NEW WATER

This is new water. It’s spring-fed for sure. You can tell by the clarity, very green aquatic vegetation and the water cress along the banks. My sweetheart, Jana, and I left early this morning. The new water is remote only in the sense that it took several hours to get here. I can’t tell you any particulars such as how much fishing pressure it endures or who knows about it. All I can say is we’re the only ones here today.

I can’t get over the abundance of this little spring creek. A hatch of tiny mayflies is just beginning. There are midges in the air and plenty of grasshoppers along the stream bank. A caddisfly skips on the riffles. I see trout in the deeper pools. Occasionally one tips up and sips something from the water’s surface.

I didn’t want to agonize over rods, reels and line weights before we left this morning, so the only fly rod I brought along is a sweet casting split-bamboo 7-footer for a 4-weight fly line. Besides, I don’t think my tackle will be the issue anyway. The challenge will be getting a fly to drift over a trout without spooking it. I’ll need to make flawless, slow-motion approaches to begin with. It’s not just about spooking the particular trout I’m stalking, either. If I spook any trout at all, my trout will spook. I don’t even want to talk about what comes next. Let’s just say I better make my first cast my best cast. I keep telling myself to take my time, plan my moves, and that one good presentation is always better than a hundred poor presentations. And that this will be a perfect day no matter what happens.

Then again, I’m also thinking catching just one trout isn’t asking too much is it?