The Shokuryoshi Experiment
Time: 4:30pm - 5:45pm
Weather Conditions: 84F with an occasional wind running upstream through the canyon
Water Conditions: 60F, gin-clear with moderate/low flows
I drove out to a spot on the river that I used to fish often. It has become a popular swimming hole recently, but with less and less people visiting that area, it looked like a good time to fish my way through that section.
I had started with a level line in hopes to be able to cast the width of the river from the close bank. I could do just that, but the occasional breeze that came through often took control of the line and redirected my casts or my presentation. Along with that, the few bites I had gotten early on didn't lead to any fish in the net due to missed hook sets.
After the first level in the river, I decided to change to my tapered nylon line, and try to focus on more upstream targets. This would pay off in the end, but the start was a little rough still. I was having trouble dialing in what was going to work. Eats seemed to be a little slow and lazy, and I was finding myself to be a little late on the hook sets still. I was hooking into a few fish, but not really driving the hook in, leading to them going free. A downsize in flies seemed to help, and I started picking up fish.
It seemed like the first 30 minutes of the session only yielded a bite or two. Then a stretch of time following that was drawn out by no bites. I was starting to worry that the session would start taking my catch rate backwards, but I was finally able to find what was working and where in the currents the fish were eating. It was starting to come together as the sun started descending behind the ridge. So it then became a race against the shadow that was creeping along the river. I knew I wouldn't necessarily be able to stay ahead of the shadow, but what I really wanted was to finish fishing that section before it got too dark out.
In the end, it turned out to be a good session. With 7 fish brought to the net, I felt good about the catch rate even after getting of to a slow start.