Guest Blog from WCA Guide Matt Hargrave
Met a buddy and fellow guide at the shop Monday morning. I picked through the fly bin grabbing some usual suspects (#18 pt little green machine and some #18 olive s&m nymphs), and decided to grab some nymphs I never fish. I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting lately. Fishing different water and different patterns. This time I picked up some #12 bh flashback pt’s, some #14 hare’s ears, a downey baetis nymph, a bwo magic fly, and a two bit hooker. I am guilty of sticking to tried and true patterns and water that I know hold fish. I also know to improve as an angler and a guide that I need to expand my arsenal and my knowledge of the Missouri. Sometime’s you gotta take chances.
We floated Mid-Mt. Palace. The day was overcast, 60, but with a cold wind. I picked up a nice brown right away on the lgm. Sometime’s landing a fish that quickly is a bad sign. That was not the case that day. The fish were hungry and ate everything I presented to them.
Later in the day, my buddy Josh started wrecking them fishing blind with a brown para adams. I stuck with the short leash and landed fish everywhere you would think a trout would be.
Towards the evening we anchored on a pod of fish that would not go down. We all touched and caught several fish out of that pod, only leaving it because it was getting too late to fish. Just before the take out, Chad and I doubled up on two dry fly eating fish. Perfect way to end an epic day.
Moral of the story is to get out there and get out of your comfort zone. Start building confidence in different patterns and different water. Growing as an angler is what everyone should be striving for—Matt
Doubled UP
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