Branches

I couldn't decide where to fish today, so I went to both the East and West Branch for a full eight hours on the water. The East Branch was pretty uneventful- though I did lose what I think was a monster brown. When I set the hook I thought I had snagged a rock- but then the rock decided to make an unexpected break for the downed tree branches across the stream. My tippet snapped immediately. I don't think I would have been able to land whatever this was on 6x even if I'd been prepared for that run. I'd sure like to try again though.



That seemed to be the theme of the day- I missed a lot of fish. I must have hooked at least ten that got off within a minute or so. Maybe my hook sets need a little more conviction. I did land a few too, including this one at the West Branch which fought like a much bigger fish. I was very relieved to bring this one to hand after a good five minute battle.

Also saw a lot of risers today- there was a bit of a Caddis hatch for a while and the trout were paying attention. It felt great to ditch the nymph rig for a while and do some actual casting. In keeping with the theme of the day, I didn't land any on dries- but I had some takes and even managed to hook a few. All in all, a long day, but the fish I was able to get in the net made it all worthwhile.