Fishing Sunscreen

Last week my wife Lori and I did a two-day guide trip with Michael and his three sons, Jonathan (age 9), Andrew (age 10) and Joshua (age 14) on Dry Run Creek. Lori guided them on the first day and I guided them on the second day. They were first-time fly fishers. They were polite, interested and a pleasure to guide.

I must say that Lori took the tough day. When you are introducing new anglers to fly-fishing there is a learning curve. At first, exuberant young anglers try to fish too much line, set the hook too hard and tend to try and horse fish in. This generally results in lost flies, tangled lines and lost fish. The trick is to patiently work with them.

You untangle their lines, replace their lost flies, work on their casting and explain why they lost the fish. When they do something right, you praise them. Gentle coaching will improve results over time. The proof is in the fishing. On a normal day on Dry Run Creek, many fish will be lost in the morning but the catch rate will improve throughout the day.

Based on the feedback I got from Dad and the boys, Lori did a masterful job. All the lads caught fish, and they had a wonderful time. They were eager to continue fishing on the second day, and their skills showed solid improvement.

The original plan was for me to guide Josh, Andrew and Jonathan on Dry Run Creek in the morning and take Dad out in the afternoon. When I picked them up on the second day, I learned that the guys had so much fun fishing with Lori, they wanted to spend the whole day on the creek.

Michael, being a caring father, gave up his afternoon so they could get in another good day of fishing. I knew that I had to step up to the plate, so I set myself a personal goal to have each of the boys land a trophy.

Fishing three anglers can be problematic. You are spread thin at best. I carried an extra boat net and enlisted Michael to help me net fish. We started off fishing hot fluorescent pink San Juan worms.

It produced all morning. I rigged them on 4X tippet with a bit of lead to get the fly down to the bottom. I used medium-sized Thingamabobbers for strike indicators. They float well and are extremely durable. We concentrated on deep, fast water. Most anglers make the mistake of concentrating on big fish they can easily see. If those fish are not actively feeding, move on.

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Joshua was the easy one. He landed several big fish. The biggest was a fat, 25-inch brown. I concentrated on working with Andrew and Jonathan. Andrew hooked a big brown.

It was an epic struggle that went on for at least 15 minutes. He was about to surrender to my big boat net when he took one last desperate run under a rock shelf and broke off the fly. Andrew was disappointed but still committed to catching a big one.

Early in the afternoon, the catch slowed and we switched flies. We began fishing a size 14, gray sowbug on the same rig as the San Juan worm. We began picking up fish immediately. I was working with Jonathan and he hooked a big one. He followed my instructions and let the trout run.

We were finally able to bring the stout 24-inch brown to the net. As we were posing for photographs, I went to remove the sowbug and noted another fly in the fish’s mouth. I recognized it as one of my San Juan worms. Jonathan had landed the big brown that Andrew had lost an hour or so before. The same trout had fallen for two of my flies.

It was time for Andrew to land a big one. Michael had been working with him and he had hooked several big trout. Once hooked, the big trout were running either up- or downstream and escaping into heavy cover. I went over and relieved Michael. The first thing I did was to tighten the drag down on Andrews reel.

This is a delicate operation. I wanted the drag to be tight enough to wear down the trout but not too tight or it would allow the trout to break the 4X tippet (about 6 1/2-pound test).

With the tighter drag, Andrew was able to put much more pressure on the trout. This allowed him to maintain tighter control on them and prevent them from moving into heavy cover. He still let them run but they did not run as far or as fast. He landed several nice fish including a fat and sassy 20-inch brown.

About the time Michael walked up, he hooked a big one. He fought him hard but Andrew was able to gently work the large trout into my net. We took a minute to pose Andrew, Dad and the big brown. When we released the fish, he ran up under an undercut bank and we could easily see his broad tail only a few feet from us.

We fished for a while longer but it was time to head back home and the guys reluctantly left the creek. They had all caught a lot of trout and each had landed a trophy. There were smiles all around. I was intrigued with the brown that had been hooked twice. All in all, a great day! Now is the perfect time to fish Dry Run Creek. It is choked with trophy trout and the weather is perfect.

Editor’s Note: John Berry is a fishing guide from Cotter. His column reflects his own views and not necessarily those ofThe Baxter Bulletin. Contact him at http://www.berrybrothersguides.com or 435-2169.

Joshua was the easy one. He landed several big fish. The biggest was a fat, 25-inch brown. I concentrated on working with Andrew and Jonathan. Andrew hooked a big brown.It was an epic struggle that went on for at least 15 minutes. He was about to surrender to my big boat net when he took one last desperate run under a rock shelf and broke off the fly. Andrew was disappointed but still committed to catching a big one.

Early in the afternoon, the catch slowed and we switched flies. We began fishing a size 14, gray sowbug on the same rig as the San Juan worm. We began picking up fish immediately. I was working with Jonathan and he hooked a big one. He followed my instructions and let the trout run.

We were finally able to bring the stout 24-inch brown to the net. As we were posing for photographs, I went to remove the sowbug and noted another fly in the fish’s mouth. I recognized it as one of my San Juan worms. Jonathan had landed the big brown that Andrew had lost an hour or so before. The same trout had fallen for two of my flies.

It was time for Andrew to land a big one. Michael had been working with him and he had hooked several big trout. Once hooked, the big trout were running either up- or downstream and escaping into heavy cover. I went over and relieved Michael. The first thing I did was to tighten the drag down on Andrews reel.

This is a delicate operation. I wanted the drag to be tight enough to wear down the trout but not too tight or it would allow the trout to break the 4X tippet (about 6 1/2-pound test).

With the tighter drag, Andrew was able to put much more pressure on the trout. This allowed him to maintain tighter control on them and prevent them from moving into heavy cover. He still let them run but they did not run as far or as fast. He landed several nice fish including a fat and sassy 20-inch brown.

About the time Michael walked up, he hooked a big one. He fought him hard but Andrew was able to gently work the large trout into my net. We took a minute to pose Andrew, Dad and the big brown. When we released the fish, he ran up under an undercut bank and we could easily see his broad tail only a few feet from us.

We fished for a while longer but it was time to head back home and the guys reluctantly left the creek. They had all caught a lot of trout and each had landed a trophy. There were smiles all around. I was intrigued with the brown that had been hooked twice. All in all, a great day! Now is the perfect time to fish Dry Run Creek. It is choked with trophy trout and the weather is perfect.

Editor’s Note: John Berry is a fishing guide from Cotter. His column reflects his own views and not necessarily those ofThe Baxter Bulletin. Contact him at http://www.berrybrothersguides.com or 435-2169