I was thinking that I was going to go for a hike today. But a friend of mine reminded me that this particular hike, the Dragonback, was pretty challenging – especially on the way down. Since I am still officially recovering from hip replacement surgery, I reconsidered my plan. So I went ‘hiking’ up a tributary to Cedar Run. I took the fly rod along for company.

To my surprise the water temperature was somewhere between 60 and 64 degrees. My stream thermometer had a separation in the fluid so the very top was at 64 then a tiny gap and the lower indicator was at 60 degrees. Either way the water was cool. If I saw a spot or two, I could fish them and not be afraid of causing any harm to the trout with their quick release.

Yep, where I was it gets a bit tight in the summer. I hiked through/around/or over a few places to work up to where I expected more open areas.

There were pockets that could have been hit, but I wanted to work in an even more open area that I thought would be further up stream.

Before I found my spot/s, I saw these interesting flowers.

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I looked for a little while online and concluded (more like propose) that this was wild Bee Balm. If anyone knows what these flowers are, please leave a comment and share what what you think. I’m thinking that these were past their prime Bee Balm.

The first likely spot that I threw a fly caught this guy or gal.

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Not monsters up here but I consider them Mountain Gems just the same!

This one was actually a little better than the first one – even if the picture doesn’t fully show the difference.

I sweated profusely today as it was very hot and humid. I quenched my thirst by using my water filter that I brought along. I did so twice on this excursion. Sixty-four degree water from the Cedar Run tributary tasted pretty good!

The Last Spot and The One That Got Away

This will no doubt be a recurring title I’ll use – “The One That Got Away” part at least. With the water level so low I approached the last spot cautiously, as any rock rattling would send any self-respecting trout to the nooks and carnies for the rest of the day.

I was fishing with a dry fly version of an ant today. So I plopped this up there just to the left of the water coming into this pool on first cast. I wanted to put to the right, not the left of where the water was coming into the pool. Oh well, just let it drift a bit and see what happens. Nothing.

Second cast lands to the right of the water coming in and I immediately lose the fly. I can’t see it, the water has some glare on it and I’m not wearing sunglasses. I notice a fish rise almost immediately after the fly hits the surface and I pull back to feel the 12″ – 14″ – 16″ class fish for about 1.75 seconds. Then… slack line.

The fish is down, done, ka-put, no way Jose’ gone. I wait 20 minutes and get my second drink of water. Three casts were made but I knew better. These fish do this for a living. It wont take another fly for 24 hours … maybe.

Well, considering the mess out there in the real world, I had a great day!

Till we see each other again, I’m UB