As list member Paul Binder has so kindly pointed out, my last
paragraph could easily be misconstrued as disparaging spin-fishers, or
other non-fly fishing folk. This was not my intent at all. I even own a
couple of spinning rods myself!
My comment was intended to illustrate the staggering frustration of the
moment - a frustration clearly shared by the poor, dazed spin-fisher - as
well as the other fly fisher alongside me on the beach. It was kinda of
an exulting frustration though. Such a beautiful sight, all those big fish,
appearing out of nowhere, working up and down the beach, just out of
reach.
-Wes
Date forwarded: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:40:17 -0700
From: "Wes Neuenschwander" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date sent: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 21:40:01 -8
Subject: Re: The Narrows (They Came At Night)
Priority: normal
Forwarded by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> What he say.
>
> Sorry Paul. Sorry Charlie. This is exactly what happened at dusk
> Saturday. And it was an awesome sight indeed. Alas, Charlie, 15
> minutes after you left, the monster pods moved in. Mainly out of reach;
> just. But occassionally, when the back eddy formed, nice and strong just
> off the beach in front of Doc's, the odd fish or two, or even a small pod,
> would move in. I had 4 or 5 nice pulls and even had one bust my fly off on
> the strike. These were big fish, in big groups, barely creasing the film.
> In spite of the herring busting the surface right off the beach, they kept
> cruising back and forth, sometimes stopping to mill about without hardly
> moving at all; and then back and forth, just out of range.
>
> A guy with a spinning rod - little wisp of curled line dangling from the
> end - came walking up from the south cove, saying "you guys catching
> anything; they like your flies? You should go down there. They're all
> over. I hooked 6", before walking on past Doc's, south toward Pt. Fosdick.
>
>
> I have a limited tolerance for this sort of thing. I clipped off my fly,
> walked back to the van, and headed home.
>
> -Wes
>
>
>
> Date forwarded: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 09:20:38 -0700
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Date sent: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 12:19:55 EDT
> Subject: Re: The Narrows
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Forwarded by: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Send reply to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > I went up to the Narrows from Olympia on Thursday. When I got there it
> > was about 5:45pm. I ate a quick sandwich for dinner, rigged up and
> > headed down to the water. I saw one person in the water and the tide was
> > coming in, almost full high tide. Just as the one person was leaving the
> > water, the fish started to show with his back to the water. When I
> > talked with this guy, he said he hadn't seen a fish in 4 hours. I didn't
> > tell him that they were everywhere I could see. With the tide being as
> > high as it was, I had no choice but to fish right down the hill from the
> > parking lot. In front of what used to be Doc's house. I couldn't make
> > more than a thirty foot cast because the tide was so high that every time
> > I tried to extend my cast, I would snap off my fly on a tree or black
> > berries or something. I lost 6 flies in about an hour and a half. I
> > only caught 1 fish. It was the only one that I even got a bite from. I
> > had a few other problems beside the short casting range.
> >
> > First off, I could see huge pods of fish crusing in all directions. You
> > had to stop and look for a little while to notice what they were because
> > their porpousing in pods looked very similar to the ripple on top of the
> > water due to current. The difference was that the fish ripples where
> > moving toward or sometimes away from me. I could see, at times, 4 or
> > five pods of fish crusing up and down the shoreline. Some of the fish
> > were way out of range, maybe 200 feet or more. These were some of the
> > biggest pods.
> > As long as it took for a pod to cruse past me, there must have been
> > hundreds of fish in some of them. The pods that were closer in to shore
> > seemed to be smaller. Maybe 25 to 50 fish per pod. Seeing all these
> > fish had my blood pumping and I had to start casting away. Wrong move.
> > When the fish are there, you know it. No need to do any casting until
> > you see fish and can time your cast to hit the front of the pod. If you
> > just start casting, you'll inevitably have to much line out when a pod
> > starts to get close, it'll take you to long to strip in enought line to
> > start casting, and the pod'll be right in front of you and spook when you
> > cast over them.
> >
> >
> > Next problem was the type of line I was using. I started with a full
> > sink cause that's what I usually use to fish Cutthroat from a boat. That
> > didn't work to well. Next I went to a clear intermediate line. This
> > line worked okay but only if I started my strip as soon as the line hit
> > the water. Using a sinking line means that the only mending capability
> > you have is in the air before the line hits the water. With that in
> > mind, getting the right presentation meant picking the right fish to cast
> > to. I had to make sure that my fly got to swing right in front of the
> > pod. The only time I got this right and still had a fly on the end of my
> > leader, I caught a fish. I would recomend either using a floating line
> > or a floating line with a clear sink tip. This way you can mend your
> > line and get better presentations to fish crusing in either direction.
> >
> > I could not believe the numbers of fish I saw. When I got to work the
> > next morning, the first thing I said was, "You have got to go up there
> > and see it for yourself". Don't get discouraged if you don't have this
> > experience.
> > The guys who fish the most catch the most fish.
> >
> > Tom Bolender
> >
>
>
>
> Wes Neuenschwander
> Seattle, WA
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Wes Neuenschwander
Seattle, WA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
