There has been very little surface activity in the marina area of Lewiston Lake over the last two afternoons. Yesterday I trolled a sheep creek special to get 3 hookups, but each time I stopped the engine the fish got away from the slack created.
I noticed a solo fisherman in a pram anchored below the Island across from the marina. I recognized Don, a man I’ve shared fishing areas with a few times before. I knew Don was the real deal when we first met. I anchored 50 yards away from him to give him space. He was midge fishing and landing fish regularly. I was not. He yelled over to me to tell me that he was using size 18 PT nymphs at a depth of 5 feet. He then offered me said flies if I didn’t have them on me. I knew then that Don was a generous fisherman and not a competitive fisherman.
I anchored up next to Don yesterday and we had an hour of good conversation. At least I think so. My hearing aid batteries both died so my hearing aids acted like ear plugs going into hard of hearing ears. Don was using a two-fly rig, with a Rainbow Warrior at the top and a size 16 PT nymph on the bottom. I was told that his flies were about 4 feet down.
I had two zebra midges on and positioned my indicator so my lowest fly 4 feet below my indicator (bobber). Over the hour I didn’t catch a fish while Don landed 6 nice sized fat fish. After the 3rd fish for Don, I noticed that his lowest fly was about 6 feet below his indicator, so I lowered my flies. After Don’s 5th fish I noticed that the bottom fly was 9 or 10 feet below his indicator. My early guess of 6 feet was due to the angle of viewing. The final estimate showed that the length of his leader was longer than his rod lol. I guess Don isn’t great at estimating the length of his leaders. I can only guess how deep his flies were when we first met.
We both left around 4:45. Don was planning on leaving at 4:00 but he enjoyed my company and I headed out with him. I fished 3.5 hours and did not land a fish. I was skunked for the first time in my new fishing year. However, I’m sure it will not be my only fishless day this year. Oh yeah, Don showed me the Rainbow Warrior fly and gave me two as models for me to tie up. Awesome person. No fish but a wonderful day on the water.
Tight Lines!