The trout (and those damn bugs) are onto my minimalist approach

There are days, thankfully rare, that I do everything I can to avoid catching fish. Saturday was one of those days.

These days usually begin well in advance with some ideas about what will be hatching garnered from internet reports and stream-side smoke signals. This is followed by some time at the vise putting together the perfect fly with accompanying size, color and shape variations.

The final touches on the self deception are covered during the ride up where I presuppose where the fish will be located thus dictating where I will fish that day and I further presuppose when they'll be active and, finally, what they'll be eating (see flies tied at vise). Heck, since I know what's what, I'm not even going to head to the water until 4 pm cause I won't need any time to get things dialed in.

All this delusion is further abetted by my recent minimalism approach. Who needs a vest when you know what's happening? A small fly box. A lanyard with the right tools. Waders. Flask. Cigars. Done.

Well, as I approached the river I noted several rather large stoneflies who were doing their egg laying dance. And while trout rarely rise to grab those big suckers, eventually they die and an nice drowned PMX or Bugmeister would have been just the thing to tempt a large trout. But of course, I had no PMX or Bugmeister cause they were in the fly boxes in my vest left, not in the car, but at home in the garage. Nice.

So, I proceed to work the water with thems that I brung. I manage two Salmon Parr and a really nice rise from a fat trout that took my fly to the deep with him. He broke me off cleanly at the tippet knot. It was probably due to the hookset that would be more appropriate for a Tarpon than a trout.

As the evening gloom approached I realized that I didn't have my light with me (also back in the garage) nor did I have a Wooley Bugger or feather streamer to tempt the lock jawed trout (yup, garage).

So, in the dwindling light I tie on an emerger pattern that's worked well for me recently and get a few strikes but no solid hookups. At least some action comes my way despite my pig-headedness.

I really like the minimalist approach to fishing. It's refreshing to not be carrying all the bulk. However, in the future, I'm going to make sure all my crap is at least in the car. When those Stoneflies are dancing, I'm gonna be ready. Unless, of course, they're not.

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I wish this were in my vest: Pentax Optio W90 12.1 MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 5x Wide Angle Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Pistachio Green)