In this episode we Wadeoutthere with Simon Gawesworth, from Washington state. Simon grew up teaching fly fishing at an early age at his father’s fly fishing school in England. He has spent his life traveling the world, learning, and teaching fly fishing in the form of classes, books, shows, events, schools, and articles, and most recently as an instructor for Far Bank.
Nymphing had been good that morning. Enough takes and a few landed fish combined with being back on the South Platte River in surprisingly relative solitude made the sun seem a little warmer on my skin. When the blue winged olives began lifting in clusters across the river, I was reminded of how picky the trout can be on the South Platte and began slipping slowly into soft head shaking head and a smile that was part frustration and part commitment to figure these fish out.
I love targeting trout tucked in tight along the banks of a river. Especially, grassy banks. Especially, grassy banks with vegetation overhanging. Especially, grassy banks, with vegetation overhanging, that are difficult to cast to without losing my fly.
Wading along the bank of the Bighole River, I found myself in an unfortunately familiar and somewhat sub-optimal position of biting off a bit more than I could chew by way of wading out a bit further than my stature allowed in pursuit of an upstream seam that I knew held fish.
My cast was sloppy.
Blasphemy? I embrace it. Of all the trout I have caught fly fishing, rarely was the sole source of hooking up an eye watering cast. There is so much more to chase.