6-22-03 - Have you had the "Paradise Springs Adrenaline Rush"?

Waters Fished: Paradise Springs
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 6-22-03
Weather: Sunny
Air Temp: 80's
Water Temp: I keep forgetting to take it, but I suspect it's still 60F
Water Level: Normal
Water Color: Clear
Fish Species: Brown Trout, Brook Trout
Pattern Fished: Girth's Gnat, Bars, Ant, Cricket, disc other tiny nymphs
Pattern Color: per respective patterns; bares in both copper and green
Fishing Quality: Exciting and Challenging

OK, I've taken enough pictures of Paradise Springs, you guys get the drift. I probably won't bother taking more pictures here unless there's a fish OR for the change in seasons.

So anyway it's a short but exciting report. I was supposed to help one of my friend's move, but PeterM could only get out on this day, in a couple weeks he's having a knee replacement and vacations before that, so I had to delay the moving help (yeah, like I was really looking forward to that anyway???)

I got to PS around 11:30 am and found a LOT of new anglers there...4 to be precise. One guy was wasting his time in the Creek, while the other 3 were smart and were upstream in the pond proper. While nymphing, I got the most looks and a couple missed takes on a very small copper brassie.

I worked from the Dock considering I had limited time and wasn't going to crowd out other anglers, nor was I going to take the killer lie as 2 guys had been fishing it for a while before I arrived and were letting it cool down. I had no luck until Peter Showed up around 12:30 pm...shortly after that I got a hit on a Griffith's Gnat, size 20, but failed to keep the fish on the hook past the initial shake.

Now I should mention that I did NOT see the gorgeous rainbow! Where is he? He's like one of maybe two rainbows in the entire pond; if he's gone my chances for the triple slam are GONE (like they were really good before?). Anyways, it was a really bright sunny day and even the big browns were cruising the surface rather than doing their usual thing (chopping through the weeds on the bottom like carp).

Peter got the idea to try an Ant and on only his second or third cast he summoned a big brown, probably 18", to his fly. Maybe he set the hook too soon or something..but he didn't end up connecting on the vicious surface take.

OK, so they're looking for terrestrials falling out of the tree. I pointed out the largest trout I've EVER seen in the pond...easly 24"+ but more like closer to 30". It looked LARGER than the trout I landed last fall at the mouth of the Pike River. I offered him to Peter but he demanded I take the honors. A black cricket pattern well placed got SEVERAL looks...the problem here is they can LOOK all day...it's not like the fly is going to drift by downstream in a matter of seconds. Well, he came within 2" of the fly...I have never been sooo high on adrenaline in all my life. Heart throbbing in my throat...wow the excitement. After a minute of looks he decided there is something WRONG with the cricket and he's not going to take it. I tried again with a black ant but he showed NO interest.

Well, it went on like this but eventually I had to go...I was trying to leave by 1:15 but didn't make it out of there until 2...kept on saying "next cast will be the trick"...NOPE. However, a couple other guys landed 3 or 4 fish under a tree on a black caddis, size 16, from the "killer lie". I still haven't heard from Peter how he did, but I suspect he faired well being a VERY seasoned trout angler and former commercial fly tier...he knows his stuff.

While I was kinda surprised about the amount of anglers there, I welcome it. Being a catch & release only situation, and being that the fish are darn smart to begin with, additional pressure is NOT going to hurt the area. Furthermore, there is room for easily 6-8 anglers at a time if some are willing to wade. Poachers however will be called into the DNR (it's on my cell's speed dial and I DO get roaming reception there ;)

  MP