It is the end of May. The weather is warm enough and the water levels start to fall. In this time of the year, appears one of the biggest and most valuable insects in the food chain of the trout, called the Mayfly. Mayflies are one of the most delicious meals that a trout can have.
Trying to get advantage of this situation, me and my childhood friend Thomas, decided to take the road to the mountains, and go fishing for wild trout. It is a Saturday early morning and our journey begins…

A FIRST IDENDIFICATION …
Before we even reached the house where we would stay, we made a stop near the river to take a look on the waters. We couldn’t wait anymore, if you know what I mean… The river was full of life. The sycamores were green, there were lots of flowers and plants in bloom and also hundreds of insects were flying around seduced by their instinct for spawning. Nature was dressed up at her best this day. Pictures that you can hardly describe with words…

We had to check the water temperature first, which was about 12 °C. The water level was low but not as much as we expected. All those signs were really encouraging. The water temperature was ideal and big mayflies were flying all over the place, so we flew to the house to change and put our waders on and prepared for fishing…

THE STARTING POINT
The first spot of the river that we chose to fish was a specific part of the river with deep pools and slow waters, as we hoped that it would hold some bigger fish. Thomas was fishing with a spinning rod using a buldo floater and flies while I was fly fishing. We were mostly using dry mayfly imitations. We started fishing the first pool very carefully with long and delicate casts trying to cover most of its surface, but with no results. I decided to move forward and fish flat waters while Thomas would continue fishing on the deeps. It didn’t take long for the first fish to be caught. Thomas hooked it near the white waters, down the small waterfall that was feeding the pool. I went mad! I was fishing the exact same spot just a moment ago and I didn’t get a single strike on my fly. I spread myself to catch a fish and restore my fishing reputation…

As we were walking upstream, we reached another big pool were I started casting, trying to cover again most of its surface, carefully and delicately. Still nothing! We continued fishing the river upstream for about half a mile distance and I finally managed to hook a trout. This was a good chance for me to use a spoon so I could know what they were feeding on, that day. My suspicions came true. They were feeding mostly on nymphs. High water levels were playing an important role in that.

THE SMALL FEEDER
We have fished for a while when we decided to stop, to eat something. We were discussing what we have seen, and we concluded to drive to a small feeder of the main river, where the waters would surely not be that deep. We then, separate our ways. Thomas started fishing downstream to reach a spot he had seen when we came. I headed upstream. This stream had a lot of scaling parts, creating small ponds. The problem was that there were a lot of trees and plants on the banks which I hooked a several times, costing me a few flies of my collection. Due to the continuous scales of the river, my fishing requested that I should come closer to each pond to cast my fly. 

At this point, around noon, the fish have gone mad and were striking like crazy. The majority of them were small ones and I released them back in the water. After hooking several trout I saw Thomas coming my way. He was very surprised when I told him that the fish were striking one after another. He had not hooked a single on this stream. I suggested him to take the camera and follow me.

The day was coming to an end, and we started feeling tired. We have fished for about eight hours! Having kept three out of fifteen fish that we had caught, for a nice treat at home – even though they weren’t big enough – we decided to leave for the village.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE NEXT DAY 

Fly fishing needs preparation. So that’s what we did at home. We sat by the fireplace, discussing what we’ve experienced this day. We decided to wake up early and go fish the exact same spot from where we started the previous day. Only this time Thomas would fish with Mepps Spinners and I would try some Streamer and Nymph fishing, aiming to catch something bigger. I have brought all my equipment with me, even my fly tying tools and materials. So this was a good chance to tie some Mayfly imitations and restore my loss from the small feeder. Thomas was preparing his tackle, too. When we felt our eyes heavy, we went to our beds and fell asleep, hoping for something good next day.

THE COMEBACK
It was 10:00 am and we were already fishing on the river. We chose different places to fish. Thomas started fishing with its buldo floater again, using four flies this time: 2 dry mayflies, 1 ant fly, and a mayfly nymph that was fishing under the surface. On the other hand I began fishing on a big pool with a dry mayfly hoping that something would have changed since the last day, but I quickly changed to nymph and streamer. I fished for about an hour or so, but no fish would take my fly.

Thomas changed as well to spinner and he managed to hook a pretty good one, but lost it after a couple of jumps it did, out of the water. We were a bit disappointed and therefore we left quickly for the feeder. This time we fished this stream near the outfall to the main river. The landscape was pretty much the same like it was upstream; many trees and branches on the banks, and scales creating deep ponds as the water was running through. We started fishing…

THE STONEFLY FAILURE
I haven’t fished more than a quarter when something landed on my cheek. Well… it was a big yellow stonefly. I then noticed that there were lots of them, flying over the river and landing on it to lay their eggs, giving trout the opportunity to feed on something bigger. “Here we are” I said, opening my fly-case and picking a dry stonefly imitation. Though there were a few strikes on that fly, I didn’t manage to hook any fish. I can guess that the size of my fly was big and the trout that stroke, small.

I continued fishing going upstream as always, and a little further ahead I saw something extraordinary! A trout, about a pound, jumped outside the water to grab a fly. At that moment I had an adrenaline rush. I tried to get closer to cast my fly. I tried to be as much careful and silent as I could. I almost crawled to the ground. I started casting and on my second cast the trout stroke hard but unfortunately wasn’t hooked. The “game” was lost. The trout felt my hook in its mouth and vanished.

DRY MAYFLY FISHING, “CATCH - RELEASE” AND… HERBALISM

After that, the stonefly imitation went back in its case, giving its place to a smaller dry mayfly. Fishing on this stream was similar to the fishing of the previous day. We caught several small trout each one of us and all that… thanks to dry mayflies. Of course “catch and release” took place…

We released all the fish that we caught the second day, hoping to catch them bigger next year, if they survive, of course, from the illegal fishermen of these waters. The total releases were 9 trout for me and 3 for Thomas, just before he quit fishing to collect some wild herbs and thyme (he was disappointed).

The time was passing by, and we should leave quickly before the night. Tired but refreshed and satisfied from this weekend we were driving back home. Even if the trout we fooled with our flies were small, we swore to come back next time for some bigger, aiming for a trophy trout which would take our fly. 

Was published in "ΨΑΡΕΥΩ" magazine (July 2009)