Me, Meeks and Middle Nunya

September 20, 2010

I’m not so sure it was entirely exhaustion that caused Micah Kruger a.k.a. Meeks, Dougy and I to struggle to get to the back porch this morning, but we struggled. Luckily the coffee was good and the sun warmed us up fast. In no time our plan for the day began to form. Doug was quick to say he thought it was best he drive back to Livingston Montana. I thought about getting some work done but now that Meeks lives in Oregon we rarely get to fish together, we were fishing.

As Doug headed north Meeks and I broke for the Middle Nunya. The last time I floated on the Nunya was with Granny a good month ago and the fishing was excellent. After the challenging two days we experienced on the South Fork of the Snake River, a chance at some better fishing made total sense. Once again the weather was perfect. We have nice Septembers in the Yellowstone area but this one has been one to remember. As I pushed off from the boat ramp, rising fish dotted the river ahead.

Meeks had two hopper patterns rigged up about two feet apart. The Nunya is slow moving and the resident trout have plenty of opportunity to recognize a fake from the real thing. I wasn’t too confident in the big flies but I figured I’d watch Meeks try them. Fish after fish, Meeks drifted his hoppers without a take.

“Meeks we need to go small today”, I stated.

I had a small dry already rigged on my 4-weight Ross so Meeks grabbed the oars and told me to give it a whirl. The fly I had on was one of my CDC Vladi Trzebunia dry flies size 18. The pattern always works and sure enough the first riser I presented it too ate. It was a nice rainbow that began the fight down deep but jumped and broke me off.

We assumed we had it figured out after that rainbow nailed my small dry on the first cast, but it still wasn’t that easy. I couldn’t find another of my Vladi flies so I tied on a Mahogany Dun. The Lawson’s Thorax Mahogany almost never lets me down but the first few trout I cast too refused it. Meanwhile Meeks too was changing through various flies with poor results. These fish were tough. I dug deeper into my tackle bag and finally I stumbled into a well used CDC fly. Sure enough, the first fish I fed it too ate it and we were on the boards.

That first landed fish was like magic. I’d swear that for the next few hours every fish we showed that fly too ate it. Meeks and I took turns with my 4-weight and the productive European fly. We landed an array of rainbows, cutthroats and brook trout. One of our highlights today included a beautiful rainbow we found rising tight to the bank. He was rising like a porpoise with his back completely breaking the surface every time he rose. He was so cool looking we kicked back and watched him for about five minutes. He was in difficult spot to drift a fly too but I miraculously got it there to him thanks to a gust of wind. I wasn’t too surprised when he ate but was when I actually felt him fighting on the end of my line. I thought for sure I had too much slack.  Minutes later I was releasing a hefty Nunya rainbow. Meeks too landed a memorable fish today. He watched the white lips of a quality cutthroat move from about six feet down to rise to the small fly. If you haven’t ever experienced the leisurely take of a cutthroat it’s something you must do. They do it so slowly that even the most experienced anglers often pull the fly away before the cutty eats it. Somehow, Meeks kept his cool and watched those white lips close down on the fly before he struck. Then when he did strike, it was perfect, the fish was there and he too landed the gorgeously fall colored cutthroat trout.

The last three days have been spectacular. Fishing with old friends is something that can’t be beat. We covered a lot of water from the near forty miles of South Fork to the five miles of the Nunya. It will be awhile before we do it again together but we certainly will. Tonight begins Granny’s’ weekend and I have a funny felling I’ll be right back on the Nunya tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

Carp for Trout This Week

It’s been an unbelievably great season of trout fishing in our area. In fact it’s been so good that if you’re not careful you can start to expect it and perhaps even take it for granted. That’s why this week Granny and I rested the trout gear and went fly fishing for carp. While many trout anglers still snub their nose at such a diversion, we like to mix it up. Chasing a variety of species keeps our life interesting and because each species requires a few special tactics, I think it makes us overall better anglers.

Some fantastic carp waters exist right here in Idaho. While carp are classified as warmwater fish, the truth of the matter is that they are like earwigs, rats, house sparrows, whitetail deer and red foxes, they seem to thrive just about anywhere they happen to live. Two hours from Victor Idaho we have Blackfoot Reservoir and a few surrounding lakes that have heaps of mirror carp and the occasional common carp.

Granny and I have camped almost every Tuesday and Wednesday (Granny’s weekend) all summer long. This weekend was no different. We packed my rig, bought some food and drink and off we went. These carp lakes work like this. Blackfoot Reservoir has big smart carp and it’s tough to land them because there are lots of weeds and protruding willow bushes in the lake. They average about 10lbs and 20lbers are common. Granny and I have taken several fish over 30lbs! The surrounding bodies of water to Blackfoot Reservoir have small dumb carp. Small meaning 2lbs to the biggest I’ve seen, 16lbs. Seeing that I haven’t chased the carp around since our annual tournament last May, we chose to start with the easy guys.

Let’s just say the easy guys weren’t so easy this trip. The temperature around here is in the 90ºs. We see it this hot about once every three years. The heat doesn’t hurt the carp fishing, but it makes you do stupid things like try to fish in shorts and flip flops. That was our first mistake at the small carp lake. Naturally we were slipping on rocks and the first time I wandered out to retrieve a snagged nymph I got so stuck in the mud that I nearly lost my flip flops. I may as well have because now they are so stretched out they are basically ruined. The end result was, Granny left to read a book and I put on an old pair of leaky duck hunting waders and sweat my way around the lake.

Water clarity was poor. We’ve had lots of storms and this shallow lake was churned up from weeks of major wind. One thing about proper carp fishing is that you sight cast to them. I like to watch them mull around the weeds and drop offs looking for nymphs and crayfish. Sometimes they tail like a redfish or create muds from feeding aggressively along the bottom. Either way, I always observe them a few minutes before I make my cast.

Due to the lack of clarity, I wasn’t seeing the carp soon enough. I was basically standing  on them when I saw them. Then, all I had to do was wave my rod to cast and they spooked. It doesn’t take much to spook a carp. Gradually my eyes got tuned in and after an hour instead of spotting the carp next to me I was able to pick them up when they were twenty feet or so away.

They still weren’t easy by any means. Not as easy as they usually are on this particular lake. But after botching up three in a row I hooked and landed a nice mirror carp of about 6lbs. Carp always give you a good battle but this guy really took my 5-weight to the test. Real quick, if you’re wondering why the 5 instead of a heavier rod, it’s because heavy lines hit the water harder then that of the 5-weight. If they hit too hard you spook the carp. Sure, with a 5-weight it’s hard to turn a big carp but at least you get  the hook up and then it’s a heck of a lot of fun trying to land them.

By 2 pm it was so windy that my chances of spotting even a tailing carp became unlikely. I managed one more carp that was one of the smaller ones I’ve taken. Granny was around so we popped a few pictures of the little guy. Then we packed it up and drove to Blackfoot followed by a treacherous drive through a mile of tall grass to my secret carp camping spot.

The wind was really cranking by the time we got to Blackfoot Reservoir. Whitecaps covered the lake surface except for the tiny bay where we staked out camp. Granny decided on a nap and I wadered up and made a slow walk around the bay. These are big carp! Blackfoot Reservoir carp always amaze me when I haven’t seen them in awhile. For the last month I’ve been trout fishing and the biggest one I’ve caught was about 20 inches. One pass around this bay and I saw five mirror carp near 3 feet long with girths like piglets! I didn’t catch any though. The wind and chop on the water was too much. I got only one decent cast for most the brutes saw me before I saw them. And the one fish I cast to refused my offering. I was done for the day and Granny and I kicked back and grilled up a feast while listening to Cubs baseball on my XM radio. All the time the wind settled and at dark there were tailing carp everywhere.

Falling asleep to tailing carp got me up early this morning and eager to land one of the Blackfoot beasts. The problem was we had clouds, some rain and no tailing carp. It was completely opposite of the forecast we expected and spotting carp in such conditions was near impossible. Luckily clear skies loomed to the west and so while we waited Granny whipped together a superb breakfast and we had our second feast of the weekend. By 10 we had clear skies and calm waters.

With conditions near perfect we wadered up and made a death march to one of my favorite points for sight casting to carp. It was hotter than yesterday and both of us  nearly died in our waders. It didn’t matter Gortex or not, it was brutal. Normally we wet wade but not in the weeds and mud of Blackfoot Reservoir. Once there it appeared the walk was worthwhile. The water looked good and there were cruising carp and a few muds to attend to.

Granny opted not to fish. She climbed up on a ridge viewing the lake, ditched her waders and kicked back to enjoy the day. I prowled along the shoreline like a blue heron. The carp were difficult as always. The wind from yesterday and earlier murked the water more than I thought and it was difficult to spot carp. I startled a few right off the bat before I figured out how far from the bank they were cruising. Once I had that down I never took my eye off there again and started to see them. I cast to at least six cruisers and dropped flies into muds with no takes. I used several flies that normally do well for me. My favorite is a red Copper John but I also do well with rubber leg hares ears, tan Crazy Charlie’s and some of my Vladi Trzebunia nymphs. But the carp paid them little attention.

Three hours into it I was really scrambling for ideas. My sightings of carp were dwindling and the wind and clouds were making their way back. I was running out of time. Finally I met the cooperative carp I was looking for and he was at least 20lbs. I twitched on of Vladi's woven body Euro nymphs in front of him and he destroyed it. He didn’t follow it or scrutinize the fly, he simply attacked. I gave him the metal and I laughed at the shocked expression on that carps face. His eyes bulged with surprise and he opened his mouth and flared his gills to the max trying to blow my fly out of his soft mouth. He failed and the game was on.

I love my 5-weight Ross fly rod for carp fishing but it is the drag of my Ross Evolution LT Reel that makes it all possible to land a 20lber on a 5-weight. This big carp was a hot one. He smoked me straight out about twenty feet into my backing and started a big sweep to the right. He knew exactly what he was doing, because to the right was a patch of willows protruding from the lake. I put an unbelievable amount of pressure against him both with my reel and the bend of my rod. It was like I was putting the heat on a speeding saltwater fish. I even started backing up on shore trying to force him away from the willows. By now Granny was at my side. She had a look on her face a lot like the carp did when I hooked him – shocked and surprised. Then, that sick feeling of instant slack happened. The carp was gone. It didn’t look like he made the willows but evidently he got me onto something. He broke me off. It was over.

Granny looked at me with disgust. It was if I totally screwed it up. Evidently she wanted that carp bad. But there was nothing I could do. The carp of Blackfoot are tough. Blackfoot Reservoir terrain is unforgiving. And this big-ole-boy kicked my butt. I’m a sick man. I love the agony of defeat. I’ll want it more next time. I love the challenge. I’m not sure Granny will be charging back with me anytime soon, she likes her fast and furious trout fishing. Next week I’ll take her to the Gros Ventre and she’ll catch more trout than you could ever dream of!

I love my 5-weight Ross rod for carp fishing but it is the drag of my Ross Evolution LT Reel that makes it all possible to land a 20lber on a 5-weight. This big carp was a hot one. He smoked me straight out about twenty feet into my backing and started a big sweep to the right. He knew exactly what he was doing, because to the right was a patch of willows protruding from the lake. I put an unbelievable amount of pressure against him both with my reel and the bend of my rod. It was like I was putting the heat on a speeding saltwater fish. I even started backing up on shore trying to force him away from the willows. By now Granny was at my side. She had a look on her face a lot like the carp did when I hooked him – shocked and surprised. Then, that sick feeling of instant slack happened. The carp was gone. It didn’t look like he made the willows but evidently he got me onto something. He broke me off. It was over.

 Granny looked at me with disgust. It was if I totally screwed it up. Evidently hing I could do. The carp of Blackfoot are tough. Blackfoot terrain is unforgiving. And this big-ole-boy kicked my butt. I’m a sick man. I love the agony of defeat. I’ll want it more oth with my reel and the bend of my rod. It was like I was putting the heat on a speeding Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

One Fly Contest Coming Quick

The famous Jackson Hole Wyoming One Fly Contest takes place this year on September 9 – 12. The One Fly is a friendly competition originally designed to extend the fishing business season of Jackson Hole for fishing guides and fly shops. Since the fly fishing boom of the 90’s that’s no longer the purpose of this fun event because anglers hire guides and buy flies year round anyway. What the One Fly does best now is raise money to improve fisheries nationwide.

In any event, it costs a lot of money to enter a four angler team and for that reason few fishing bums like me get to participate as an angler. However last year, Gary Eckman, the Captain of “Good Times” Team and a customer of mine when I worked at the Jack Dennis Sports fly shop, generously invited me on his team at not cost to me. To prepare, we fished together nearly every Friday and became great friends. Luckily, our team did well and I’m glad to say Gary is having me back this year.

Today was our first Friday fishing day of the season. We planned to start back in early July. That was before Gary nearly died of a blood clot after a surgery. He was very fortunate to survive and after six days in intensive care and two weeks in the hospital, today was one of his first days out. It was a special day to say the least.

We went to the South Fork of the Snake River here in Idaho. I’m not a big fan of the South Fork during summer months because of the enormous amount of boat traffic. You will undoubtedly see at least twenty other boats no matter what stretch you fish. But, like all crowded rivers, the South Fork is crowded for a reason – the fishing is spectacular and today was no exception.

Gary picked me up at my house at 8:30 am and we were on our way. It’s a short twenty-five mile drive from my house to the Irwin Slide boat launch. We were drifting down the South Fork before 9:30. Today was warm but by no means sunny. We’ve had thunderstorms nearly every day this week and this morning the sky threatened to deliver the first storm early.

Normally I streamer fish on the South Fork. That’s because it’s usually October or November. In the summertime the best fishing results come by staking out one of the huge riffles the South Fork is famous for and waiting for the Pale Morning Dun hatch to start. Once the hatch starts you can spend hours fishing dry flies to rising cutthroats, rainbows and browns. Today we got in the boat and rowed directly to one of Gary’s favorite riffles. Lucky for us, the only one there was a moose so we shared the place and kicked back and waited for the hatch.

Even when there’s not at hatch, if you watch the shallows closely on the South Fork you’ll see fish. As I gazed into the riffle I quickly spotted two nice cutthroats swerving side to side, obviously feeding on nymphs. After watching them for about ten minutes I tied on an ant pattern to a 12’ 4X Rio leader and made some casts. The two trout ignored my fly but then a rainbow I didn’t see lifted half way to the surface as if to give my fly an inspection. While most anglers continue to cast in such a situation, I like to make the trout wait before he sees my fly again. I don’t want is for the fish to get another good look right away and also, South Fork trout don’t see huge numbers of ants drifting downstream. Two ants drifting by in a row could make any trout very suspicious. So, I relaxed about five minutes then cast again. Immediately the rainbow came up and ate the ant. He was a decent bow of about 16”.

Gary and I caught fish steadily from that point on. I even accidentally snatched a mammoth dragon fly from the air during a false cast. Because of the warm temperatures and overcast skies (we had one thunderstorm) the PMD’s hatched like crazy. I fished one of Vladi's CDC mayflies he designed for fishing his waters in Poland. It’s a fly pattern South Fork trout haven’t seen and therefore it fooled them all day long. In that first riffle alone I landed a dozen or so cutthroats from 13” to 18”’s along with two of the fattest rainbows I've seen this season.

Our day was superb to say the least. The large number of boats and fellow anglers didn’t get to me at all. In fact, we ran into many of my friends that guide the South Fork every day. Most I haven’t seen since the season got busy so that added to an already great day. I guess summer on the South Fork aint so bad after all and I hope to get back next week. Late tonight one of my best friends, Derek Mitchell arrives in town and during coffee in the morning we will plan a two day fishing trip that will begin tomorrow. We are thinking somewhere in the Yellowstone backcountry.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

The First Blank

July 17, 2010 Day 8 There’s not much to say about beat 2b today. My permit lasted until 11 am so I was up at 3:30 am to make the best of my precious time. When I arrived at the salmon shed there was some encouraging news. Lars from Denmark, one of the regulars who fishes here all summer long, caught a 4 kilo salmon at midnight. But other than that no one saw or hooked a fish. To make a long repetitive story short, I fished solid from 3:30 am until my permit expired at 11 am. Vladi Trezbunia delivered me coffee to keep me awake and snickers bars for snacks. I caught nothing. During the time the wind howled and the sun got hot. At about 10:55 I got a touch at the end of my swing. It was as if the salmon were challenging me to buy just one more permit for the Stǿren Campground Beat. It wasn’t going to happen. At 11 sharp I retreated to the camper. I was starved and tired and Vladi made me an incredible breakfast. After that we went for a drive so I could see some countryside and he could visit some friends. We went towards the coast and into Trondheim to start. Tronheim is Norway’s second largest city and is located on one of the world’s largest fiords. It was a beautiful place and nice to see the ocean. From there we went up to Stjǿrdal and then drove up the Stjǿrdalen River. Vladi worked and guided this particular river for several years. About an hours drive up the river we came to a falls and a fantastic little salmon lodge. Back in the 80’s Vladi guided many of the clients that stayed here and we stopped in for a visit in hopes he knew someone. Sure enough as we pulled in an old friend of Vladi’s was mowing the lawn. This person, who’s name was Willie, stared us down as we pulled in but when Vladi stepped out of the car he recognized him and ran to greet him. Willie is a huge man of about thirty-five. He has lived on the property for his entire life and inherited the duties of maintaining the lodge from his parents whom inherited it from their parents and many generations of family before. Vladi was good friends with Willies father who it turns out died two years ago. It was a great visit not only for Vladi but me too. I enjoyed an afternoon coffee that I needed bad and listening to the two catch up. From there we headed back south to the city of Orkanger and then up our new salmon spot, the Orkla River. The Orkla is another of Norway’s famous Atlantic salmon rivers. It’s not known so much for having lots of salmon but rather some of the biggest. We settled into a campsite on the river overlooking an incredible pool. Then we investigated the purchase of a permit for the piece of water by visiting the nearest house. Like all homes along Norway’s Rivers, this was sort of a mini lodge that rents cabins and sells permits for the beat. In Norway you must disinfect your waders every time you switch rivers. Because of this rule, I wasn’t able to start fishing tonight. Unfortunately I have to go to a disinfection station and get my waders and boots cleaned and get a certificate saying I did so. Two bad things here: #1 - disinfection cost about $20 to and #2 - the disinfection station doesn’t open until 9 am tomorrow. With no fishing tonight, today is officially my first day of not catching a fish. To kill a few hours Vladi and I scouted the beat. We only saw one free jumper but the water looks excellent. Tonight we’ll retire early after a nice pasta dinner and catch up on some needed rest. The good news is that we can sleep in tomorrow which after getting up in the wee hours of the morning five days in a row will be very nice. Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

 

The Bite is On!

July 15, 2010 Day 6 Somehow I actually jumped out of bed at 1:30 am feeling good this morning. I was confident and felt lucky. Vladi Trzebunia whipped up some coffee and we both headed to the salmon shed. Like last night, there were several of our new friends. They had been fishing all night but nothing. The rain was stopped and the Gaula River had already dropped a foot. Unfortunately despite feeling lucky, by 6 am not one fish was caught by anyone. Vladi and I went back to the camper for a quick breakfast that turned into a well needed 2 hour powernap. When we woke up it was 9 am and my permit for the Stǿren beat was finished. The sun was out and for the first time it was hot in Norway. It was about then that Vladi suggested I fish the beat one more session. I was reluctant because I’d love to see another river, but I knew there were fish here so it was hard to leave. Again I bought a permit. Vladi still wouldn’t get a license for himself. He’s determined to see me catch a salmon before he fishes. I’m bummed about this because I could learn so much from watching Vladi like have in the past, but there was no changing his mind. When I arrived at the salmon shed with my updated permit, the place was packed. There were our usual friends and several new folks. Everyone was waiting for 2b but no one was on 2a so that’s where I went. I tied on a double hooked salmon fly that I picked up years ago. I have no idea the name but can tell you it resembles a gray ghost, one of my favorite landlocked salmon flies that I grew up with. From the top of 2a I methodically worked my way downstream. It’s not simply cast at a 45 degree angle let your fly swing and do it again. Depending on the current sometimes you cast 60 degrees and sometimes 35 degrees. Sometimes you wiggle your fly a tiny bit in its swing while others you dead drift it. Experienced Atlantic salmon anglers have a feel for what to do like I know when a trout is about to steal my fly from the surface. Slowly I was learning my salmon presentation. At the bottom of beat 2a, literally on one of my last casts, I got the strike I’d been waiting for. It was at the very and of my swing with my fly dangling exactly 60 feet below me. It was not a classic light touch but rather a nice thud and wham I had a fish. All you do is take a deep breath and raise your rod tip and everyone stops what they are doing and runs to see what you have. By the time the first observer stumbled in the rocks behind me I knew my fish was small and suspected another sea trout. But when the fish thrashed on the surface the first time I could see my first wild Atlantic salmon. I slid the fish to the shallows and after a few quick pictures released him. The small salmon (grilse) was lucky to be alive, not only because I released it, but scars indicated the fish was recently tangled in a net. It’s a challenging life for these salmon both in the ocean and while migrating the rivers. The way back to the shed was an exciting moment with a lot of congratulations and high-fives. I was stoked! Two minutes after everyone went back their business, the Italian got hooked up. I was expecting this for the last three days for his casting and fishing concentration is the best in the group. Alfonso's fish was a good one as you could see his 16-foot spey rod bent to the hilt. After a great fight, Alfonso landed a 4.6 kilo salmon. That wasn’t all either. After a true celebration amongst all of us, Manuel, the Swiss angler also hooked up and landed a 6.4 kilo fish. All the fish seem to bite at once. I couldn’t wait for my next turn! Turn after turn came and went but that would be all for everyone today. About ten of us rotated beat 2a and 2b all day but nothing. All three salmon taken today were in a period of about a half hour. Then nothing. At 7 pm Vladi and I returned to the camper for dinner and a few hours sleep. The plan is to get back on the water by 1 am. Jeff Currier Global Flyfishing web site

Big Rain, High Water, Hard Day

July 14, 2010 Day 5 It’s tough when your nickname is Monsoon Currier. Norway has had a dry summer up until today. Yesterday I experienced easy wading and clear water on the Gaula River, but today the river was much different. Last night hard rain pounded our camper roof to the point where I just could not sleep. Finally at 1:15 am I climbed into my waders and headed to the river. I don’t know about you but I’m a little groggy getting up at 1:15 am, but did it suspecting I’d have beat 2b to myself. However, when I got to the salmon hut there were several of yesterdays crew and a few guys that fish only at night. This Atlantic salmon fishing must be serious business. After greetings from everyone, I looked around and saw a salmon hanging by his tail. The fish was 5.5 kilo (about 12lbs). It was a gorgeous fish and seeing it woke me up fast. Then I looked to the river to size up my strategy and it looked completely different. It had risen three feet! I had a tough time getting my fly out far enough yesterday, now I would need to make a whole new plan. The new plan consisted of trying beat 2a. For some reason, everyone waits in line to fish beat 2b. It has faster water than 2a and I’m sure more salmon. But, I was up and now after seeing a nice caught salmon, anxious. And beat 2a was vacant so I headed out to it. It’s remarkably light out at 1:30 am, even with a thick cloud cover. As I waded into the top of beat 2a I noticed the water was slightly off color. I didn’t have a lot of confidence as I made my first few casts. Then I saw the occasional free jumping salmon and recalled Vladi's theory on rising water and migrating salmon. He must be right being that the first salmon in days was caught. It wasn’t long before Vladi arrived to me with a freshly brewed hot cup of coffee. He liked the fact that I was fishing beat 2a and encouraged me to make a few passes while no other anglers wanted to fish it. Sure enough, at about 3 am my fly got nailed as is swung behind a rock. Just like yesterday, everyone came running. Minutes later I landed my second sea trout. After a few photos I released him and headed for the salmon hut for my coffee and a break. That was a great start to the day. It was a fish before 4 am. It got me and Vladi so excited that at 9 am I got another 24 hour permit so I could fish until 9 am tomorrow. At about 10 am, one of the East Germans landed another salmon. It was a small salmon of about 18”. Despite its size, everyone ran down to see the fish. It was a salmon and not many salmon get caught. I was glad to see this salmon released. The truth is that even though Atlantic salmon are endangered, rod and reel fishing impact does little to hurt the populations. People keep salmon all the time and believe me, they earn them. It is the commercial fishing in the ocean that does the damage. If I catch a salmon this week I will definitely return him. The rest of the fishing day was slow. It rained hard at times and the river continued to rise. There’s no doubt that the salmon move and get active during rising water. We saw plenty of salmon free jump and there are more anglers here than yesterday. They, like the salmon come out with the rain. I fished until 8 pm without more than a beer break between turns. It was a hard day for everyone but we had a lot of fun hanging out in the salmon hut. These are some great guys and Vladi and I are making lots of friends. Vladi and I are just about to eat a surprise meal he made, Hungarian Goulash. It’s one of his favorites. All I know is I’m hungry and tired and plan to get up early again to use my permit till 9 am tomorrow. Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site

 

Norwegian Fishing Culture

July 13, 2010 Day 4 It’s amazing what a night of sleep will do for you when you haven’t had a good one in a few days. Vladi Trzebunia and I jumped from bed at about 6 am and listened to the birds over a pot of Norwegian coffee. Half way through, Vladi began giving me careful instructions on how to go about catching an Atlantic salmon on a fly. Few anglers have ever caught a wild Atlantic salmon. Populations have been overharvested and suffer incredibly from pollution and dams. Efforts in North America and Europe have returned small populations but overall there are only a few places left that have them running wild. I have fished Atlantic salmon only twice before. Once was a weak attempt in Maine and the other in Scotland on the River Tweed. I failed to catch a salmon either time and sort of wrote off my chances of ever catching one. That was until I met Vladi and now our trip to Norway. Even in Norway salmon populations are nothing what they used to be, however Norway does have some of the best rivers in the world. Norway is also known for some of the largest salmon left in the world. With my limited salmon fishing experience and the knowledge of how few Atlantic salmon there are, I came here in hopes of catching one wild Norwegian Atlantic salmon of any size. When Atlantic salmon migrate from the ocean to a river they do it to spawn and don’t feed. Therefore, getting one to take a fly is not an easy task. This has led to some amazing flies and tactics that have been developed over centuries. Luckily after eight years of Atlantic salmon guiding, Vladi knows many of these tricks. The River Gaula has numerous beats. Vladi and I are camped in Stǿren on the banks of the river on what is referred to as the “Stǿren Campground” beat. The “Storen” beat is numbered 1, 2a and 2b and 3. 2a and 2b are the only “Fly Fishing Only” sections. So first thing today Vladi got us organized to fish there. In most of Europe, there’s a fee for the beat you chose on top of the regular fishing license. Norway is the same and this famous beat cost 250 crowns ($40 US) for a twenty-four hour session. Vladi has chosen not to fish today to help me get that first salmon. When we arrived on 2a and 2b there were several fly fishermen taking turns fishing the beat. The way you fish an Atlantic salmon beat is you start at the top (upstream end) and after every cast you take three steps down. Once you are at the bottom (downstream end) of the beat you get out and back in line you go. This beat takes approximately 30 minutes to fish. I was at the back of a line of about five anglers. At first this may sound horrible but it was cool to hang out and meet the other anglers in the salmon hut. I would also find out later that time between turns provides valuable and needed rest. Most of these anglers are extremely experienced in Atlantic salmon fly fishing and true addicts. Some spend the entire summer at the Stǿren campground fishing beats 2a and 2b. Every one of them uses a two handed spey rod. I was the only one with a single handed rod. I quickly realized that I was immersed in a fly fishing culture. It was similar to opener of the Ranch on the Henry’s Fork. Long time friends gather and catch up on stories while catching some fish. The only difference is we walk around trying to catch a few huge finicky rainbows while these guys do it for Atlantic salmon. Best of all, these guys welcomed Vladi and me into their group. Today the group consisted of several anglers from Denmark, an Italian, three East Germans, a family of Swedes and several Norwegians. They loved that they had an American in the mix and were very excited that I was after my first salmon. And like I do for any newcomers I meet on the Henry’s Fork, all of these guys started giving me tips on how to go about catching my salmon. Already I’m in love with this new fly fishing experience. Despite witnessing some of the most unbelievable spey casting you could ever watch, no one hooked a fish while I waited my turn. When my turn came there was lots of encouragement and tips from the group. Vladi strolled down to the river with me and coached me on how to fish to the salmon. There are certain angles in which you land a cast and all kinds of methods for presenting the fly. For the most part, you cast as far as you can downstream at a 45 degree angle and let the fly swing until it’s directly below you. Some guys move the fly a little while others keep it still. When a salmon takes the fly it’s usually gentle and you then give them line – far different than anything I am used to. I watched each angler before me land 120 foot casts with their spey rods all the way to the other bank where the occasional salmon free-jumped. I was seriously handicapped with my 9-foot 9-weight because my average cast was about 80 feet. I addressed my disadvantage quickly and rather than ripping my underwear trying to cast 120 feet I concentrated on seams and rocks on my side of the river. There’s no doubt that beginners luck exists. As my fly swung on each and every presentation I knew something was going to happen. Sure enough, fifteen minutes into my turn I had an aggressive take and set the hook. It was a nice fish but by no means a huge salmon. Everyone came running down to see. After a good fight I landed a sea trout. Everybody was pretty amazed that the “single hand rookie” got a fish so fast. Not only that, sea trout are rarer than the salmon on the Gaula River. It was a lucky catch. My fishing ticket started at 9 am today and runs for 24 hours. While most guys’ fish about three hours then take a break and then come back for another three hours, I fished right through from 9 am until 10 pm. Now I’m tired and hungry as heck. I’m really excited about my sea trout in my first pass. Unfortunately that was my only fish today. In fact, it was the only fish caught today. There’s no doubt it was beginners luck and I need to mentally prepare myself for a tough week in search of that one salmon. The plan now is to get some sleep for a few hours then Vladi and I will get up at 3 am and fish out my ticket till 9 am. As we climb into the camper here for dinner (more pasta) it’s starting to rain. Vladi says when it rains fresh ocean salmon come into the river. Vladi is usually right! Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing web site