I haven’t had the opportunity to spend much time at Rocky Ford Creek this season. I have stopped by to check on conditions but never had enough time to do any fishing. Last week I did. I have a new switch rod for fly fishing and wanted to try it out. I was hoping that the switch rod would allow me to make long casts without the catching my line in the reeds behind me. I spent the first hour or so struggling with my casts and it was obvious that I was doing something fundamentally wrong. Darc Knoble at the Desert Fly Angler in Ephrata has offered to give me a lesson, and I am going to take him up on it. I moved to the middle parking area with my good ol’ 5 weight in hand walked down to my favorite casting spot. I had made at least a dozen casts without touching a fish. Then, as I was lifting my rod to start another cast—WHAM--a really big fish hit. It came up and slashed across the water. I saw his back and huge tail as he dove and broke me off. Dang. This is why I fish Rocky Ford.