6-18-05 - After a morning of fly school and early afternoon on the Waterloo, Anne and Paul make their way upstream on South Beark Creek.

Looking upstream towards our shady pool for the afternoon.

Anne and Paul patiently work the pool, hoping for a strike.

A cute stocker brookie comes to shore.

Paul with his first rainbow trout for the evening.

Insects dance above the weeds in the evening sunlight.

A few trout held at the tailout.

Last fish of the day - a dirty rotten sucker!

6-18-05 - Fly School with Paul & Anne Rechterman!

Waters Fished: Waterloo Creek, South Bear Creek
Fish Caught: a couple
Outing Date: 6-18-05
Weather: Sunny
Air Temp: 70's
Water Temp: N/A (didn't need to bother with it)
Water Level: normal
Water Color: clear
Fish Species: Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout
Pattern Fished: beadhead nymphs
Pattern Color: olives, tans, grays etc.
Fishing Quality: fair

This was a special day...I'll remember it for a long time and considering I'm writing about it almost 6 months later...well, either I'm full of BS or we had a good time!

I was slated to instruct at this particular Fish Fat Iowa Trout School - turns out Rich had a conflict and couldn't even make it. Meanwhile, we had just two students - relatively new fly fisher's Paul & Anne Rechterman. I'd first met Paul online when he inquired about purchasing a rod I had for sale...a month later I met him and Anne at the Hawkeye Fly Fishing Show where Anne picked up the rod I built right after Paul's! One of the most interesting facts is that in the near future, Paul and Anne have decided to make the NE corner of Iowa home...so coming to fly school was probably best described as an "investment for their future together".

We spent most of the morning going through all the usual fly fishing school components, working at our own pace. Paul and Anne were surprisingly not that "in a hurry" to get out on the water....the were just as interested in the essential "off water" school, even more so than catching fish!

Finally, we'd gone through enough preparations (and lunch) and it was time to put it all into practice. We started off at the classic "wide open" spots on the Waterloo, just above the fly only water in "prairie country".

It soon came to pass that this area just wasn't going to produce. Considering the heat and bright conditions of the afternoon, I first took them to a shady pool on South Bear Creek.

I was the first one to hook up, but it took some time running the bottom of the pool (close to 5') with a pair of nymphs. A little brookie came to shore. Anne lost at least a couple, while Paul got the "rotten" luck here...he had one take at the most.

OK, on to different water...again seeking shade from the hot sun. The sun was tracing longer shadows now, so we headed downstream a bit to a section that has MANY good pools and bends to work.

The move paid off for Paul - a silver stocker rainbow finally came to shore....it's amazing to see that "first fish of the day" look on somone's face who doesn't get out often!

Well all took shots, and towards the end of the day I was asked to give a quick demonstration. There before us were "oodles" of trout...most had probably struck before at Paul or Anne's offerings. Therein' lies the crux of spring creek fly fishing; success is most likely determined (once you're doing everything else right) by your ability to detect the strike. It takes experience (or an indicator)!

It's somehow fitting that the last fish of the day is what some (ok, just a few) anglers would consider the most challenging fish to catch in the NE IA spring creeks....a nice big SUCKER! Extremely wary, with very subtle takes and soft lips, the truth of the matter is that while we all "despise" them, the Sucker is arguably the MOST challenging of the fish to catch....afterall there are just as many suckers running around as there are trout, yet we catch far more trout!

Ha! I think all three of us would agree that we'd rather catch trout than suckers!

  MP