The September sky was slightly overcast and the wind tickled through the valley as I stood overlooking one of my favorite Rocky Mountain creeks. Laden with fallen trees, overhanging branches and undercut banks the creeks flow held deep buckets, shallow runs and big boulders. The moody weather had inspired bug life to hatch and I curiously watched trout rise to the occasion.
Along the bank on the other side of the creek half in the water, a fallen tree succumbed to spring run off and it’s submerged branches created new homes for trout. My attention was drawn to a big trout happily rising, he’d tucked himself perfectly behind and below one of the trees branches; the foam line passed right through his “zone”. The protection for the fish was ultimate but for the average angler, the “fly eating” branches sticking out would make accuracy and point perfection of fly placement tricky.
After tying on a size 18 cdc BWO emerger I continued to watch and thought to myself, “If I side arm my cast low enough my fly will drop under that first branch into the foam line and play right into the fishes feeding zone, with any luck my timing and his timing will connect and I will catch him!”
The rod’s responsiveness is comparable to the steering in a high end car, and I quickly pulled the fly back towards me just missing getting tangled amongst the branches. Second cast was it and my fly dropped like a leaf, dancing it’s way through the foam line. A successful fly imitation and presentation had a healthy wild westlope cutthroat trout on the end of my line.
I believe that in dry fly fishing the fly rod is an extension of the angler; a connection from yourself to fly presentation. Knowing how your fly rod preforms and reacts makes a day of fly fishing entertaining. Combined with the creeks intimate size and chance of hooking into a big cutties the weapon of choice for the day was my Winston Boron III LS 8’6″ 3WT.
Beckie Clarke, Winston Pro Advisor
