Silly face I made for Zac while Rick fished behind me
Second 'bow of the day, caught on a Free-N-Easy
First fish I caught on dry at the Illinois River
Unhooking the day's last fish, caught on Serendipity in still water
I told Rick about Fly Fishing a few times at work. Unlike most people that claim they want to learn, Rick seemed to take an actual interest. We took a trip to the store the weekend before and got him setup with some waders. Zac went with us so he could try to get some Stipers. We met at my house, and set off around 5am to Gore.
They were of course generating from 6am to 10am, so we first went to the Hunting Road access south of Marvel's. We did this so Zac could fish while I gave Rick some casting lessons. Thankfully, Rick picked up on casting very quickly. The river started to come up, so we wasted time by heading downstream just north of the Hwy. 64 bridge. While Zac fished a ranger came up to tell us our tire was flat. We headed into Gore to get it fixed, and then proceeded upstream to fish below the dam. Rick and I did not make an official cast until after 11am.
The river was crowded so we headed downstream for more solitude. After 30 minutes, without one take for any of us, we headed upstream and fished a shoal. Initially, I caught 3 Rainbows on sub surface flies...the first 2 on a Free-N-Easy and the third on a special Sowbug I got from Mike. I watched the fish start coming out of the water to feed, so I tied on an Adam's Parachute. To my surprise, a 'Bow came up and took it! I also got another trout on the Adam's. I was stoked!!! My first fish on dry from the Illinois River.
The crowd really began to grow about mid-afternoon, so we packed up and headed downstream to the solitude of the new Harvest Area of the river...so I thought. The road has now been paved, and a parking lot put in. All things considered, it was not that crowded...I was just expecting it to be us though. We walked downstream a way to the USGS gage and gave it a try. I immediately hooked the prettiest fish I have ever caught on the Illinois, using a Serendipity. The fish had nice size (about 16", which is a nice sized fish for that stream) and color. I caught 8 fish in this area in about an hour or so...4 in the current and 4 in still, clear water (which was quite the accomplishment for me). I caught 7 on the Serendipity and one on a Chartreuse Copper John of all things.
I caught 13 fish on 5 different flies...including 2 on dry and 4 in still clear water. My presentation and casting greatly improved through the day, and I was even starting to have some slight success with double haul casting (slight success should be stressed). Rick hooked 5 fish, however did not manage to get any in. He had a lot of fun though, and said that fly fishing might have ruined other fishing methods for him. We got another one! Unfortunately for Zac, we found out that it was about a month or two too early for the Striper run into the river. I did give him an impromptu stream side casting lesson, and he also got a trout hooked on that he got to play a bit before it got away. I had a blast myself, and Rick and I are already planning the next trip! Below are a few pics that did not come out good because I took my old camera.
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Silly face I made for Zac while Rick fished behind me |
Second 'bow of the day, caught on a Free-N-Easy |
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First fish I caught on dry at the Illinois River |
Unhooking the day's last fish, caught on Serendipity in still water |