Send me on my way, capture my heart, grant me peace, and make the sun cross the sky in minutes.

TFO BVK 5wt
Ross Flyrise
Rio IT Deep3

One of the many places on my bucket list has been crossed off. Well, sort of. It is, of course, to be revisited many a time in the near future, and there is much further business to be done there. That place is Pass Lake, nestled against a rather busy highway and surrounded by hills, trees, and today, a gorgeous blue sky.

I am a newcomer to this body of water, having no experience but that of the anecdotal tales of fellow, more experienced fly fishermen. I am also a relative newcomer to fly fishing, especially for trout. I could probably (and unfortunately) count all of the trout I've caught on flies on the number of digits on my hands and feet. Take away all of the "stocker" brats, and that number is even less.

Pass lake was my first real experience throwing flies to fish who are more or less "wild" (many of them are planted as fry). They grew up in the lake, and to me, that makes them a bit more intriguing. So, I proceeded to learn the lake as best I could in a day.

My 9ft pontoon carried me to all corners of the lake, with eyes glued on my depthfinder, looking for marks. There were fish around for sure. Most were marked in 19 feet or deeper, and generally hugging the bottom within two or three feet. 17-22 feet of water is where I concentrated my efforts. After marking some fish, I anchored down, let out a smooth 60 foot cast, and counted down. First at 30 seconds, no love. Second at 45... and there he was! Tug, tug, the connectcore line told all. A hookset was placed, and the fish let me know he was there. I had almost forgot how much more fun it is to fight fish on fly gear than spinning gear, especially when dealing with healthy pound-plus trout. This one measured 16ish inches. Beautiful fish! Swam off like nothing.

And... that was it for the day! Half an hour in, success, and then only one more hit for the rest of the day! How silly is that! I switched patterns countless times, but gave each one love, covered all parts of the lake from the shore slopes to the basin in the middle. The one other hit came at about 25 seconds down (8ish feet) and occurred as my fly sank. The fish made short work of my 6lb leader, which appeared to be not up to snuff... C'mon man! He came unbuckled, and then ten seconds later, a 18-20 inch rainbow shot out of the water behind me, a small trail of line hanging from a fly in the corner of his mouth. Whelp, he'll be wearing a bit of jewelry until that hook falls out or rusts out.

9:15-6:00... A long day on the water, but seemingly short in hindsight... time seemed to pass so quickly out there.

It was a tough day for lots of people, not a whole lot of catching. Many didn't have anything to show for their efforts, so I feel blessed to have been granted one. Others caught a couple trolling, using indicators/chronies, or retrieving streamers. Plenty of bugs out there though- my boat was covered with midges by afternoon!

Tight, unbroken lines!

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