Is any day of fly fishing perfect?
Well, the answer defies definition. It’s simply different for different people and it’s probably different at different times in one’s fly fishing life. That’s the beauty of fly fishing, it’s rewarding in many individual and personal ways. Each day is its own unique treasure, and perfection may come, or it may not, but the pursuit is nearly always a joy.
That said, last Friday was dare we say, the perfect day of fly fishing. It started out with lodge guest Don P. warming up with some prospecting casts on one of the flat runs near the lodge. The fish seemed reluctant for just a few minutes and then, as if a switch flipped, the green drakes began to appear. It was the fish that alerted us to their presence first, with voracious rises that bordered on gluttonous. A quick change to a hair wing drake and the perfect day was on.
Don landed a brook trout, another brook, a brown, and another brook trout, missed one or two for good measure, and then we started losing count. The green drakes hatched for about an hour and the fish rose willingly. We couldn’t even remember there was such a thing as nymphs, a theme that would help define the day.
By lunch the drake hatch had tailed off but Don was well into the double digits and had caught a wild trout grand slam, including a beautiful Colorado River cutthroat, the native fish in this part of Utah’s Uinta Mountains. The last fish before lunch was even a stout tiger trout, the second of the day, and Don’s 5th trout species.
Lunch was great, the shade of the big cottonwoods was welcomed and it gave us a chance to recount what had been a fantastic morning and refuel for the anticipated afternoon.
The Yellowstone called and the afternoon started as the morning had left off. Stoneflies bounced by occasionally and the fish knew what to look for. Don nearly caught a grand slam in one run, just short a rainbow, which came first in the subsequent flat. By the time we’d reached our final stretch of stream it had been an amazing day. But, we weren’t finished.
After an impressively colored and good sized rainbow, Don hooked the biggest brook trout either of us had seen in a river. It flashed bright pink-orange flanks as it fought with power and the skill it had acquired through years of stream life. The trophy unfortunately bolted with powerful strokes of his square tail into a chute of fast current and broke the 4x. The one that got away, that too is part of a perfect day.
What was to be the final spot of the day couldn’t have been better. An impressive 17 inch rainbow came first – a true beauty.
Next, a very large fish grabbed the fly and bolted for the deep. Snnnnnaaaaappppp – well, another fish for another day.
A bright brook trout soon eased the disappointment a bit. Thank goodness for brook trout.
Then, just as we were about to hang it up, the shadow appeared. We saw it move subtly in the current and both knew it was no small brook trout. Don’s cast was good, the drift perfect, and with the flash of yellow I yelled “SET!” The hook held and, as the rod bend deepened, we both took deep breaths. This was a truly large fish.
The brute did not want to leave the safety of the shadows. He bulldogged toward the deep, but Don held him short of the rocky trouble below. Tense pulls alternated between angler and fish and it seemed uncertain as to what might happen next. Finally the beast relented and slipped from the deep pool out into the shallow riffle below.
It seemed like he was all but in the net now, until his old-trout instincts took over and he bolted past the net and downstream toward a rocky rapid. Then, for what reason we know not, he stopped, did an about-face, and tucked himself in the shallow slow currents against the stream bank rocks. He was ours. A quick stalk to a few feet above the fish, a flash of the net, and splash of river revealed a true trophy.
The ancient brown was 23 inches long, but that was probably the least impressive thing about him. His girth was astounding and his head and long toothy jaws looked absolutely reptilian. This was a true trophy, an old carnivorous brown with attitude and the belly of a British king.
We smiled huge giddy grins as we snapped a few pictures and released the beast back into the deep. Neither of us even considered another cast.
It was a perfect day.
Tell us about your perfect day in the comments below. We’d love to hear about it.
