Evening on the Black

This weekend we had some family up to visit. Uncle Johnny spent a couple of hours with me on the Black. It was great to have a fresh set of eyes on the water, especially the eyes of a warmwater angler. The river is currently up pretty high, so we floated into the backwater/side channel area. After only a few minutes we saw a few gar surface. John had a number of fish follow his fly all the way to the boat, only to turn away at the last minute. He hooked one and played it well through three leaps. After the last leap, it spit the fly. That was all she wrote. Frustrating as ever.


I've spent a lot of time on the Black by myself. Over the weekend it was great to share it with someone who appreciates warmwater fly fishing. It renewed my own appreciation for the river.


Tonight I went back into the backwater and did not see a single rise for the hour I was there. I worked my way over to the back-eddy off the main channel, saw one fish rise, casted to it, and caught it. Go figure.


At John's advice, I decked the Native 9.5 out in floats. It made for a nice fishing platform indeed.
Working the fly slooooowwww.
The fish of the night. I hooked him pretty good with a big bushy rope fly.


An evening well-spent.