Roadie Food ~ Late Sunday Tippets, Damsel Style

With Spring finally here, it's time to get out the calendar and look at the maps!  And there is nothing like planning the first trip of warmer weather...err...wait a minute.  Oh, sorry!  I just checked the 10 day forcast for Montana and it shows possible snow/rain showers!!  Looks like I'm going to have to wave my magic wand for cloudy, overcast skies and a hint of sunshine.  But, that's ok...we will be prepared for whatever mother nature brings. 

One of my favorite things about a road trip is the travel time.  Sure, I want to get to the destination like everyone else...but, I also enjoy the drive along the way.  So, as I am planning the trip for the weekend coming up, I find myself in the garage finding the cooler, thermos and camp chairs.  And now to plan the menu.  It isn't hard to plan lunches for the road.  But, I thought it would be fun for me to share my idea of roadie food and let the rest of you suggest a few of your favorites that I might like to add to the lineup!

Breakfast

• Bagels with cream cheese

• Apple juice, cranberry juice, water.

• And my usual stop to Starbucks for my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that I love so much!  We will definitely pack that!  

My favorite Starbucks coffee cake...Choc Chip Banana...mmmm



Why am I posting this late at night?  Now, I'm hungry!

Lunch 

• Sandwiches are always great for a trip. My personal favorite is a pastrami/swiss on sourdough or rye.  My visit to the deli the day before I leave will include these items for sure!
  
• Good old peanut butter and jelly is great for kids.  It's also great for adults like me!!  Pay just a few more pennies and get the peanut butter in the tube. No messy knives and it's smaller than a jar. If you have spare packets of jelly from eating out, use those or buy jelly in the tube, too.
• Potato salad or pasta salad...kept in the cooler, it will last for two days. 

• Chips, crackers and cheeses.  And a dry salami stick...packed.  Nothing is more fun than putting together a plate of cheese and crackers along the way!  Cheese sticks are perfect for a snack too.
• Fruits and veggies.  Apples, oranges, grapes.  Carrot sticks and celery are great too.
• Cookies ~ Nutter Butters and Chips Ahoy.  Enough said. = ) 
• Drinks - Of course, the Diet Coke must be the first on the list to make a journey out!  I also like to freeze bottles of lemonade and let them thaw along the way!  And a pack of 24 on the water shouold do it!

Dinner

• Time to splurge a little bit and unwind at a local restaurant after a long day of fishing... 

Sunday Tippet :  Extra Things To Remember... 

• Be sure to bring those extra mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper packets you get from fast food. Don't forget the plastic knives, forks and spoons along with napkins and a paring knife. Make sure just about everything is disposable.

• In this day and age with so many convenience foods available, it isn't hard to pack a lunch for the road. Even using those convenience foods that are pre-packaged, it is usually cheaper than buying food for the everyone at a fast food place or dining in.

                                           And grab that SNICKERS bar and away you go!!!

Twenty Questions For The River Damsel

Yes, RD gets a little exposed, but reasonably unscathed, on Chris Hunt's famous "20 Questions"!!!   Check out the answers...

Thanks, Chris...and for the record, you really look much younger now that we have met.  =  ) 

 

In all fairness, I think that the netting really aged him!

(And if you would leave a comment over there, it would be appreciated!  Thanks!)



Patience Can Be Learned ~ Sunday Tippets, Damsel Style

Yes, it was a fish!  And proud of it!

Patience in fly fishing?  No... Not at all.  Ok...We all know there has to be a certain degree of patience involved here.  After my last three years in the sport, I still have a few strands of hair left!  Haha.  Honestly, I needed something to help me learn to be more patient in everything.  And this my friends, has given me a whole different way of looking at things.  And I also look at the river a whole different way.  When I first started, I would pounce right in any old water and start casting to who knows what!  Maybe even River Sprites!! (Don't ask)  And sometimes, I would get lucky and catch something.  But, after many days out and listening to more "knowlegable" fly fisherman out there...I am slowly learning patience.

Several people that I fish with will move frequently and try other spots. I'm curious if there are some of you who follow my "method" of staying in a spot or are the "movers."  And how frequently do you change flies, (again assumming the there is no need to match the hatch.)   One of the beautiful things about fly fishing is that it is a sport of patience whether you are moving and looking for the right spot or changing out flies because you know that fish are in there.  A combination of both approaches develops a wiser fisherman that knows when to stay in one spot and when to move on. I suspect a lot of you have achieved a good part of that wisdom. (Personally, I'm still building some of that wisdom).  We will get there eventually!  = )

Sometimes, I end up fishing a given spot for too long before I realize that my plethora of casts have spooked any fish still in there, and I would be better off to keep moving up/downstream and come back to the spot after its rested.  Does this sound familiar?  That is one of the wonderful aspects of this game we play, You against the fish and who will outlast the other.  I have been known to work a feeding fish for a long time, whether it be nymphing or on top, if that fish is a good one and keeps eating, I'm staying with it.  Patience.

Now, if I'm only working a run or hole that looks "fishy", with no visible fish, then my patience can sometimes fall short.  I would much rather fish to a fish, than fish an area that just looks like it has fish.

If I know the hole I am fishing holds trout, I will throw for a while. If it just needs a "hatch" to get it rolling, and I feel confident that it isn't too far off...I will take a rest.  Maybe grab my Snickers and Diet Coke and watch for awhile.  I guess that I don't catch a lot of fish that way, but somedays are just made for relaxing. But when I do catch one that I have been after for an hour, I feel like I won the battle!

How many of us fly fishermen, need to improve on this little thing called "impatience"?  Do we sometimes go tromping through something that maybe we should have checked out with a few casts first?  Here's a story from a friend and guide, Kerry Almond.  He experienced this first hand at a recent trip to Montana.

This isn't the MT. "river", but you get the point...

"Patience starts from the second you get out of your car and walk down to the river.....Today for example, I was fishing with newbs (new to flyfishing) and came on a beautiful run. The newbs immediately jumped into the river and waded across to cast to the far bank where there was some beautiful eddies and pools off of the main channel of the river.  I knew that they had just made a huge mistake, but I wanted to teach them an important lesson. After they had caught a few fish and waded back to the bank,  I told them to watch what I was about to do.  I stood up and walked up the bank that we were sitting on and threw my flies not four feet off the bank and caught the biggest fish of the day.  They were awestruck.   I explained to them that if they would have slowed down and took a few minutes to look at the river, they would have noticed that the bank closest to us had a huge undercut bank.  They were only focused on the gorgeous pools on the other side. They should have looked close at all of the possible places that fish can hide and work them all closest to furthest and work the whole river.   They would have either spooked the fish by wading across or just missed the undercut bank all together...So, if you are patient, you wont miss the feeding fish nose, the undercut banks or the hatching bugs and you gain more knowledge by just sitting and watching for a few minutes before you get out there and start fishing..." 

SUNDAY TIPPET:  Patience or the lack thereof?  I guess that we have to decide how much we want to put into it and what we want to take out of it.  But, for me...I'm going to try dissecting the river a whole lot more.  Starting close and working out.  And on occasion...sitting on a rock with my fly box and watching what is going on in front of me and around me.  It's all good.

Bent Rods And Bumper Cars



Are these tired eyes ior determined eyes??? 



Yes, you have that right...So many adventures in a fishing day with the River Damsel.  The day started early.  Ok.  Very early. This voice kept telling me to go back to sleep.  It was my day off already...But, like clockwork, my feet hit the floor and I was headed out for another journey.  My haste to get out of the house, caused me to stop for some breakfast at McDonald's.




There is a crack in the back bumper that caused it to shift.

And as luck would have it...as I was stopped at the end of the driveway leaving, a not so attentive driver of a F350 plowed into the back of my car.  The blunt force made me shutter at what it might look like.  But, I was lucky...just minor damage.  The policeman was cordial...even asked me where I was fishing.  Ha.  Now, the wind had really picked up and I don't know why I didn't see a sign of going home at this point.  But, I agreed with Mr. Heber City Police that fishing might make my day better...Who am I to argue with the law? 

So, we were on our way!  I made a turn into the parking lot that I had planned on going to the night before.  Hmmm...Six cars already.  My gut feeling was that I go across the street instead.  The wind was really blowing...about 25 mph at least.  And tangled lines are not my favorite thing!  But, there is a cliff wall over on the other side of the river that sometimes protects the water a little more from wind.  So, that is where I headed.  So far this winter, I have tried this deep pool about 5 times and it has not brought one fish to my net.  I could go upstream where everyone else is...no.  Why do that?  I wanted to land a bigger fish anyway.  And there are some butes in there!  My friend pulled out a nice 20 incher a month ago.  So, I tied on a BWO for the top and put on a Beatis Nymph on the bottom.  And twenty minutes later...Bam!  And again and again!  I couldn't believe it.  Each time they were biting at the nymph.  That was ok.  My last fish finally took the BWO!  Hallelujah!

As my rod bent 8 different times...in a short 2 1/2  hr hatch of BWO's...I was absolutely delighted.  I even forgot about the bumper I left on the other side of the fence.  Where I had such a tough time catching anything last week in a thick hatch that was really too much of a good thing, now I was watching my BWO cruise ever so lightly down the path of a few friendly companions.  I am far from knowing how to repeat this day...but, I will definitely keep trying.  And I made someone happy when I turned downstream to tell him he could have  my "All Browns, All The Time"  fishing hole.  Share the wealth, I say! 

So, today was the Good, Bad and Ugly.  Let me explain...The good was that I had my day with the brown trouts!  The Bad was being in a bumper car and losing the battle.  The Ugly...well, it's definitely not pretty.  It seems that my Patagucchi waders that were patched from a recent debacle, sprung a new leak in the other leg. When I got back to the car...my suspicions were proven right.  A boat load of water emptied...ahhhh!  I must have had a small tear in the other leg that we didn't see...I did fall on both knees.  I guess that the bright side to this story is that both sides will match with tape!  I'm so cool.  Haha. 

The Longest Hatch ~ The Longest Day... Sunday Tippets, Damsel Style

If anyone had told me that yesterday would be one of those days where I would find out that my fly fishing skills still need to be polished...I wouldn't have argued.  In fact, that is probably one of the reasons why I headed north to Idaho to take on a new piece of water.  I have been fishing the same river all winter long.  It was time to get out and step outside of the box for one day.  And indeed I did!  You see, I am not the dry fly type of fly fisherman...No, nymphing is my thing.  The deeper my nymph goes in the water...the better!  Czech nymphing has given me quite a few fish.  Next, soft hackles would be my favorite.  Probably because if there isn't a hatch, swinging a soft hackle is usually a safe bet.  But, dry flies...hmmm.  I have watched others stalk and wait...bent over and moving very slowly toward the target.  They are the hunters on a quest.  Well...yesterday was one of those days where it was all dry fly all the time.  It was time that I practice until it became perfect...well, at least try.

It was a beautiful journey to a river that was ripe with a hatch of BWO's.  I was going to learn a new style of fishing and have to be patient with myself, as there were many obstacles to my time on the water throughout the day.  "Clicker" magnifiers and  and  climbing, s, The bugs were thick.  Oh, I have never seen anything like it.  The morning hatch of BWO's went into an afternoon hatch.  I must have watched six hours of BWO's jumping on the water in front of me.  It was a thing to behold.  They were on my sleeves like they wanted to go home with me...I think there were a couple that did!

I made my way up the river, through the thorns and sticker bushes that scratched through my sleeves as I walked.  I wondered if this was all worth it.  It had to be.  The journey went on.  After the first hour and feeling a little frustrated, I texted a friend to inquire what I was doing wrong. Nothing seemed to take my BWO dry...My response back was..."Dry or Die!"  Love it.  Well...I wasn't going to give up the fight.

I continued on a couple of hours with dries until a few rainbows hit the fly and then decided that wasn't the morsel that they wanted.  I forgot to put the sugar on it, I guess.  As I climbed over a few more boulders, I found some flat water.  A nice pool of fish, slurping...this was going to be the winner.  It had to be.  I was going to learn how to be a dry fly chick if it killed me. Nothing.  Now, it was time to try some nymphs and starting working the seams.  It was late in the afternoon...the sun was getting close to putting me in the shade.  I had to catch something!  The BWO's were still doing their thing.  How could this day have so much bug life and for such a long period of time??  It was incredible. 

  

Another text came in..."I always catch something on the hares ear there..."  Oh, what the heck.  So, I put on the hares with a midge at the end.  A black zebra midge 20 is my go-to fly all year round.  As I worked the BWO infested seams back down the river towards the parking lot, a tug on the line.  Could this be it?  Could my day that started 12 hours before...finally produce something in the net?  (Yeah...woke up at 5 am)

  

Yep.  Ya know what...I will take it.  One lonely rainbow in my net all day long.  But, on the bright side...and you know there always is a bright side to everything, don't you?  : )   My casting got a lot of practice this day, which I needed.  So, it was a good outing.  And we will catch one on the dry fly next time.  Because I am back in two weeks to see that hatch again.

SUNDAY TIPPETS:

There is always a way to end your day on a good note.  Besides Mr. Rainbow, the two scratch cards (not a big gambler) that I picked up earlier in the morning, bought me dinner AND...inticed me to buy a $10 Lottery ticket.  So, if I win...MORE ROAD TRIPS!!   Haha.  And more practice on dry fly fishing... : )

AND

If you are feeling kind of itchy and uncomfortable as you walk through bushes and obnoxious weeds...

There probably is a reason to check after you get out of them...

AND

Buy a Magnetic tippet threader... or some "Clickers" , so you won't spend so much time tying flies on!