Spent a few hours on Sunday small stream fishing with my friends Fredy and Johnny from the Ridge and Valley TU Chapter in northwestern New Jersey. For most of the morning we followed a relatively small stream filled with spooky native browns. This was true target casting. A wrong move or sloppy presentation could cause the fish to scatter or put them down for several minutes. Luckily both are great anglers and possess the skill and patience required for this type of fishing.
I was surprised that such skinny water could hold reasonably large fish. Rarely was I above my knee in the water, and most of the time it was ankle deep. Both Fredy and Johnny had multiple hookups, and I was able to bring in the brown below on a blue wing dry.
They also did a better job of keeping their flies out of the trees, an enviable practice that eluded me. I’m sure that I provided them with comic relief.
It was tough fishing, but well worth the additional effort required to catch beautiful wild browns and to test my casting skills. Thanks to Fredy and Johnny for sharing this great stream with me.
For those of you who tie, Johnny has a great fly tying site, Utah’s Fly Corner. Check it out if you get a chance. Enjoy!
