags through the pool. So you have to learn to keep the fly at the same speed as the pocket water.

You do a quick roll cast then almost immediately flick a little slack into the line, or, since we were so close to the pockets we fished, the best method was usually highsticking. You roll cast the fly into the pocket then lift the rod up. Not just the rod tip, but actually lift your entire arm up so the whole rod goes up. This lifts the float line off the water and allows you to control the fly.

It’s pretty much an automatic response for me when fishing this kind of water. But it has to be taught to beginners.

Ken was a great student and in just an hour or so of fishing (actually, with three guys sharing one little creek and Ken spending a fair amount of time with snags and wind knots, I’d say more like 30 minutes of fly on the water time) he caught his first fish on a fly:

The fishing was pretty good overall. I lost a nice one and landed several decent ones. Dan landed a handful too. Ken caught a larger fish than this picture (but he said he didn’t need any more pictures). He also lost a couple of decent sized fish.

Great fun! Thanks for coming Ken.

A small stream in Cache Valley I enjoy fishing is Cinnamon Creek. Last Saturday (April 26) it was a bit high and off-color. No decent fishing there yet either above or below the dam. Fortunately, it is one of the earlier to clear up. But with as much snowpack as we have right now, probably not doable until mid-June.