Meeting the Challenge

On Sunday, I met Doug at the South Branch of the Raritan to fish for a few hours.  He wanted to get in some time on the river to prepare for a competition he will be participating in this coming weekend.  It was a perfect day for the fisherman, warm and bright, which is not so perfect for the photosensitive trout.  For Doug, who will have to fish in all kinds of weather and water conditions during competitions, this was just another challenge for him to test his skills.

Doug started out doing a timed session on a short stretch of pocket water that was well shaded and known to hold a good number of fish.  In one hour, he caught seven fish, which is impressive for any angler.  He was fishing with his usual two nymph competition set rig - two tungsten bead head nymphs a little over 20 inches apart on 6X flourocarbon tippet and no split shot or strike indicator (he does have a length of amnesia mono built into his leader, which he calls a sighter).  One of the nymphs was his Quill nymph, which we showed you in a recent post, and the other was a Walt's Worm.  He was fishing a 10 foot, 3 weight rod.

Later in the day we went to another stretch of water, and in an effort to challenge him further, I put him in the water you see above.  At first he was a little apprehensive about fishing this area as it clearly does not look like nymphing water, and Doug was fishing only nymphs - because "nymphs rule!"  The flow is steady, but not fast, and the depth varies due to many rocks and gravel areas.  From fishing this area for many years, I knew it held many stocked and wild trout, and when fished properly almost always produces fish.   I knew it would be very challenging, and I also knew Doug was up to it and would figure it out.  The perfect confidence boost before a competition.

The result?  Doug fished the run with his usual high level of concentration, and before long had it under control.  In a short while, he took a few browns, a nice wild brookie, and hooked a very nice rainbow that managed a long-distance release.

Doug will be fishing waters he has never fished before on this coming weekend.  He never fished the water above until Sunday.............he's ready to meet the challenge.

Good luck, Doug!

P.S. One of these days we'll let you know when he decides to tie on and fish a dry! : )