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It’s an early
June morning as the sun rises and begins to warm the day and a
fine time to be on the stream. The feel of cold water against my
waders contrasts the warmth of the sun in the air. The stream
seems to sparkle as the sun speckles on the water coming through
the shading canopy of tree leaves above.
As I stood there,
deciding on what I should present, an occasional subtle splash
could be heard. So I watched the water for a bit to see what was
going on and I would catch a glimpse of a trout here and there
sucking something off the water surface, or so I thought. Up
stream I could see another angler working a stretch. I watch him
for a while and wondered what he may be using and with that he
gathered up his line, broke out his fly box and made another
selection. I decided to go subsurface for a while drifting a
nymph.
As I watched my
strike indicator for any possible hits I couldn’t help notice
the insects going about their business. Occasionally I would see
one take flight from the water surface while others floated on
the current. Tiny critters and slightly larger ones, some seemed
grayish white as others were black in color. Shadows would ease
across the water as birds in flight passed by and then that
splashing sound would break the rhythm of the sounds around me
as another trout came to the surface.
I stopped my
fishing for moment and watched the stream near me. A trout broke
the surface again quietly and a few minutes later he did it
again. “What the heck is he eating”, I thought, not being able
to see what he was snacking on. I widened my view by looking
farther down stream. I could see what appeared to be grayish
white winged specks trickle off into the air. I gazed at the
different individuals in flight when suddenly easing along the
shallows a different fisherman of sorts caught my eye. A Blue
Heron, totally soundless, one slow unhurried step at a time,
made its way up stream.
Time to change
up, I thought and decided to look through my collection for
something, grayish white and small. Settling on my find I tied
it on and began fishing again. Remembering my company fishing up
stream, I glanced in his direction to find he was sitting on a
rock in the middle of the stream very comfortable looking,
crossed legged, as if he was watching a TV program or engaged in
the listening portion of a good conversation, rather than the
water.
Back to watching
my fly floating on the surface again, I could see a trout come
into view and look over my fly, only to disappoint as he
disappeared again into the darker water below the fly. Several
times I watch him exam my fly as it floated by only to leave it
alone. “Too white I bet”, and in came the fly and out came my
fly box. On to the end of my tippet I attached a grayer version
of the same fly only to have the same outcome with this trout.
After several attempts, dozens in fact, I retrieved the fly.
Standing there, fly box in hand and wondering what to try next,
I sorted through my flies. Not sure what I should pick, I took
notice of surface of the water as it streamed by me. I watched
for a few minutes and could see “stuff” that was sprinkle on the
surface drifting by. “Small stuff” I thought and with that added
a piece of smaller tippet and tied a Griffith’s Gnat size 20 to
it. Couple of casts later I caught me that trout. A few more
trout fell victim to the little gnat and soon the surface seemed
to go quiet of any rising trout.
Happy with my day
so far I figure it time to change to a nymph again and began the
task of changing up. “Wonder what the guy up stream is doing” I
thought and looked up to see he had moved farther up stream and
was in mid cast, paying no attention to me as he seemed to have
done all along. I got back to my selecting process thinking
about what might be appropriate and picked up on a sound. I
listened half interested as I looked for my next offering,
thinking a squirrel was rooting around a bit on the far bank. As
I continued, the sound seemed subtler than what a squirrel would
make, so, a bird rustling became my next thought as I searched
my fly selection. Having taken my pick and starting to tie it
on, the sound continued to register on my ears, and didn’t seem
familiar, so I looked up. To my amazement stood a fawn, no more
than a day old it seemed. A tiny thing with ears no bigger than
inches and a nose that looked like a button off a shirt, black,
matching the eyes of equal size. The characteristic white spots
along its flanks, it settled itself down on some soft debris,
rolled in a ball, dog like fashion and starred at me. “How cool
is this”, I was thinking and with that remembered the camera I
always carry was sitting on a table back at the house that the
night before I put there so as not to forget it. “Figures” I
chuckle to myself, and stripped out some line and made my cast.
I fished up and down the stream from the position of that fawn
and it never moved or ever seemed concerned. It lay there
licking itself from time to time and dosing, not a care in the
world it seemed.
The day moved
along and soon the fishing slowed to a crawl as the heat of the
day and the sun rose higher in the sky. “Time to head out”
popped into my head and I reeled in. I stood there for a bit
looking at the stream up then down. Scanned over to where the
deer lay to see it curled and knapping. My “friend” up stream
had faded away into the brush somewhere leaving the up stream
empty of intruders. I too turned and left the water and made my
way back to the truck. “Good day” I thought, “that was a good
day”.
Maybe it’s
something you’re born with or maybe it’s something you acquire
over time but some people just naturally seem to notice things
around them while others walk through life never seeming to
notice anything beyond their focus. Hunting and fishing aren’t
the only activities where one needs to pay attention to their
surroundings, so developing the “eye” of observation is
something important. Taking time to see what is going on right
around you shouldn’t be limited to the field, woods or creek,
but should be done all around.
Today’s world is
a fast paced place in which we live in. People make it that way,
as nature continues at a slow pace in contrast to the hustle and
bustle of human life. Sometimes it’s a good idea to stop what
you’re doing and sit and look around, whether at work or at
home, wherever you are. Stop for a second and take your eyes of
the tube or computer and notice what the kids are doing or what
your wife is doing. Just take a look around. You may see
something that has been there all along but for some reason
stands out suddenly because you took time to look at it.
To be a better
trout fisherman, often it takes getting to the stream and
standing there for a while just looking before any fishing gets
done. As any good deer hunter will tell you, it’s all in the
scouting that makes for a good spot. So maybe, just maybe, this
is something we can add to our daily lives to help enrich that
as well. I’m sure the more you noticed while being around the
house and then paying a compliment about it to the spouse or
kids certainly can’t hurt, but you’ll need to notice it first,
right?
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