Best plans include ability to change

The sun hadn't been up long, but there already were a couple of anglers on the water when Dallin, my eldest son, and I pulled into the parking lot. At the launch ramp, two fly-fishermen busied themselves with preparing their float tubes and other gear for a day on Haymeadow Reservoir, one of three popular fishing waters at the Kirch Wildlife Management Area -- Sunnyside to old-timers.

We pulled off to the side of the dirt parking area and went to work readying our tubes and gear. Unlike his father, Dallin doesn't normally show much emotion, but even he managed to break a smile as we spoke of the fast trout fishing action we expected.

Dallin and I had been looking forward to this trip since ice-off in March, but something always seemed to come up and foil our plans. This time we were determined that nothing would stand in our way. At Apex, with the city in our rearview mirror, we headed north on U.S. Highway 93. It felt good finally to be on the road, cruising along with the air conditioning blowing through Dallin's hair.

About 15 miles later, our fun came to a screeching halt. Before us was an impromptu parking lot with traffic stopped in both directions. Undaunted, we turned around and detoured through Glendale.

This added another 45 minutes to our trip, but when we tied back into the 93 the only traffic was created by those few drivers who made the same choice.

By the time we reached Alamo, we knew it would be too late to fish once we reached Sunnyside. We stopped at Nesbitt Lake just long enough to reel in a few bluegill and crappie. I found it interesting that the bluegill hit only the small crankbait Dallin was throwing, and the crappie hit only the spinner I was throwing. Either way, it was good to be outside.

Unfortunately, the trout at Haymeadow weren't as cooperative. We started out with a damsel fly pattern, but got nary a bite. I switched to an olive Woolly Bugger, then to a black one. The results were the same. This happened over and over again with different fly patterns. No fish seemed to want what we offered. Other anglers joined us with similar results. Fish were caught now and then, but it wasn't the kind of action we had hoped.

Eventually, I tied on a Hare's Ear nymph, followed by a tiny fly tied on as a dropper. I can't remember its name, but it resembles a Pheasant Tail nymph but is tied with green tinsel. I got a bite on the first cast but missed the fish. This happened a half dozen times before I finally set the hook on what felt like a nice fish. But I never saw it. The fish took my rig before I could get him to the net.

I tied on a new rig and immediately caught a scrappy little rainbow trout. Then the fish quit biting on that setup, so I switched to a No. 10 Prince nymph and caught another. And just as they had before, once I caught a fish on the Prince nymph, the picky fish lost interest. All around us we could hear other anglers voicing similar frustrations. Guys were catching stringers of plump rainbows on PowerBait, but the fly-casters were having a slow morning.

By early afternoon, Dallin and I decided it was time to grab some lunch and head back to Nesbitt. By 4 p.m., we were on the water again, only this time the fish were a little friendlier than they had been at Sunnyside. Dallin tied on a damsel fly pattern with a glass bead head and hauled in five fish before I could get on the water. I tied on the same fly, and we found continued success working from about 10 to 15 yards off the shoreline. We cast the fly back toward the reeds, let it settle and began stripping it in. Palm-size bluegills hammered the fly almost as soon as it moved.

The fish weren't the rainbow trout I had looked forward to, but watching Dallin smile as he tallied his catch made the detour worthwhile. When we were done, Dallin had landed 40 bluegill. I never caught up, but I wasn't far behind. We even managed to land a couple of bass. Sometimes a change of plans can be a good thing.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at doug@takinitoutside.com.