My $200 fish, April 16, 2016

And I didn’t even keep it!

That’s my guess at what I have invested in a fly rod kit, ancillary fishing equipment, and licenses.  If I really think about it, it is probably more but $200 is close enough.  Besides this is an investment in my well being.  I have been hiking, photographing and just getting out for the past several years.  Most of the time I am with fly fishers, this year I joined them.

Our little group of hikers, fishers and photographers has had a busy year so far.  One had a child; congratulations Mark and Sarah.  That’s not enough, they also decided to move.  Byron has been working on his house.  I too am working on my house, I have been painting in preparation of new floors.  To show how desperate we were to get out Byron and I decided to do the inconceivable; go out on a Saturday!

As we left Albuquerque we drove in and out of fog through Bernalillo.  We have not had any type of precipitation for over two months so I forget that fog sometimes accompanies our rains.  The clouds are heavy and gray, we are promised nice weather but I am dubious about the forecast. 

Several times on our way up to the Jemez Mountains in search of a stream we heard ourselves complaining “What are all these people doing on the road?” … “Oh, yeah it’s Saturday.”  Then we would drift off into conversations on hiking, photography, fishing or jazz.

There are large red puddles from the runoff of the red rocks lining the road as we enter the Jemez Springs area.  Everybody slows down avoiding the red shower that comes from speeding through the puddles.

The cottonwoods are just staring to put on their light green spring leaves.  As we ascend in elevation the green gets sparse until all I see are bare limbs on trees and twigs on dormant bushes.

We make several stops scouting river conditions.  The Jemez just down from the confluence of the Guadalupe and the East Fork of the Jemez is muddy.  All we can see is the surface of the river.  As we continue above the Jemez Springs area we can see that the East Fork of the Jemez is a bit clearer as we can see rocks a few inches into the water.  Finally we decide to stop at the San Antonio Creek just up from the San Antonio Campground.  We can see deeper into the river here so this is our river for the day; unless of course the fish are not biting then we will find some other location.

The clouds are still a heavy gray mass as we select the equipment we are taking with us.  The air is cool, damp and fresh.  We smell the pines in the area.  The greens of the pines, tans of the oak leaves and last year’s brown pine needles are vivid.  The sounds along the trail to the creek are muted from the recent rains.  Most importantly there is only one other vehicle in the parking area and we do not see anyone around taking up valuable river frontage.

Byron’s rule of hiking 30 minutes before fishing is ignored.  As soon as he finds a convenient rock to sit on and place gear; assembly of rod and reel commences.  I do the same; since this is only my second time out I need a bit of guidance; especially when it comes to selecting the proper dry fly.  At this point they all look pretty much the same.  I just want something that has some white on it so I can see it as it follows the flow of the river.  We make our selections and head off to different parts of the river.

As I follow the river I am immediately anxious; I can cast quite easily in the park when I place myself 50’ away from any tree or shrub.  Those conditions do not exist along this river, at least not here.  I scout out a location that has at least 10’ of open area before I decide to try my luck at casting.  “All right”, I say to myself as the first few casts are successful; I hit the water and did not get caught in any of the flora lining the river.  No fish yet but I still feel a sense of accomplishment.

Byron has already pulled in a brown and is hunting for more.

It is only a matter of time before I catch a bush.  It is a fine bush, but since we are doing catch and release I leave it behind.

As I continue upstream I determine I will have to spend all of my free time next week practicing tying double surgeon and Duncan loop knots. For some reason my fingers seem to be twice their normal size as I TRY directing the monofilament line in and out of various loops.

After 30 minutes or so Byron suggests going to nymphs.  There are no hatches going on and the water is not very clear.  “We’re trying nymphs, but don’t tell Mark”, our other fishing partner that is not able to make it today.  Ask Mark, nymph fishing ranks with bait fishing, pretty low.

My first trout, photo courtesy of Byron

We rig up with a hopper as an indicator and a nymph, starting on a large pool.  On my third cast I catch a brown.  I managed to do all the steps correctly landing him with a photo to prove it.  As it turns out this is the only one I landed today; although I didn’t know it at the time.  I had several others take the nymphs but I did not react fast enough before they spit it back out.  I also had trouble with the line breaking more than I thought it should.

We stop to have lunch and talk about our day.  I am happy and want to keep on fishing into the afternoon.  I am really concentrating on where the trout should be and making attempts at getting the nymphs to those spots.  I don’t notice that there are no hatches going on, but it is something I do notice after Byron brings it to my attention.

After a few more hours of catching many shrubs; I decide to call it a day breaking out my camera shooting whatever catches my interest.  Byron keeps on fishing.  Later that afternoon the sun finally came out, shortly thereafter we saw a mayfly hatch.

Once I got home I pulled out my LL Bean Ultimate Book of Fly Fishing to study my knot tying expertise.  I almost had it; the line took a right when it should have gone left.  Time to practice.

I am elated as I look back on this day.  I have been thinking about fly fishing for some time but circumstances would not allow me to pursue it.  This time I only caught one but that’s only the first of many.  I am happy to say that I am feeling comfortable with what I am doing so I am looking forward to getting out and getting better at it.

San Antonio Creek along Hwy 4

I know $200 sounds like a big investment for one fish… but now, all the rest are free!

Thank you for stopping by,
Mark