Fishing The "Thompson River" For The First Time
5 am and I was up. Not exactly bright eyed and bushy tailed, more like bleary eyed and fuzzy mouthed, but eager all the same. I walked down to the river and watched the river, soaking it all in. Where to start? Such a big piece of water. Then a fish rose, bingo! Time to fish. Walking back to camp Adam was just getting up and Garry and Les weren’t too far behind. After some tea and deer sausage for breakfast we geared up and headed to the river.
I decided to use my 10ft 5 weight Fetha Styx custom made rod with my Rio Outbound floating line. I tied on a Titanic Stonefly nymph in a size 6 that Garry said would do the trick. I headed to the top of the Goldpan run and started the routine. When I have never fished a piece of river before I use a 5 step method. You start casting in close and with every successive cast you gradually work your casts out further and further. After covering that piece of water once or twice over, sometimes with a fly change, you take 5 good steps downstream and repeat the process. That method allows me to cover the water and move downstream at a reasonable pace and be fairly confident that if a fish was there I would touch him.
So I’m just getting my rythmn, working out the kinks and letting my mind wander when tap-tap-tap. ‘Hmmn was that bottom?’ Tap-tap-tap, ‘well lets put that right back there’, and tap-tap-wham- Fish On! ‘Oh, feels good – small flash – “Hey Adam”, because some one has to see my first fish. Good bend in the rod, coming in nice and easy, big smile, almost got him…. Ah Shit it’s just a damn whitefish. So I pull out the hook, realize it’s not a bad fish- good size, about 18 inches and fat. Take five steps down and try for that Rainbow again.
Me and Les are standing there and I’m trying to explain to him how to fish the back eddy and about trying to control the line and slack so you can feel a take when WHAM! Fish on again. My Fetha Styx rod is nearly bent in half, now that’s more like it. Flash-flash, roll, pulling out a little line, oooh he’s got a bit to him. I’m sure it’s a bow, and judging by the flashes I keep getting not a bad size one at that. “Hey Les, mind taking a Pic?” ” Sure can, hold on a sec”. Man nice fish, I corral him in to a little bay deep enough to hold him without giving him too much room to move, but enough so he’s still in water. I put myself between him and the River behind me and reach for his tail. Back in to the river he shoots, damn how did he get by me? Pull him back in and try to belly rub him this time, and once again he gets by me. Pull up the rod to bring him back again and there’s no weight on the line and I see him slip back to the bottom and swim off. I lost him – 18 inches of heavy spots and rosy cheeks. Now just a sweet memory.
A few more fish were caught that day but not by me. Everyone has said it’s a little early for the rainbows – August is better – on the Dry Fly they say, we will have to see about that.
By Christian Somogyi
I decided to use my 10ft 5 weight Fetha Styx custom made rod with my Rio Outbound floating line. I tied on a Titanic Stonefly nymph in a size 6 that Garry said would do the trick. I headed to the top of the Goldpan run and started the routine. When I have never fished a piece of river before I use a 5 step method. You start casting in close and with every successive cast you gradually work your casts out further and further. After covering that piece of water once or twice over, sometimes with a fly change, you take 5 good steps downstream and repeat the process. That method allows me to cover the water and move downstream at a reasonable pace and be fairly confident that if a fish was there I would touch him.
So I’m just getting my rythmn, working out the kinks and letting my mind wander when tap-tap-tap. ‘Hmmn was that bottom?’ Tap-tap-tap, ‘well lets put that right back there’, and tap-tap-wham- Fish On! ‘Oh, feels good – small flash – “Hey Adam”, because some one has to see my first fish. Good bend in the rod, coming in nice and easy, big smile, almost got him…. Ah Shit it’s just a damn whitefish. So I pull out the hook, realize it’s not a bad fish- good size, about 18 inches and fat. Take five steps down and try for that Rainbow again.
Me and Les are standing there and I’m trying to explain to him how to fish the back eddy and about trying to control the line and slack so you can feel a take when WHAM! Fish on again. My Fetha Styx rod is nearly bent in half, now that’s more like it. Flash-flash, roll, pulling out a little line, oooh he’s got a bit to him. I’m sure it’s a bow, and judging by the flashes I keep getting not a bad size one at that. “Hey Les, mind taking a Pic?” ” Sure can, hold on a sec”. Man nice fish, I corral him in to a little bay deep enough to hold him without giving him too much room to move, but enough so he’s still in water. I put myself between him and the River behind me and reach for his tail. Back in to the river he shoots, damn how did he get by me? Pull him back in and try to belly rub him this time, and once again he gets by me. Pull up the rod to bring him back again and there’s no weight on the line and I see him slip back to the bottom and swim off. I lost him – 18 inches of heavy spots and rosy cheeks. Now just a sweet memory.
A few more fish were caught that day but not by me. Everyone has said it’s a little early for the rainbows – August is better – on the Dry Fly they say, we will have to see about that.
By Christian Somogyi