A first note: if you’re headed for the South Fork, there is a lot of winter going on up there.  Snow levels at the dam are more than a foot; and at Danskin, there is a solid 9 inches of wet, heavy snow.

I started my day below Danskin on a big slick, watching the surface for heads.  As I sat on a large rock on the south side of the river, I noticed numerous midges size #22 floating past my legs, and the thought occurred to me…why is there not a big rainbow pulled up along this edge indulging himself?  I tied on a Caddidge size #22 and began watching the edges below me; and sure enough, I see a fish right against the bank sipping bugs.  He was only 20 feet away, so I pulled line, stood up, and waited until he surfaced again.  He peaked his head up on the gentle current 3 feet off the bank, and I shot a cast just above and let the Caddidge slowly drift to his zone.  I could see the bug perfectly as it slowly moved toward the fish.  His head came up, my fly disappeared, and the first fish of the day was bolting to the middle of the river.  After a good run, a couple of jumps, and a good fight, he was in the net.  Not a giant fish, but totally gorgeous in full winter colors.  I hugged the south edge for a little longer with no targets, so I moved on up river.  The hatches were not intense enough to lure the fish to the surface so I continued to hunt for that subtle rise.

I moved into a stretch of water above the islands and immediately saw fish at the surface; and along with that. I saw the first BWO size #22 on the surface of the water.  I changed flies to a BWO Single Upright Wing #22 and served it to the first fish.  He didn’t take.  I noticed a combination of both midges and BWO at the surface.  I changed to a Caddidge #22.  The fish wouldn’t eat it.  I changed to a BWO No Hackle #22 and the fish wouldn’t take it.  I thought maybe they’re keying on the emerger.  Bingo!  First cast I hook the rainbow and land him.  Then I hook and land three more fish in a row on the emerger.

I was approaching the top the run and there was a large fish feeding between 2 big boulders.  The current was odd—it kept moving my fly away from the fish.  On about the 5^th cast, I put it on him and he slowly rolled and ate the bug.  I set the hook and he went berserk, jumping multiple times and racing to the middle of the river, then down stream.  I fought him for a long time, moved down river, and finally had him coming to the net.  He began wallowing and rolling, and right at the net, he kicked me loose.  Darn it…I wanted to photo him real bad.  Well that’s fishing, and I turned back to the run where a few fish had been feeding.  I approached the location and they had quit feeding.  I waited 10 minutes and the fish never returned to the surface.  I’m real sure the fish I had previously hooked caused enough commotion to put the rest of the fish down.  I not only lost him, but he booed the hole.  Darn it!!

I moved up river and scouted for 300 yards and never saw a fish, so I drove up river to a hole I call the “Idiot Hole.”  It’s about a mile above Cow Creek and I think most people call it the Slide Hole.  It’s a big, calm slick and there are almost always fish feeding there, but they are smart and cautious.  Like normal, there were fish feeding there so I decided to give them a try.

Most the fish were on the low end of the hole and the only thing I could identify at the surface were tiny midges.  I’d been doing pretty well with the BWO Emerger #22 so I decided to try it first.  I waded in carefully, but the fish immediately stopped feeding.  I position so I could long cast to the closest fish and quietly waited.  A few minutes later a fish rose in range and I hit him on the nose.  Immediately he ate the bug and I landed him.  I dried out and moved back into position.  Another fish rose and I hooked him also, but he kicked me loose.  There were a cluster of fish feeding way across the river so I hucked the fly as far as I could to their spot.  I didn’t get a take until the fly began to skate at the end of the drift.  Then Bingo!!  A fish ate the bug and I landed him.

I ended my day 5:45 on the “Idiot Hole,” and I fished the hatch until it completely quit.  For the heart of winter, it wasn’t a bad day.  I ended up hooking 13 fish and landing 11.  All the fish caught were hooked on a #22 BWO Emerger except the first fish. I landed it with a Caddidge #22.  The fish were not interested in an adult bug on this day.

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I reached the river in early afternoon and began roaming the banks looking for the onset of the BWO hatch and the inevitable pods of fish that follow the bugs on the surface.  By 2:00 I had not seen one fish peak his head up even though the BWO’s were sporadically popping on the riffles and slicks.  There was a fisherman at the confluence until 3:00, and I passed him as he was leaving the river.

I studied the confluence for a few minutes and recognized the place to position for best coverage was across the river.  I waded the river and set up along an edge of large boulders.  Some of the large boulders were in the water and they extend out to the center of the river.  I was thinking to myself this would be a perfect place for fish to pod up; and all of a sudden, a fish’s head appears and eats a BWO.  Then another fish broke the surface out a little further.  I moved into position and served my BWO Comparadun (Tester Fly) to the first fish.  No take.  After 3 perfect casts to the fish, he wouldn’t eat so I changed flies to a BWO No Hackle.  First cast, in slow motion the big rainbow sips the #22 BWO.  Fish on!  He jumps a couple of times and runs in and out of the boulder patch and finally I net him.

I look back to the feeding zone and all active fish had stopped feeding.  The rainbow I had landed put the rest of the fish down.  I waited a few minutes and another fish surfaced.  I served him immediately and he ate the bug.  I landed him and began searching for the next target.  There was too much commotion and the fish vanished under the surface.

I looked up river, and bingo, two more fish were feeding in mid river out from a large boulder.  I moved up above the boulder in casting range and waited.  Seconds later the inside fish broke the surface and I put a cast on him.  Without hesitation, I see his bright red cheeks appear as he ate the offering.  I land him and search for the next fish.  Almost completely across the river, I see a rise.  I wade out and deliver.  I missed.   On the third cast I hit his trough and he eats.  I land him.

I scan the hole top to bottom and see no fish.  I waited a few minutes; and right in from of me about 18 feet away, a fish eats.  I hit him on the nose and hooked him on the first cast and land the fish.

In the gray of late afternoon, the surface of the water became fishless and I waited for the next customer to raise his head.  Down river form where I started, I see a fish rise, so I bounce down the bank to set up on the fish.  I waited and the fish never resurfaced.  I was about ready to move back up in the hole and the fish reappeared in the same spot I had seen him before.  I served the No Hackle; and as it gently moved over to the bank and on the final glide to the ne,t he kicked the fly loose and I watched him swim away.  Along distance release they call that.

I roamed the banks for a while longer and no other fish presented themselves as a target.  On 12/10/2011 the hatch window was short, and there were a limited amount of fish working the surface.  I saw the first fish at 3:15, hooked 6 fish and at 4:03, the action was over.  Under the same conditions, I’ve seen hundreds of targets to cast to; but every new day is different when you dry fly fish the winter.

Fly that Caught Fish:

BWO No Hackle #22

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