Over the past year I’ve tried to switch things up a little with the journal entries that I share. I don’t want to bore readers with entry after entry of fishing the same exact spot on the same creek. This entry from the beginning of the month was a productive day, and the best day number-wise that I’ve had all year. I revisited the second spot that my friend and I had fished in the September Journal Entry to try to cover more of this section, and to see if it was as good of a spot as it looked.
Time: 2:15PM - 2:45PM (Took a short break) 3:00PM - 5:00PM
Weather Conditions: Temperature around 70F, partly cloudy with an occasional breeze
Water Conditions: Water temperature 56F-58F, clear, slightly lower than average
I started at the furthest downstream point that I could access, which was a bend in the river that fed a large pool. I had a small sakasa kebari on the line already, so I just started with that. In the first half hour I caught several fish using the sakasa. It had reached a point where the peacock herl collar was starting to become unraveled. I took a short break to get some water, eat a snack, and to change out my line and fly before working the section upstream from the bend.
With a larger futsu on the line, I worked through a long, deep run with a bit of weight in the system. I was able to pull my largest catches of the day using kikiawase and sighting the fly for takes.
At the top of the run was a section of riffles. I cast into the pockets as I worked my way up toward a shallow pool that lay at the head. No bites were had in the riffles, but the pool brought plenty of action. The first few hook-ups were able to spit the hook, which led me to changing it out for the same pattern. I landed several more rainbows in the pool before moving into some pocket water upstream.
Several strikes on the futsu, with only one hook-up brought me to changing to a smaller futsu in hopes it would make for easier takes. It paid off, and I was able to bring a few more fish to the net in this section.
The last section I fished was another long run where I once again added some weight into the system and landed a few more rainbows. Just before I packed it all in, I cast to a rising fish in the shallows on the far side of the run and put one last rainbow in the net for the day.
It was a great day on the water, and an excellent way to start the month of October. I felt accomplished in my catches, tactics, and water covered in the amount of time I fished.