Three days of high pressure ridge have dried things out enough from me
to get caught up on Spring mowing and spraying. High temps have been
in the low 70's and farm/yard work hasn't been what's seemed most
appealing, just the most essential.

Tomorrow the high departs and is replaced by rain again, and a big
cooling trend.

So, today, I took a scenic country drive though areas near here that I
used to frequent constantly in Spring while still working
retrievers. It was a nostalgic trip full of memories, many of
people, now gone, who let me use their ranches for years.

It ended at the T_____ River about 35 miles from here.

I found a few "rising" fish and broke out a 5wt rod that is always in
the truck ... just in case. The fish were visibly feeding but not
taking anything ( big enough to see ) from the surface. My best
guess is that they were eating tiny midge pupa just under the
film. I didn't bother with waders or other gear, casting as best I
could from the spaces on the bank between willow trees.

I tried, without success, to convince them to eat a variety of
floating patterns. Then as the action seemed to slow and I needed
to head on home, but didn't want to leave defeated, I decided to
"cheat". Digging through my boxes I found a #20 beadhead something
or other and hung it beneath a Griffith's Gnat. I landed three,
long line released another one, all Rainbows in the 9 to 12inch
bracket.

I tried to get a picture with rises/rings in it ... but digital
cameras are hard to use for such 'instant' work since the shutters
take a while to function ( least mine does ) The water here is
moving MUCH faster than you'd guess from the photo and there is a
shallow riffle in each direction within a hundred yards or so but the
fish were using the flat deep stuff .

http://www.kimshew.com/t.jpg



Even amongst Ca residents it's little known that in the Spring, the
vernal pools and hyper green grasses of the lowest Sierra foothills
are incredibly pretty. The same ranches, a couple months from now
will seem dead, hot and barren, but right now are wonderful and
brimming with obvious life.


It was a good drive and short fishing adventure.