Reply #88

This is the time of year that the first mayflies start to leave the aquatic environment and take to the sky. It coincides with warmer water temps and the beginning of the growth cycle for Salmonids.

The early Hendrickson hatch is nature’s version of an all you can eat buffet for not only fish but a variety of birds as well. Swallows, martins and phoebes congregate en masse for the event.

I tie flies. I tie good imitations of what is on the buffet table. I know how to put the flie in front of a feeding trout in a way that more likely than not, will sting the fish’s lips.

Fish can only add, till they’ve been stung by a hook. Does it float right? Plus 1. Right color? Plus 1. Right size? Another plus. They can see the hook, but without subtraction, the sum is still +3. They can see the leader, but their math still gets to 3.

If that fish hits, feels the metal and I miss it, or net it and set it free…That fish ain’t gonna ignore the minuses any longer.

Banksters ain’t like me when they cast to prey. I try to do as little damage as possible and let the fish live. The bankster will take a chunk of meat, and care less if the prey goes belly up.

If people were as smart as fish, after getting hooked once, they woodn’t bite again. But many who have had a chunk of flesh removed seem to like being played and filleted.

Tight Lines