The beauty of "Easy Fishing"

So often in fishing, we focus on going after the ultimate prize, or test our skills against a wary adversary. Whether it be stalking 25" Brown Trout in a small spring creek, swinging flies for a steelhead, or wading the flats in search of a willing permit, there is a great joy in accomplishing a lofty goal.

Other times, however, it is great to just go out and catch a ton of fish. Today was one of those days. After a long winter, where fishing is next to impossible here in Wyoming, all you really want is to go out an catch fish. I wasn't looking to descend an impossibly steep canyon. I wasn't looking to change flies 8 million times to fool a wary trout. I wasn't looking for that "fish of a lifetime". I was looking to bring them in hand over fist.

After spending the morning in the office, I finally escaped at about 1:30pm. I headed down to a spot on the Snake I knew was loaded with trout waking up from a long winters slumber. I parked my truck in the pullout, put on my waders, and tied 2 flies onto my 9 foot 5X leader. The top fly was a size 16 Parachute Adams. This was meant to be an indicator as much as anything. About 8 inches below it I tied on a size 18 Griffiths Gnat. After a short walk through the willows with the obligatory "hey bear" I arrived at the river's edge.

At first look I didn't see any fish working the surface, despite an abundance of midges along the banks. I cast out onto the seam line between the fast and slow water. Nothing. Then I saw a small rise a bit upstream from me. I took a few steps up and saw Trout feeding aggressively just below the surface. I cast my flies into the feeding zone and wham. Fish On!

Soon it was fish after fish after fish. This was perfect, just what I needed after 5 months in ski boots. Over the course of 1 hour I landed roughly 20 fish. Only changing my dropper fly once because the original was mangled from fish. At the end of the hour I decided not to push my luck. The memory was perfect as it was and I headed home.

This day will not rate as a qualifier to make me a great fisherman, or a cagey fisherman, a smart fisherman, or even a lucky fisherman. This day made me one of the most important things of all: A happy fisherman.

Enjoy,

David Ellerstein
Jackson Hole Anglers