5 Months

-- Bookends of a Skunk --

That's how long I waited to feel another fish on the end of the fly line. In the eight years of active fly fishing, I've never had a skunk that long. Would like to blame it on the brutal New England winter or lack of time on the water, but for whatever the reason, I'm calling the 5 month skunk over.

The Winter Solstice post last December was the last time I had a fish on the line. I've been out plenty of times -- chasing trout, bass, gills, carp and stripers -- but no luck for 5 long months.

Light Hendrickson

Last week, the car was in the shop, so I worked from home. I picked the car up at 5 PM and was on the local stream by 6:30 hoping to catch the evening hatch. Mayflies and midges where coming off, so I tied on a Light Hendrickson.

I started at the same spot where I last felt a tug in December. It was hard to see the fly casting upstream into the sun, but kept at it. Working upstream, the fly was placed in a seam just below a small riffle. The water swirled and the hook was set. Putting decent pressure with the 3 weight on a small rainbow, she swam back and forth in the current. As I worked her out of the current and reached for the net, pop, she was gone.

This is exactly how the rainbow was released on the Winter Solstice, about 2 feet from the net (she threw the hook). This time, the knot to the fly came undone (I will never use a plain clinch knot again - stopped using the improved clinch knot on the advice of a friend over the winter months).

Matt, who also was experiencing a long stretch of skunk, had a bit more luck than I last week. Landing a brookie and rainbow on the same stretch of stream the Friday before. Matt put together this nice Troutdoors Media video of his skunk breakers.


TGIF from Troutdoors Media on Vimeo.

The bookends of a skunk. For me, same species and size fish, on the same stream, released the same way but 5 months apart.

Time to start catching.