9-15-24 Fly Comp #2
I’ve been dabbling with the competition fishing scene, I use this as a great way to observe much better anglers fish so that I can learn by watching them. I had done my first one about a year ago in the middle of winter and picked up a few things for sure. With a busy work schedule and life with 2 kids, I hadn’t signed up for anymore until I noticed 3 comps coming up in September that were close enough to drive to. I signed up and got into all 3 and was really looking forward to learning some new things.
The first competition was scheduled for the Beaverkill river, however low flows and high water temps the weekend of the event resulted in it being moved to the West Branch of the Delaware. The competition was broken down into 3, two hour sessions. You and another competitor shared the same beat, but fish different halves and then switch after 1 hour.
I took my T&T 10’9” 3 weight and ran .16 pierre sempe for the main part of my leader down to a strait piece of 6x tippet. Competition rules only allow a leader length that is 2X the rod length, so I had to factor in the fly line coming through the guides with a microloop connection to keep it flowing smooth through the guides.
The first beat I drew was at the junction of the east and west branch, there was a lot of great water and also a lot of other anglers! I found an open area that looked great and fished it thoroughly. I felt like I was getting great drifts and the water looked prime for fish, but never had a bump. With 20 minutes left in the first half, I decided to move into some different water types. I ended up catching 2 rainbows right at the head of the run, in somewhat of a shallow riffle. As I switched to the upper half of the beat, I noticed a few people fishing the best looking water but there was still plenty of room above them in a section that looked ok. I didn’t realize how deep the water was that I had to stand in to get a decent shot at the far bank. I went for it anyway and was able to hook into a nice fish just inches off the bank. It came running at me and blew past me toward the opposite bank, I did a 180 to face the fish and immediately slipped and went swimming! Unlike a river runs through it, I didn’t land the fish but I did provide some great entertainment for the anglers and kayakers around me. I decided to move up where I had a little better footing and hooked 2 more fish, but lost them both. It’s interesting how a little competition changed the way I fight fish. I was way too impatient and way too aggressive on my hooksets. I finished the first beat with only 2 fish, not what I was hoping for and figured I’d be way behind. The few anglers I spoke to seemed to have a pretty slow start as well, so maybe I was still in the mix.
The next beat was right next to the boat ramp and fairly crowded. About 10 minutes before the start time, I walked out to an area that looked open and tried to hold that spot like it was opening day in Pittsburgh. It finally hit go time and I started working the lower end of a deep run. On my third cast I hooked into a fish but broke it off right when I set the hook! Missed that opportunity but I re-rigged and went back at it. No more takes but I noticed all the anglers that worked the run before me fished it from the west bank and there was some nice soft water on the other side that was too far to reach and hold a good presentation. I decided to cross the river upstream and walk back down the other side, hopefully presenting to a few fresh fish. I managed to get one take and landed it to get on the board. The water looked great but I didn’t want to waste too much time so I started going upstream. It looked like a lot of the other anglers cleared out and I had some open water. I came up to a bucket about 15 feet long and started working the back end of it. First cast had a take and again my fly broke off on the hookset! I tied another on and moved up to the top of the bucket. The water was really shallow and then it dropped down, so I casted into the shallow water so the fly had time to drop into the bucket. When my fly landed, nothing moved and I had a very light 2mm fly on so I set the hook and landed a brown. Seeing that the fish was in such shallow water I made another cast next to it and again hooked into a rainbow that broke off on the hookset again! This was getting really frustrating, but I stayed calm and kept at it. I was able to land another fish in the shallows, putting me at 3 fish to net. There was about 5 minutes left and I turned around to find a new section and realized there was a classic run right behind me. I made a cast and immediately had a take, a nice rainbow that ran me downstream but I was able to land. With 1 minute left I made a few desperation casts and then switched to the other half of the beat.
I walked about 100 yards before I found an opening to fish. There was one guy fishing so I asked if he was going upstream or downstream so that I could do the opposite and stay out of his way. He told me he was done fishing and that I should go right there because some fish were rising. I walked about 30 feet below him and out of his way, I did see a few fish surface so I put on an olive emerger way up on a tag. I had 3 fish take the emerger and was able to land 2 of them. Both landed fish were nice fighting rainbows, the one I lost was a brown. I backed him out of the heavy current and had him right by the bank. He made one more run and rather than staying patient, I put some heat on him and broke him off. Another missed opportunity due to my inexperience and impatience. I finished that 2 hour session with 6 fish in the net and just about as many lost. At that point I really started to understand how the pressure of competition was changing the way I fought fish and costing me big time. Going into the last beat I really focused on staying calm.
Recalling how shallow the water was where I caught some of the fish in the last beat, I started this beat working a run that seemed to be about a foot deep. I hooked a nice brown almost immediately and wasn’t able to get him in the net. I was just in a bad spot when he took and wasn’t able to get a solid hook set. I kept working the shallows and landed a rainbow a few minutes later. At that point, I decided to skip all the really good looking water that was probably hammered all day and just focus on the shallows. The strategy paid off, I hooked 9 fish total but only landed 3. I kept breaking off flies and had no idea why. I was pretty down on myself, but never let it change my mindset. The second half of the beat I decided to only fish 1 small fly and really work the shallows. I was able to hook 4 fish and to my surprise, I landed all 4, making my final total 7 fish in that beat.
At the end of the competition I was walking back to my truck and chatting with another competitor. I told him my frustrations and that I was extra careful today with my knots, making sure I put extra twists in my clinch knots. I recall using around 12 twists when I typically only use about 6 or 7. For whatever reason I thought the more twists would be better, but he informed me that the more twists results in too much friction and a weaker knot! I felt like an idiot and couldn’t believe I changed the way I tied my knots for the competition. I confirmed what he told me when I got home after doing some reading and reaching out to some very skilled and successful anglers.
At that point I felt like an moron, but was happy that I figured out my problem so that I can change that going forward. A major part was also me just being way too aggressive on hooksets and fighting fish, so I will also work on that in my next comp.
We got back to the meeting point and they had medals for the top 3 people. I just finished taking a sip of water when I heard them call my name for 3rd place. I couldn’t believe it, I was definitely the most surprised person in that parking lot. All in all, I found the competition scene to be full of great people that are willing to help and share information. I think this is definitely a great way to improve as an angler and learn from some really skilled people. Looking forward to the next two!
A few key takeaways and learnings from my first comp that I’m putting here so I can look back on:
When you find fish, focus on that water type throughout your beat.
Stay relaxed during the hookset and fight, don’t get impatient, you will lose the fish.
Don’t change your knots the day of a comp!
You’re going to make some mistakes, just keep fishing and stay positive.