I fished in the 10 Mile area again today, for four hours. I was using the Black Mohair Sparkle Leech that was in my last post. I hit the area at 1:00 in the afternoon. There were 3 fly fishermen in a pram and two pontoon boats in the center of the 10 Mile area. Fish were jumping all around them. I trolled around, casting and stripping back the leech in the northern edge of the area.
The gentleman above, John, was moving around checking to see if he was getting in my way / area. I kept inviting him to move anywhere he wanted. I landed 4 fish in the first hour, and John moved in the same area as me, about 50 yards away. During the second hour he landed more than a dozen fish. I was anchored as he was and got a few hits but no fish at all to the boat in the second hour.
John called over to me and asked me if he “could give me a couple of flies”. I replied “sure, as long as I can give you a few back”. He rowed over to me and gave me two flies and showed me that he was using a two-fly system with an intermediate line. I forgot to mention in my previous posts that I almost always use an intermediate line.. However, I was using a floating line as I was casting into shallow flats. Also, I forgot to give him two flies in return (Black Sparkle Leeches!).
I tied on a tandem of the two flies and immediately received a strong strike, losing both flies due to poor knots and / or old tippet material. I tied on a size 10 bead head nymph, peacock body, and ended up with 50+ strikes and hookups over the next two hours. I lost a lot of flies (knots / old tippet) and when I didn’t get a strike in three successive casts, I checked my fly and usually it was gone. It was an awesome experience with active fish in all directions, smashing the smaller nymph while ignoring the leech pattern the previous hour. Yes, I counted, and I got 22 fish to the boat in the next two hours. Fish activity seemed to slacken at 5:00 PM, and after 4 hours on the lake in 90+ degree weather I headed back.
John saved my fishing this day. He also showed that he was a gentleman who went above and beyond expectations to help out another fisherman. It will be my task now to help other struggling fishermen as John did to me.
Thanks John. You are a indeed a gentleman and a scholar. It was great to share the water with you today.