Although I didn’t have the exact fly, it was close. Sometimes close counts as in horseshoes and hand grenades.
I arrived at first light at the same exact pool and waded to the exact same spot as the day before. It wasn’t long before I was hooked up on a Steelhead mimicking the pattern I had learned from the previous day.
I always wish other fishermen the best of luck: verbally and mentally. If I didn’t, I feel it would negatively impact my fishing Karma. However, while watching him hook and lose six fish in such a short amount of time the day before, there was a part of me that couldn’t help but wonder… is he just that bad of a fisherman?
On that note… back to my Karma…
Fish 1: 6:15am
Status: Fish Lost
Fish 2: 6:20am
Status: Fish Lost
Now I have witnessed and participated in 8 fish hooked and 8 fish lost. Curse, Karma, call it what you will, it wasn’t headed in the right direction.
Although two Steelhead struck within the matter of minutes, for whatever reason, the bite turned off. Regardless, as I had done the day before, I stuck to my same tactic. The only difference being what I was presenting to the fish. And, just like that, the fish were done with the pattern for the day; yet I persisted. After hours of trying, I had no choice but to change tactics once again.
I only had so many available tackle options at the time, and mentally, I was committed to the White Death Fly pattern or a knock-off. With that said, I went back to the setup that failed me yesterday but worked the two days prior.
Fish 3: 2:00pm
Status: Fish Caught
Ironic, I know… and that ends the potentially tragic tale of the White Death fly…