Johns, and Montana bitch nymphs all with rubber legs in size 12. Although I certainly didn’t look good doing it, I was getting these little flies into fishy water catching two or three ten to twelve pounders a day during the daylight.
However, the big fish don’t move till dark and want big wiggly leeches to catch them and a sink tip to get down to them. The darkness and adverse winds frustrated me, and I laid down my rod waiting to go back to the lodge for three fingers of Scotch.
That windy night when I decided to sit down was not a loss. Fishing is not just about the fish. As I sat there on the bank cursing my casting deficits, I looked over my left shoulder at the sky. The sky was full of stars that I had never seen before. Suddenly, I recognized the Southern Cross, and if that is the Southern Cross, then the brightest star near it must be Alpha Centauri!
I came back the next year and had improved my casting, spending some hard practice time to do it. I even could throw off the left shoulder if I had to. One night after sunset, my
buddy Jay landed a twenty-five pound fish on a big leech and a few minutes later I got a Twenty-seven pounder. The rewarding lesson learned was that practice really does makes you better.
5am: An impossibliy calm sunrise in search of Sea-Run Brown Trout in Southern Argentina. -Zack Williams Photo