No Flounder today

After our vacation to Munsel Lake we still had the flounder in the back of our minds.  Yesterday (Sunday, March 30th) we caught the end of the incoming to hide tide at the estuary.  This was officially the last day of spring break in Oregon so we were lucky when there was no one in the spot where we caught the flounder last time.  It’s not a very obvious place for fishermen, but I expected to see people on the beach or on horses.  

I don’t think that we have ever hit the incoming tide in this spot and it was surprising how fast it rips in.  Even throwing our heaviest sink tips, the tide ripped our flies from the bottom.  The idea was to keep our flies on the bottom and slowly strip them in bumping along the bottom the entire time.  When it finally got to slack tide, it was easier to keep them on the bottom, but the feel is obviously completely different with a fly rod than a spinning rod.  It’s hard to keep a feeling of connection to your fly on a sandy bottom in the ocean as opposed to the feeling of a weight ticking the bottom on a spinning rod.  We did not end up hooking any flounder, but I did manage to launch what appeared to be a small greenling into the air.  My hook set might have been a little overkill.  I never made the connection with that fish and he promptly fell back into the water.  I call this a no skunk day because a fish touched the end of my line.  Not much else to report on this one, other than the importance of stripping baskets when fishing any ocean water.  Fly line wrapped in beach grass/devil sticks is the most infuriating thing ever.  Every cast.  No bueno.