Changing Conditions, by John Berry

It was just a few days ago, when the temperature was thirty seven degrees as I left my house to pick up my clients. The high for the day was forty seven degrees. Yesterday the temperature was seventy degrees when I left the house and the high was eighty seven. That is a significant change in a matter of a few days. It looks like spring has finally arrived. In fact, when my grandchildren visited this week the actually went swimming in Cotter’s Big Spring. I think they were probably pushing the envelope.

This change to warmer weather has had me scurrying about my house hunting down my warm weather gear and putting away my cold weather gear. I went through my wader bag. It has two compartments one for wet stuff and one for dry. I gathered up my wool fingerless gloves, my full fingered gloves with windproof shells and my fingerless gloves with pull over mittens. I replaced them with a pair of sun gloves (gloves designed to prevent my hands from getting sunburned). I put away the fleece scarf and disposable hand warmers that I always carry during cold weather.

I had to switch out my hats. I have been carrying a fleece cap with ear flaps and a foul weather hat that is water proof, insulated with thinsulate, lined with fleece and has some major earflaps. I found my felt cowboy hat and even wore it for a few days but then was searching out my straw cowboy hat as it got warmer and warmer. I wear my baseball style caps to the river but really need something with a brim when I am fishing to keep the sun off my face, to prevent sunburn on my fair skin.

I didn’t think that I would need my pile pants and jackets anymore, so I washed them and put them away along with my down jacket and vest. I pulled out and wore my tropical weight pants and long sleeved tropical shirts. I also found my boat sandals. It was pretty nice to be in light weight comfortable clothing again. With the sun higher in the sky and the days getting longer, it was time to break out my sunscreen again. I checked my supply and found that I needed a new tube. I bought one and made sure that it found its way to my wader bag.

The change in seasons had brought a lot more with it than just warmer weather. It had also brought in our big hatches of the year. I am talking about dry fly fishing. Our big hatch of the year, the Rhyacophilia caddis, was on. I had to carefully go through my fly boxes to make sure that I had all of the fly patterns that I would need to fish it. I had plenty of green elk hair caddis in sizes 14, 16 and 18. I had plenty of green caddis larva in sizes 16 and 14. I did not however, have any green butt soft hackles (my signature fly). This fly is an important pattern to imitate the Rhyacophilia, as they emerge. I sat down and tied a dozen and put them in my fly box. I also checked my fly floatant and noted that I need a new bottle. I bought one and put it in my vest.

While I was worrying about my Rhyacophilia caddis, I thought about the next major hatch to be expected, the sulphurs. They are our most prolific and largest mayfly hatch of the year. It generally occurs in May and June, which is just around the corner. So while I was going through my fly boxes I checked my supply of sulphur parachutes (my favorite dry fly for the sulphur hatch) in size 14, 16 and 18, partridge and yellow soft hackles and copper John nymphs in size 14, 16 and 18. Luckily I had plenty and did not have to tie any more of any of those key patterns.

I also reviewed the expiration dates of my leaders and tippets. Monofilament and fluorocarbon both degrade over time and they have a given life span before they become brittle and could cause me to lose fish. I will only buy monofilament, fluorocarbon tippet and leaders from Orvis as they are the only supplier that puts a use by date on each package. I generally go through the tippet well before its use by date but I somehow end up with some questionable leaders from time to time. As a result, I reviewed the dates of each package and moved the oldest to my vest where they will be used next.

I also gave my fly line a bit of attention. I noted that, while it was a bit worn, I could probably get another season out of it by giving it a thorough cleaning. I stripped the line into a sink of warm water with a capful of mild dish washing detergent in it. I agitated it carefully and then drained the sink. I flushed the line with fresh water and carefully dried it with a soft clean cloth (in this case an old t shirt).

Finally, it was time to clean and lubricate my reel. I popped the spool out and sprayed the inside of the reel with WD-40. I wiped it off making sure to remove any dirt or grit. I put some waterproof grease on the spindle and replaced the spool. I put a drop of oil on the reel handle. I gave the reel a spin or two to ensure that it was adequately lubricated. I was ready to fish.

The weather has changed and the hatches are on. It is time to get ready and go fishing!

	Author	Topic: Changing Conditions, by John Berry (Read 443 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.