Sunday, April 24, 2011

Watching the river flow....

This morning as I went to get coffee I saw a fisherman walking back from the river with a trout. This is the same river that I have been fishing on but I was a few miles from "my" spot.

After I got my coffee, the fisherman was gone so I stopped in the parking lot and I saw a path that ran along the river for about a couple of hundred yards. I got out and walked along the path to watch this river from a totally different perspective than I am familiar with.

This section has a slow current with many bends. There are downed tress that change the flow of the river and little eddys that swallow the bugs that get caught in them and bring them to their underwater graves. The water is not as deep as the other section that I fish and this allows me to see the river bed in all its glory.

I watched as the bugs hovered above the water and "kissed" the surface every once in a while. I was hoping for a trout to rise for a morsel but it didn't happen.These bugs would have been at the end of swat a few months ago; however, now I try to catch them to see what they look like. This unplanned scouting mission gave me some greater visualization to what I have been reading in  Thomas Ames' "Hatch Guide for New England Streams". He describes the different parts of the stream that I hadn't witnessed before upstream. The next couple of  trips will be between where I was today and my spot and where this river empties into the Merrimack River.

Those trips are going to be without the rod and I am going to just watch the river flow.

13 comments:

  1. A mighty fine plan any day of the week. Check out a song I posted for you to hum along with on your walk.

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  2. Watching is better sometimes Ed, you can dream more?

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  3. Nothing wrong with communing with nature. Puts ones mind at ease.

    Mark

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  4. Thanks Howard.....I am assuming it will be a Beatles song. Good Day Sunshine perhaps? I'll check it out.

    Mark and Richard....I could not agree more. I am taking the old adage "that you learn more by listening than by talking" and twisting it a little into I will learn more by watching.

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  5. If I were you, I'd still bring the rod with. There's been many times that I had a rod and barely cast it as I wandered the banks, but the time you leave the rod at home is the time that the fish will be in a frenzy. I've learned that one the hard way.....

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  6. I hear you Anthony and perhaps I will but I will only use the rod if the fish are in a frenzy (I am still a big fat zero on the fish count).

    I want to learn how to read the river and look for signs that will help me become a better fisherman.

    Thanks.

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  7. I have to agree with Anthony. Bring the rod and watch. You don't need to see them rising to catch them. Drift some nymphs, swing some streamers if you see bait fish -- learn by doing. You will learn much by watching but more by doing.

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  8. Thanks for joining Deanwo and I agree that you learn by doing.

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  9. I have some teachers that live by that motto. Ed I enjoy following your blog that I was inspired to make my own so I am not tempted to take up your comments with my stories... It is called Big Blue Trout: Fly Fishing at Phillips Academy. Maybe you can be my first follower? Sorry to advertise on your page ;)

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  10. Hey Greer...I am glad that you started your own blog and I will get over there shortly and join your blog.

    You are always welcome to leave comments and I am sure that others will follow you also.

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  11. Dont worry, ill still comment on the wandering fisherman :)

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  12. Nice post, best wishes for the fishing season.

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  13. Thank you Richard on both accounts.
    I hope you have a wonderful season too.

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