The wrap on 2014

     The time between Thanksgiving and the new year is about as close to the off-season as I can muster. I do try to take a short break from the sport that I love, and focus instead on the ones that I love.  Though I try not to put on waders, I still slip back to books or my tying desk when I am not dumbfounded walking around Target.  The good news, though, is that I am past my annual injuries trying to open the plastic on kids' toys and that means the new year is here.   I am already making the plans for 2015, but as we traditionally do here on this blog, maybe it's time for a step back to think about the year that was. 

The gist

     Frankly, I have a lot to be thankful for.  The fishing season of 2014 was overall the most fun I've had on the water, perhaps ever.  A big part of that was the diverse nature of the geography, water types, and people that I was honored to accompany.  To reflect on trout from the Bighorn to the Delaware is such a privilege and you couldn't find a guy that appreciates it more than I do.  Every cast that I made in Montana was not only for me, but for all the die-hards that may never see Big Sky Country.  


     Each hole that I hit across the Catskills en route to the "slam" was in consideration of all the history before me.  The Gordons, the Crosses, the Bergmans, the Steenrods, the Jennings, the Art Flicks, Arnold Gingrich, and Lee Wulff.  It is my pleasure to follow in their wader wakes, even if I can't fill their wading boots. 

      And it wasn't even just the trout.  Heck, to anybody out there that only pursues trout with the stick and string, get on the warm water bandwagon this year.  I love to trout fish with a fly rod; I hope that's evident.  I have always stopped short of calling it "fun".  I don't know what the right adjective is.  However, I confidently learned that warm water fly fishing is a blast!  It's a low-stress, low-budget way to break the monotony of nymphing or the frustration of matching the hatch.  Not to mention the fact that your forearm is tired at the end of the fight.  The reliability of a lake is so important... Thunderstorms the night before?  Your favorite river blown out? Limited time off to fish? The lake is ready for you.  As I've said before, when it stops raining on the lake, it just stops raining.  There is no week-long penalty like in freestone rivers.

     Not to mention the most important things that an easy day on a lake can give you.  Of all the fish of this year, the obvious standout to me was the record number of hours I spent fishing with my first mate, courtesy of a warm water resource nearby.

    Even the little pink hat made her mark on the water this year.

      The diversity of the year has yielded something I have been hoping for, which is growth.  Growth in the sport is becoming more important to me.  Fishing out west, fishing thoroughly in the east, fishing lakes - it all gave me different perspectives and an overall increase in skill and enjoyment.  To know that the kids already are asking about going next year ... 2014 was a banner year.

The two regrets

     There are, however, two lingering items that are sticking with me as we head into winter.

     I did not meet my hoped commitment to dry flies this year.  Despite a diligent winter of tying comparaduns last year, this Spring did not yield the days that I had hoped for, up top.  We had beautifully high water for the better part of the hatches, which is healthy for the fisheries and of paramount importance.  It just so happened to make for more nymphing opportunities than I had wanted.  Further, during times of moderate flows, the crowds were tough this year.  It seemed that every pool was taken nearly every time I tried to float a fly, right through the fall.  I should have walked more.  Instead, I stopped at the riffles and went sub surface.  This was also somewhat more exaggerated this year, due to the newness of the waters that I visited.  The pursuit of the 'slam' put me in places that I knew little about at the time, which is kind of the point.  You can imagine nymphing- the security blanket- helped me through it.

     There is a second regret, and that would be "the big one got away", or in some cases, "never was on".  Thumbing through the year, I see a few 18" trout, maybe a 20", but definitely not a 22" or better.  A four pound largemouth, but not a six pounder.  On the trout side, I lost three out of the four big fish that I had on this year.  Two of those were in the same spot on the Main Stem on different days- one of the fish being in six inches of water when it took, with no exaggeration.

     The big frustration continues to be my inability to catch a big lake run brown on the Esopus in autumn.  Oh, I could kick myself for how I spent my valuable outings on the E this fall with the freaking nymph stick.  I could not get out of my zone versus swinging for the fences and throwing an articulated streamer to catch a two foot brown with a sawbelly butter belly.  I look at the pictures of one fish in particular, on a Clouser, caught on the E during the run by one of the area's best and most dedicated anglers.  I can't post it here because it's from a private forum, but it was large enough to sip a 10" rainbow off the surface like a dry fly. It could have swam right by me, while I was nymphing like a wuss.

     Ah, that's just a little venting.  In the grand scheme, if that's what I am griping about, we're in good shape.

Surprise statistic of 2014

     Zero. The number of trout I took on a streamer this year, which is possibly regret number three.  You know, I 'blame' that squarely on the warm water fishing.  I took quite a few bass and pickerel on large streamers and got my "fix" on the long fly that way.  I did try some streamers for trout this year but just a couple of hours, it was a minimal effort.  Having experienced the explosiveness of a pickerel on an articulated fly, it made me less apt to force it into trout fishing. I think I kind of blew that one on the trout side this year.


The under $50 gear of the year award winner

Past winners:
2012: Rubber bagged net
2013: Tiemco 2499SPBL hooks

This year, I just can't make up my mind so I am offering two co-winners:

     The fishing buff is absolutely a winner.  For two years, I cheaped out and wouldn't spend the thirty bucks on it but that was a mistake.  Twice this summer, sans sunscreen under a clear sky, it saved my neck.  And more times than I can remember, just the opposite - when the sun went behind the clouds and the drizzle and a stiff Catskill breeze kicked up, this baby helped to keep me comfortable.  It's easy to pack, it's easy to lose for a few outings but feels good when you find it again... But I love this thing.

     The other "gear" is Dynamic Nymphing, by George Daniel.  Sure, it's not really streamside gear but the mental gymnastics this book puts you through helps you to elevate your game.  This is the most technical fishing resource that I own- NO detail is too small and it caused me to rethink many of my nymphing rigs.  In fact, at the end of the year, I looked at my leader setup and was amazed at how it changed, and it is largely due to the more straight upstream techniques the book teaches, rather than the intuitive 45-degrees up and across.  I can promise you two things with this book: it makes you a much better nymph angler if you have an open mind, and, it really makes you want to throw dries to escape the madness!  In all seriousness- highly recommended and it is a big game changer.

*I am not affiliated with, nor compensated by, the producers of either product.  This is a non-biased opinion for entertainment purposes only.

Fly of the Year 2014

Past winners:
2012: Rubber legged Stonefly
2013: Comparadun Isonychia dry

     Interesting year for this category ... I thought about quite a few options and while no one fly in particular was stand-out, there was a consistent tie that seldom failed.  That, for me, would be the frenchie, or otherwise known as a (Sawyer) pheasant tail with a hot spot.  It didn't seem to matter whether it was the top fly or bottom fly- or even fished solo for that matter- it was the meal of choice for many a Catskill trout this year.  So easy to tie, and so purposeful, it resembles a likely mayfly nymph with a trigger (hotspot) on it to invoke a reaction take.  This fly alone for me accounted for several dozen wild Esopus rainbows this year.

Photo can be found on www.troutlegend.com

Jerk of the Year 2014

     I don't think I ever told you about this one voice that I heard on the bank this year.  I'm wading chest high in the lower third of junction pool on the Big D on a May afternoon.  Naturally, there's fifteen anglers in the area, one of which takes a fish fifty yards downstream of me and then proceeds to call a friend on his cell phone.  Voice travels well on the river and I hear every word. He expertly tells his friend the exact specs of the grannom caddis, and that you can't get away with an apple caddis, and then bemoans about another angler- the guy directly upstream of him.  That's me.

"Yeah, man, no kidding.  The guy's been in the sweet spot for twenty minutes and hasn't hooked up.  I'm waiting here.  He sucks."

Sorry, partner.  Not sure what I was thinking going twenty minutes, fishless, on the Main Stem.  I'll try not to let that happen again.

Fish of the Year 2014

Past winners:
2012: 23" Beaverkill Brown
2013: 21" (heavy) Beaverkill Rainbow    

It should be the brookie from the WB, but in honor of the warm water discoveries of this year, I'm putting in my best bass, caught on a type VI full sinking line on a Lefty's Deceiver (baby bass), in about eight feet of water.  This particular catch was sort of the symbolic "arrival" that warm water fishing would be here full time.  It doesn't have to be a trout sipping a mayfly to be awesome, in my opinion.

 Conclusion

     The journey continues ... Winter is here and that probably means just a day or two on the water per month until Spring, but that's ok.  I play in a tough division.  Married, with children and a house and a job and, for the time being, no daylight after work.  Time to tie some flies, and cross-off that honey-do list before it even has a chance to infringe on May.  I am not painting the upstairs bathroom on a Saturday during the 2015 March Brown hatch.  Sorry, honey!

     As for a preview of 2015, I sincerely mean it when I say the pursuit is what makes me the happiest these days.  I'll come clean, the joy of 2012 when I racked up the numbers worked for me back then.  It was important at the time.  Look, man, I still enjoy catching them.  But my eyes are finally open to the surroundings.  Heck, who knew the Cairns family used to be raftsmen?  Son of a gun, look at that.  There's a calm, and a patience, taking over that I think will lead to good things.

     Sometimes I can close my eyes on a winter night and feel that little change in the road as I head west- yes, the pavement change on the old 17 Sullivan County - Delaware County line.  That means Barnhardt's is on my left, and Horse Brook Run isn't far away. 

      Thanks for wading with BeadheadBabble here in 2014!  I look forward to another year of discovery and rambling.  I wish everyone a happy new year and a lot of catch & release in 2015!