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Fishing and Rain
Blog by: Lloyd Tackitt , TX 6/4/2017 (Return to blogs)
It was sunny out, and warm and muggy, no wind. I walked to my favored river entry point, about half a mile away, and waded into the water. It's rained off and on a lot recently but the river was not muddy or high. It was at the normal low elevation that is great for wading and while not as clear as usual I could see down to almost my ankles while standing in waist deep water - so a tad murky but not too bad. Kind of a greenish cast to it.
The current was a bit faster than normal for when it is that low, caused by the rain run off no doubt. The water was comfortable, warmish. Fish were occasionally jumping here and there. It was a good looking fishing day all around.
I fished for bluegill with a floating terrestrial, a foam grasshopper. I love to catch those bluegills on the surface, and they were biting for me. One bluegill I caught was chased hard by a large bass that was absolutely tearing up the surface. That was fun. Normally I'd let the bass take the bluegill and hope I could put the hook into the bass - I've done that many times - but this foam hopper had a tiny hook, and that bass would have straightened it right out, so I pulled the bluegill in and released it unharmed.
I saw dark clouds gathering to the NW. Since the prevailing storm pattern here is SW to NE I thought it might slide by. It didn't, or at least not all of it did. It began to rain and quickly became a torrential down pour so heavy I could barely see the end of my rod. The rain was cold and the wind was almost howling, blowing so hard it created waves in the river, waves against the current at that. I had to keep my head down to keep rain from blowing into my eyes. The wide brim hat had to be jammed down to my ears to stay on. Then there was a boom of loud thunder.
I got out and walked home in that torrential downpour, totally soaked, almost chilled from the rain.
Half an hour later the sun is back out.
It is sunny out, and warm and muggy, no wind.
Blog content © Lloyd Tackitt
Comments
nlwreeds
06.12.17 1:13 PM
Welcome to Colorado???
I was caught by a very fast thunderstorm, in a float tube, on a rather large lake. When the wind picked up and the thunder started booming, all the water ski boats headed in and I was left out alone about 50 feet from shore. My wife was in her pontoon boat almost out of sight in distance. The wind was blowing me further into the lake, and my fins were not making any progress in the right direction. I was in severe trouble and had to consciously tell myself not to panic. I had to make a plan, even if it was not a good plan. I pulled up my anchor, and threw it as far as I could in the direction of shore, then slowly pulled myself until the anchor was below me, quickly pulled it up and threw it again. It was slow, but I was making progress in the right direction. My wife saw me and rowed over to ask me what the hell I was still doing out on the water. After a few slightly unpleasant verbal exchanges, she towed me to shore. Safely on shore, we assessed our situation. In my attempts to get to shore, I lost a fly rod, a spinning rod, a net, and the wind blew her Tilly hat into the water. All in all, we sent about $500 in gear to the bottom. But her rescue allows me to tell the story. For that I am thankful. And of course, the sun came back out and the water skiers resumed their skiing My one sadness in all of this was that none of the other boats offered to tow me in when it seemed obvious that I was in a difficult situation.
About the Author
I live on the edge of the Brazos River. I walk out my front door and into the river and - boom - I am fishing just like that. For me the river is fascinating. The mile long stretch I fish is a microcosm of the river, I have it all in that one mile. Trying to figure out where the fish are, what they are doing, why they are doing it, what they are biting, if they are biting - this is what keeps me in the river casting flys. I fly fish almost exclusively. It isn’t that I am a fly fishing snob, it’s that fly fishing works – it’s effective - and it has added benefits. I carry all my tackle in a vest, no tackle box needs to be dragged along. The casting itself is fun, even when I don’t catch fish I’ve enjoyed the experience of casting. Fly rods enhance the experience of bringing fish in. I like the hands on the line feel instead of the feel of line spooling up on a reel and muted down through a gear and crank system. Fish fight better and feel better on a fly rod. Fly fishing just feels better to me than other methods.