A Windy Day on New Water

Venturing out to a new stream alone, and learning to fish it on the fly is something I always love to do when I can.  Overcoming a few challenges and making a great day out of the experience usually makes for one of the more memorable days of the season.

Saturday I traveled a bit farther than I normally do, and fished a stream I'd never been to before.  It was really nice to get a change of scenery and the fish didn't disappoint either.  I wanted to use the 1wt, but when I arrived and opened the door of my car, the wind nearly blew it shut again, so ultralight was out of the question.  Instead, I strung up my 4wt and planned on fishing wet flies and streamers unless I saw risers or a significant hatch (unlikely on such a windy day).

With a black bugger on the line, I made my way to the water and made a few test casts, slowly getting accustomed to the wind.  The stream was clear despite the overnight storm that had blown through the area, but also running faster than I'm generally used to.  Still, the fast water was separated by deep pools that looked like good holding water.

I made my way downstream without much interest in my buggers, fishing a few holes very similar to this.  Eventually, I decided to go with a leaner, sparser presentation in the clear water.  So I tied on a bucktail streamer and continued to fish.

Eventually, I hooked a small brookie in a faster run on the outside of a bend in the stream on this fly.  I did note that the fly seemed to be riding just a few inches under the surface, so I added a bit of weight up above the streamer about 18" or so.

Fishing like this, changing flies occasionally, I made my way down stream.  As I did, I picked up a few fish here and there, and eventually, one of the fish, after release, tucked into the slow current behind my boot, of all places.  Getting my camera out and adjusted, I snapped a few quick underwater shots of the recent catch.

Here's a few more pics I took along the way: