I hate to spill the beans so early in a story, but this river, stream, brook, tiny capillary of the Croton Watershed, has got to be one of my all time favorite places in the world. No wider than a Cadillac in most stretches, but absolutely chock full of wild brown trout. It's stocked each year- yes, but there are large beautiful fish hiding away in hard to reach corners, fish that display a totally different color scheme than that of the obviously stocked brown trout. Perhaps they're holdovers from last year or the year before. But there's something about the larger Amawalk brown that seems so virgin and ripe that I just can't imagine they came from a hatchery.
And on this fine day in mid April, large green Drakes were hatching regularly and the fish were looking up. I'm impatient though, I went down. I tied on a "50/50," which is 50% Gold Ribbed Hair's Ear and 50% Pheasant Tail. The "50/50" also means it's a toss up on which part plays which role. You can tie the thorax with pheasant and the back with hare's ear, or reverse it. Either way works splendidly. It's best tied on a #16 or 14 dry fly hook with no weight added. A small split shot just above the fly, maybe a foot and a half, is alright in deeper waters, but this fly works best while bobbing around at various depths, even close to the surface. When fish see it, they take it. You just have to find the fish.
So I crept upstream until I caught a hint of trout activity- the early season kind where a single over eager fish hits the surface once every forty-five minutes. Could also be a twig that fell from a tree, which is something I can't help but think as I wait for more risers. Forget dry flies today, these fish are eating in. Strike indicator affixed, I nymphed.
The first fish was a bruiser. Gave me a big obvious take, went right for the deep water to fake me out, then took off downstream. I got a look at her as she flew past my legs, which were knee deep in the pool. I quickly and confidently measured her up at about (or at least) 18 inches. Quite a heavy fish for such a tiny stream. Never had a chance to get the tape measure out though, because she took off like an underwater bottle rocket before taking me deep into the backing then finally broke off and disappeared. DAMN! Deep breath, look up at the sky and be glad for the fight. I've never gone into the backing on the Amawalk before.
Very next cast I hooked, played and landed a 16 inch wild brown. Her yellow belly was like bubble gum. This was a good day of fly fishing.
Posts
