By taking the path less traveled, you will discover interesting places and catch more fish. This is a frontier church we came upon while scouting for new places to fish.
Many States and communities maintain small bodies of water with catchable sized trout, bass, and bluegills. Ultimately, we decided to try a small lake in Arizona to check out the fly-fishing possibilities.
When we arrived, the water was off color from rain and snow, but there were a few fish rising and we knew the lake had been stocked with eight-to-10-inch trout.
The high-water level made it impossible to reach the fish with a fly rod because of submerged brush, so both of us decided to use spinning rods rigged with the bubble and fly.
My father chose the “Ash Special Gold” fly, and I tried a new custom nymph pattern tied on a small #12 hook.
Not expecting to catch much because of the stained water, we started walking along the bank and throwing toward the rising fish. The fly was retrieved by slowly reeling once or twice then pausing to allow the fly to sink.
To my surprise, I caught a 10-inch trout on the first cast. On the second cast I had three hits before a trout jumped out of the water and grabbed the nymph next to the bank. The action was nonstop.
My father was having equal success while the other anglers, including those using bait, were catching very few fish.
Each of us easily had over one hundred hits during a four-hour period before lunch and many more in the early afternoon before things started to slow down.
None of the trout were large, but they were a lot of fun to catch. Having more than two hundred hits in a single day doesn’t happen very often.
Order these flies for your next trip, with the ‘Shop Now” tab on the website. Select the “Ash Special Family" for the fly my father was using or the “Your Design” option for the custom nymph pattern I was using.
It is a blast to show up with flies no other angler has, and which the fish have never seen.
This is the Bear River Tackle advantage!
Glenn Personey
Founder
Bear River Tackle