Apologies for getting sidetracked for a bit on the follow-up to our "Browns and Brookie Days" weekend with Guide Mike Rennie of Blue Mountain Drift. If you missed the first post, check it out and then circle back here.
When this trip was approaching, all I asked of Rennie is that we get two different experiences over the two days. The first day we floated miles down the river. The second day we hiked, rock hopped, learned new skills, and short cast dry flies to the head of step pools hoping to entice a brookie to rise.
The morning was heavy with fog that took a couple of hours to burn off and it was warmer than the day before. It didn't take but a few minutes for Rennie to whoop and Matthew to smile as a brookie rose to his fly. It was undoubtedly going to be a good day.
Matthew hadn't done this type of fly fishing before and it was fun watching him take careful instruction from Rennie and then apply that in a more careful and methodical approach to how and where he was casting a fly. It's easy with this kind of fly fishing to be a little haphazard and success can be multiplied with slowing down to make the first cast count.
Both Matthew and I were fishing fiberglass fly rods and this is the kind of water where a short light line fly rod in glass really shines. If you ever want to "talk someone into glass", take them to a mountain creek with your favorite 3-weight and they will see how it shines.
This was a fun day with my Nikon DSLR and the 50mm lens. Slow scroll for a few images...
We spent the morning working our way up the stream, hopping over each other every couple of pools, and found brook trout in all the spots that you'd expect them to be. The tiniest brookie will take on the dry fly with such enthusiasm as they force the fly to fit in their mouth while the larger ones will more carefully come up and sip. We missed a few really good ones but caught enough others that the prick of the misses didn't hurt too badly. We had a tasty lunch at the truck and then hopped over to another steam where we tried a few different spots that held brown trout.
As our afternoon was winding down, Matthew carefully climbed up a tall waterfall built by cabin sized builders and found a long slender pool cut between large rock walls with a waterfall that crashed into it. He made a long cast up to the head of the pool and almost immediately a trout rose and slurped his fly. Rennie and I watched as his glass fly rod doubled over and we all knew that this was by far the largest fish of the day. Matthew brought it to hand and quickly released it with a huge beaming smile. He later told us in the truck as Rennie drove us down the mountain that this was his new favorite way to fly fish. I can totally see why.
GEAR NOTES:
- As Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods and Vladimir Rachenko of VR Reels were rolling out their collaboration experiment, Brook & Brown, earlier this year, a couple demo fly rods and fly reels were sent my way. This was the first trip with the 7' 3-weight Trota Superba, which is matched with the Trota Superba fly reel, and it is just a fantastic outfit in every way. For someone who has a affinity for fly rods and reels that match in some way, this is a perfect marriage of Shane's expertise in fly rod taper design and Vlad's excellence in fly reel design. You don't often see swelled butt design in glass but this fly rod is power and precision in balance from roll casts to full casts. The stunning Trota Superba fly reel has a wonderful click and pawl purr in this classic raised pillar design. This is a sturdy yet small fly reel that is just stunning. I especially like the mix of metals highlighted with the brass reel foot. For those interested, the fly rods can be found on the Brook & Brown website and the fly reels can be inquired about through VR Reels.
- Not a week goes by that I don't suggest 406 Fly Lines to someone emailing asking about their fly line options with fiberglass fly rods, especially in the "trout weights". These are just wonderful fly lines through and through. Heritage fly line tapers meets modern day advancements in fly line production at a price that is still less than other premium fly lines on the market.
- Look for a much deeper dive into Purpose Built Optics as I learn more about their lens technology and innovative approach to polarization. With several dozen different polarized lenses to choose from, there's seemingly one for every on-the-water situation. I wore the Bighorn lens in the Storm frame on this trip and understanding their "Lens First Strategy" when it comes to matching a certain lens with a certain angling environment.
- A week or so before the trip, a package arrived from Todd White of The Yooper Fly Life with a mix of Borcher's Drake patterns in various sizes and variations. If a brookie would eat them in northern Michigan, they'd surely eat them in Virginia, right? The answer was a resounding YES!
- I like to keep flies organized but don't always have time to carefully place them in a fly box. The Fishpond Fly Puck, with or without the magnetic floor, have been the perfect solution for last minute trips. The Fly Puck fits into a shirt pocket or gear bag or pack with ease and I've also found that I can toss several into a larger suitcase style fly box, too. These are handy and worth having a few of around.
- With turning 50, I've given in to wearing drug store readers. I can see everything on the screen of my iPhone again and even +1.25 strength are helpful for threading 5X and 6X tippet through the eye of a small bushy dry fly.
- What did I forget? A wading staff. I know I have a couple of them in my gear stash and it was a clear miss not having one along to assist with all the rock stepping.
Thanks again to Guide Mike Rennie of Blue Mountain Drift for a wonderful couple of days on the water. We couldn't have had a better time. I'll be back this summer for to fish smallmouth on his local waters and I am already looking forward to it. Follow Blue Mountain Drift on Facebook and Instagram.
