Here’s a familiar late spring/early summer article title, “A Guide to Wet Wading”. Are we serious? Is this the ground breaking info fly fishing has been missing? What is there to guide? Is it really more complicated than wearing something that you know will get wet and walking into the water? What am I missing? Do people actually have an “Aha!” moment when they read the article? “Oh man I didn’t realize that when I walked in in sandals my feet would get wet!”. Some truly groundbreaking articles put out every spring…

After vigorous research and reading I managed to put on a pair of shoes and walk into the river. Did those articles prepare me for the cold water? Should I have practiced stepping into a cold bucket of water to better prepare me? I don’t think so, I probably have to invest in a couple hundred dollar system of wading boots, wading socks and fishing specific shorts and then maybe I’ll be able to fish well..

Or I could just walk in the water and cast, maybe I will try that first. Despite the risks of not having properly researched how to wet wade and lacking the necessary “system”, I braved the wet and stepped into the river. Turns out it worked out ok.

Ninety degree weather, calm winds and blue skies were the order of the day and it was my best day up at the Ferry in the past two years. Fish were dropping the indicator with regularity and even began breaking the surface around midday. While there were no cicadas to be heard I tied one on as an indicator and was rewarded by one hook up and a few misses. There is nothing finer than red rocks, clear water, foam flies and high jumping rainbows.

Welp, it turns out that even without following the wet wading play book and running an entirely lacking “system” we were still able to have a banner day out on the river. Many fine fish were had and the sight of a jumping fish makes you forget all about your cold toes.