Summer is for simplicity. No waders, no jacket, no vest. No fly boxes, tippet stacks or leader wheels. No split shot or bobbers, no camera or pack. It’s fishing, stripped down to the skeleton of necessity. Just the framework.
Rod, reel, leader and dry fly are in hand. The floatant, nippers and forceps easily fit in one shirt pocket, and a little extra tippet accompanies a puck of select flies tucked into another. The only other necessity is a water bottle. And on some outings, I don’t even bring a landing net.
Freedom. That’s the feeling. And every year, around the 4th of July, I match the mood with some shirt pocket fishing.
Austin during the cicada event.
Long ago, I learned the value of leaving things at the truck. If I carry nymphs or streamers, I’ll find good reasons to tie them on, because most of my days in a season are spent under the mantra of versatility, and that habit can hijack my decisions without a thought. And to match trout with versatility, the full complement of tools, boxes and trinkets are necessary.
But without them, my mantra shifts to simplicity.
I fish dry ants on the bank line, in that nice bubbly seam that slides under low brush. I’ll fish it shady or sunny, but you and I both know which one the trout like best. And if that fish won’t take my fly, the next one will. This fishing is more about water coverage and lane selection than the flies themselves. It’s target practice, with practiced skill to land a fly on the bank side of the merger seam and place the tippet upstream with enough slack to lend the dry a few seconds of dead drift.
Get the cast perfect the first time, or the trout will pull themselves out of position to check your fly, then turn as it drags away. In these conditions you never get a second chance.
It’s technical, but fair. It’s unforgiving, but fun. It’s a new lesson at every undercut, and the whole thing’s over by 10:30 a.m. . . . unless the Trico spinners want to fall, all at once.
With that grace, the morning is renewed, and the table is reset with another game. Whereupon I hope I brought a few Trico dries and a smaller diameter tippet to adjust the leader.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
I’ve been liking the stories. They have a different vibe to them.
Thanks, Dom
Thanks very much. I like writing this way too. I agree, different feel than the technical stuff. I go through spells of writing. If you look back through the archives, or just click on the “Stories” category at the top, you’ll find a lot more articles in this style. There are hundreds of stories in that category.
Cheers. Thanks for reading. Glad you enjoy.
Dom
All of your writing is such a pleasure to read, Dom. Thanks for sharing it with us, and adding yet another visceral aspect to fly fishing. Tight lines!
THANKS, Jeff. I appreciate your support.
Lately I have been leaving the shirt in the truck. Hemostats clipped to my nipple, floatant bottle stuffed into my belly button. I won’t tell you where I’ve been keeping the puck.
You must be fishing with Delly.
Broke back trout’n. Hey now.
Dom – really happy to see some articles and stories flowing. Big fan of all things Troutbitten but I really do appreciate the articles the most.
I want to simplify – it’s hard. I keep telling myself that but somehow I end up with more stuff that I’m carrying. 90% of it I never use or even consider. I realized recently that I likely look pretty ridiculous – I mean it’s 6 hours of fishing. I’m not going into battle for a week. Lately it’s flies and fly boxes – I’ve yet to come up with a great system. I’ll figure it out someday.