Fishing Grass and Saying Goodbye - Photo Essay

Yesterday was a special day.

I very unceremoniously loaded up my old beat up bamboo rod, a few dry flies and headed up to one of my favorite places on the planet.  This small stream is known for it's abundance of 12 inch cutthroats, but in this particular stretch, tucked back from the road and requiring a hike that few folks undertake, it's not uncommon to tie into several 16-18 inch native cutts on any given afternoon.

The fishing aside, there's something special about this place that I love, there's a bit of magic here.  I try to fish this stretch several times a season but I never seem to get up here as much as I would like.  Fall hit hard this week with our first real cool days of the year and I knew that I had to get in one more dry fly day up here, to properly say goodbye for the winter.

There's no better way to do so than with a bamboo rod, throwing big October Caddis dries for lazily rising cutthroats.  I love fishing grass but don't do it as much as I should.  Bamboo forces you to slow down, to wait for the rod to load properly, it makes you cast the right way.  Bamboo doesn't forgive sloppiness the way graphite does, that's why I think some folks don't like fishing grass, is forces you to be patient.  I love watching those loops slowly unroll though, and feeling the rod flex all the way down to your hand when you hook a good fish.  To me a grass rod somehow just feels more alive, has more personality than a graphite rod, sure they all have their quirks (just like us!), but that's what makes each one unique.

As for this stream and it's cutthroats, I'll be seeing you next summer.

“They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream, but that’s not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they’re just not such a big deal anymore.” - John Gierach

The bums bamboo, not the best, but it throws a good loop.

Jumped this 4 point bull, very cool.