It was time to hit the Pecos River again and try out my newly tied flies. The river had melted a lot since my venture out on the first of the year so that was good. I even saw a couple other fisherman on the water which is rare this time of year.
I intended to fish this stretch of water but I took a little while getting everything setup and by the time I walked over to get in those two guys I saw before had moved in. It was semi-Ninja like on their part, nice moves!
So I hit the pool above the old bridge.
With a large Beadhead Hares Ear and a smaller Hares Ear trailer I hit the pool. First cast, I saw a fish rise and strike my indicator! 2nd cast nothing. 3rd cast I felt it, Strike! I had him on for about 5 seconds then he shook loose. Oh well.
Seeing as that hole was pretty much spooked after that I moved up river to another section. As I made my way to the river I kept seeing small piles of black fluffy feathers and as I rounded a small group of trees I found the source.
Seems a wildcat or dog had a Turkey lunch
I ended collecting a really nice bundle of Turkey feather. I don’t know if I could use all of this in a lifetime.
After gathering and stashing I kicked through the ice and worked this small stretch of river. I was working the stream from one side to the next but no action. Then, I got my rig to run right along the ice shelf on the side, and damn it if another fish didn’t shoot out from under the ice and strike at my indicator.
Well if they want big orange bugs I will help them out. I re rig using the largest attractor pattern I got that is the same color as the indicator. I tie a small Hares Ear dropper and go to work. Not another bite the whole time. So I moved back to the original hole I started in above the old bridge with this same plan. No takers on the attractor but I got another fish on the hares ear but failed to land this one as well.
Well, my flies got bites and I got enough turkey feathers to last a lifetime. So, all in all, not a bad day for me!
