Its that time of year again. Due to increased energy demands, the local tailwaters are running at full capacity which means that the fish are deep and the water for the most part is just to deep and fast to attempt to wade.
Mid June starts my trips to the Great Smoky Mountains to fish for wild trout. This creates the need for two distinct types of fly fishing that, in my opinion, are the hardest to master. Monkey fishing and ninja fishing. Let me explain…
First lets look at monkey fishing. Monkey fishing involves casting with either hand while you hang precariously from ledges, trees, the bank. You are literally dangling in some rather precarious positions just to get the fly in the water. This type of fishing can be problematic for several reasons. You can, as I have in the past, grab hold of a limb or root that has been dead since the Truman administration. This entails the reach, the tight grip, the cast, and then that moment where, much like Wile E. Coyote, you are suspended in midair for a moment before you realize that the law of gravity has exercised its rights upon you and you plummet into whatever may lie below.
Ninja fishing is the stealthy approach to wary trout, who are ninja masters themselves. You crouch and creep from rock to rock, dangling the fly and hair thin tippet into washtub size pockets of water in the hope that you have been undetected and the fly looks real. This all works well until the aforementioned ninja fisherman securely wedges his foot between to rocks that grip as tight as a vice grip and your next attempt at stealth sends you face first into the water with such a splash that fish somewhere along the Gulf Coast are on the lookout. This event also includes the quick yet casual glance around to see if any of the other Ninjas have witnessed your Jerry Lewis like attempt at grace.
Occasionally the Monkey fisherman or the Ninja Fisherman will encounter the occasional Slingblade trout. The Slingblade Trout is one that is simple minded enough to mistake your fall as a thunderstorm and your fly as a French fried tater. In such situations, it is possible to miss seven out of ten strikes before you bring one to hand. At which time you become well aware that sometimes luck shines down and a buffoon can have a productive day.
Ahh….Summer fishing….I love it.