Mermaids and Tricos

Hi folks,

Life continues to be great on the Platte.... need a good downpour in the Mountains to get my mushrooms poking their heads up though!

The Tricos and Caddis are still the headliners... nice Caddis hatches in the evenings, Trikes in the am with fish starting to pay attention to the spinner fall late am early pm.Fun fishing the Caddis on a tight line while swinging emergers or taking them proper like on dries..... the little ( size 18 ) speckle wing Caddis is around in great numbers right now. The Nymphing with Tricos is great right now right up to when the fish start eating the spent spinners on top. Look to my previous report re: the nymphing....... light tippet, longer leaders and tiny bugs...... a lot on my clients think I'm pulling their chain when I toss on a size 24 nymph.... right up until they land an 18" trout.... fish breed confidence!!

I got a discouraging report from a nice guy on the phone re: the fishing. I had been telling him what's going on on the Bennett float and unfortunately he called... not upset at all...... but saying they hadn't touched a fish on their own float. He did get a few nice ones wading Treasure Island though. We've been, and continue to do well on the upper, and now the lower river... so I can't stress enough how clear this water is and how important your leader set up and presentation are.... info available here anytime.

Clients.... TX Mitch up for his early summer trip brought the beautiful Miss Belinda with him this year... Ya never know what you're going to get when a client brings a partner up to fish... are they just here to please their better half.... or do they really want to fish ....... Well our Mermaid Belinda.. having never really fly fished before.... took all of a couple of hours to learn how to cast, mend and get the perfect drift! Then she started setting the hook with vigor...... the Trout never stood a chance! Mitch, after I've beat him into submission the last 8 years, is a fine fly fisher and had two stellar days... but he and I were both impressed with how quickly Belinda took to the game.... and the results were impressive! You guys were great.... see you in September! Belinda before I see you again on the river just remember ya got to let them run!!

Over the years it's been funny to watch new fly fishers when they hook their first big Trout........ they all have a certain distance they will let the trout run to.... at that point they say the Trout is too far away and they clamp down on the line and...... well.... it's advantage trout! My Deb, when I first took her fly fishing would let the fish get about 50ft out or so when she would try to rein them in..... and then she would look at me as if to say " well what are you going to do to get my fish back! " She's since learned that's why God made backing!

The lower river is really starting to get going with good numbers and good sized fish. Our next group. Father Glenn and Daughter Betsy, on only a 1/2 day trip hooked and lander a good number of fish and Betsy, not having touched a fly rod in over 7 years tending to babies and business, did a great job and was almost a hero...... probably about a 5 or 6 lb Rainbow.... out of the water three times, four ft+ in the air each jump and shaking it's head like a Tarpon...... I see a lot of nice fish on this river.... this one really got my attention... alas on the third jump he spit the hook.... the guide said really bad words..... apologized for his bad language... then said more bad words... but ......... " Tis better to have hooked.... than to not have hooked at all "

From here on out..... It's really in the hands of the weather gods... with continuing cool nights and some clouds the fishing will be as good as your drift...... If we get some hot and dusty days... it's out of bed and on the river REAL early..... off by noon napping and waiting for the evening hatch.

Can't believe we're not that far away from September...... Dam, life does speed up as you get some age on ya!! Good news is the Blue Wings are stirring on the bottom on the rivers... see ya then

Cheers,
MitchHarrison's Guest House & Guide Service