Not So Close to Home - South Delaney

Date: 6/2/2012
Location:  South Delaney

 Time: 8:30 am - 12:00 pm
Weather:  80 degrees with light wind from the south and then stormy with wind 20mph from the South by about 11:30am

Dad and I made the long drive up to South Delaney, but were forced off the lake early by a storm before we were really able to shake the rust off.  Zero fish landed, but dad fought 4 fish and I had 2 on.  We were both under-gunned with a 2wt and a 3wt fly rod and no net.  Next time we need to bring 5wt rods at a minimum.   We tried a variety of tactics, fishing streamers all the way to dry flies.  Both of my hits came on Chironomid nymphs drifted about 6-8ft under an indicator.   Dad had 2 hits on the Chironomid nymphs as well but also hooked two fish on a size 14 Parachute Madame X.  There was midge and Caddis activity on the surface that had fish rising regularly until the wind came up.  I also tried a Brown Wooly Bugger with no luck.  All the fish that were hooked appeared to be large, as they made long and powerful runs.  Also, the water was very clear and most of the fish that I saw swimming were at least 20".  There seem to be a lot more big fish in this lake than I remember.

While we were getting the kayaks ready, we saw some fisherman catch several nice fish near the boat dock.  They were using Sculpin streamers and wooly buggers and said they had done very well that morning.  They left shortly after we got in the water, so it must have been even hotter activity in the morning.  

A good day filled with lessons, but getting skunked was hard with so much fish activity happening.   Next time we need to pay more attention to the weather forecast, arrive earlier in the day, bring the heavier fly fishing equipment, and bring a net!