High Country Cutts

For a change of pace David and I headed up to the high country for some feisty cutthroats. When we got to the reservoir fish were rising and we could not resist. We muddied our shoes but got within casting distance and soon I was hooked up with a nice little cutthroat.

Soon after David nailed a nice one which turned out to be the fish of the trip (size wise).





We then headed down to the stream and soon David hooked up with a beautiful cutthroat decorated in a beautiful regalia.

We worked our way down stream and noticed a lot of spooky fish in the calmer water. We resisted the temptation for the most part and headed down to "easier" water to fish. We spent the next several hours hiking downstream and casting to the likely spots which was often rewarded with gorgeous cutthroat trout smacking our flies with reckless abandon. I'll let some pictures tell the rest of the story for the most part.





















After several hours we were beat and ready to head back toward the car. We managed a few more fish on the way back and when we got to the lake some fish were still rising. Again, we could not resist the temptation and David quickly hooked up but the fish ran him down into the weeds and got off. The scenery could not be beat nor the fishing, and the best part of all was that we did not see another fisherman on the stream the whole day. I can't wait to head back up to the high country with a fly rod in hand, heading to some small stream where hungry trout are willing to fight over my fly.

Caddis Patrol

Since I have been so busy I had not yet fished the great caddis hatches on the local rivers. That changed this week when David and I were able to head out and fish for a few hours one evening. The hatch came on fairly strong but unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the river. We saw fish rising all over the place on the far bank for at least a half hour. We should have probably moved as soon as we saw the fish rising but we were thinking it would pick up on our side. Once it was prime time we realized it was too late to head downstream to a safe crossing point and work our way all the way back up. It seemed the high water had most of the fish hemmed in against the far bank while the side we were fishing was for the most part poor holding water. Regardless, there were a few fish working our side and David managed to hook into a nice one. Later on we headed to some calm water and tried sight casting to fish we could see under the light of our headlamps. I had a fish chase my mouse pattern for a few seconds which was fun. It was a great time out but left us wanting more. Next time we are heading to the far side of the hole so we can knock em' dead.

Can you spot the natural?

Small Stream Gems

I decided to get up early and go do a little exploring. While larger rivers might have more and bigger fish, there is something magical about small streams. There is usually some degree of solitude and the small fish often seem willing to sample your offering. I headed up to a small stream that I had been wanting to fish and found a likely hole at my first stop. The casts on small streams can be tricky, if you call it casting. More often than not you are just flipping your flies no further than your rod length and often just lowering the fly into a likely spot. There were plenty of logs and branches around but I managed to avoid them for the most part.

After a few casts I had a little fish come up and smack my little yellow stimulator. To my surprise it was a wild rainbow trout!

I thought there would be brook trout in this little stream but subsequent casts proved that it was filled with little wild rainbows, at least this section.

After I caught a few of the little guys a "trophy" sized fish slurped my fly off the top. Look at the gorgeous coloration...

Ok, maybe the fish would not be considered a "trophy" on a regular sized stream or river, but for a pint sized stream this was a nice fish!

I can't wait to head back up here and do some more exploring. I'm starting to get addicted to small streams. All I need now is a shorter rod!

Fishing Humor

The One That Got Away

Most often I am not too disappointed when I don't land a fish but every so often you have that fish on that you really would like to admire up close. I went up to that same hole that I landed the rainbow (on the bugger) from and on my first cast my indicator went zooming under. It was funny but for some reason I had a good feeling about the first cast. I just felt it was in the perfect spot and apparently it was. As soon as I hooked up with this fish I saw him up near the surface for a second and I could tell it was a rainbow! I get excited about rainbows on this river because it is mostly a brown trout haven. I quickly started thinking that this might be the same fish I hooked into last time up. The only difference was that this fish was going ballistic. Multiple times he ran me out into the current. When he would near the surface he would dive back down to the depths. He ran upstream and downstream too. It was a game of back and forth and up and down. The rainbow I landed on a previous trip was a great fighter but this fish had tremendous spirit that I had not seen for a very long time. If it was the same fish he may have put on a few ounces in the higher flows, or maybe it was that he was hooked in the lower jaw instead of the upper. Anyhow, after about five minutes or more I finally had him next to me. I thought he was worn out so I grabbed the leader above him. He suddenly pulled some last minute antics by giving violent head shakes and he threw the hook. I had a feeling that he would get off for some reason. I think it was fitting because this fish really had the will to survive and he used every last bit of instinct to elude me. Maybe that is why fishing is so appealing, having the chance to be connected through rod and line to something so untamed and beautiful. I just wish I could capture the beauty this time on my camera!

After that experience I did not have any more luck with my nymph rig. There was a decent PMD hatch which had some fish looking up so I put on a dry fly. My first or second cast I had a fish on that leaped and got off. Then a cast downstream produced the same result, on and off. Then a cast even further downstream resulted in a fish to my hand.

On the way back to the parking lot I wanted to get a look at a gravel bar and as I stepped into a slight depression near the bank I saw a lot of little fish spook out of the area. This little depression seemed to be a river by itself, only everything was shrunken down several sizes. There were little fish rising occasionally so I started making short casts up the depression and had a beautiful tiny brown on after a few casts. It was a great way to spend a few hours on a hot summer's afternoon.



Journal Notes:
Flow- 510 cfs
Hatches- PMDs
Successful flies- black zebra midge, parachute PMD

Wet Wading

The time has come to leave the waders at home. David and I headed out and did just that and the water felt nice and cool on the legs. Ok, it was actually pretty freezing but our legs went numb pretty quick and it never bothered us. By any means it was better than having to pull on your waders and the air temperature balanced out the cool legs since it was probably near 90 degrees. The water was high but clear and since it was a Saturday the parking lot was a mad house. On any given summer's day there are about a million people floating down the river in their tubes or rafts. Most people seemed to be pulling out of the river upstream from us which was nice so we only had the occasional floater passing through our hole along with the occasional sandal.

There were either some golden stoneflies or yellow sallies making their presence known but the fish were not keyed in on them too much, at least where we were. Occasionally there would be a violent rise but we stuck with nymphing for most of the afternoon. There were also some Pale Morning Duns (PMDs) around but again not too much surface action. Due to the high churning water the fish were probably feasting on the above mentioned bugs in their nymphal stage along with a variety of other tasty morsels that the river offers up. It was by no means a lights out catching day but we had somewhat consistent action during our time on the water. David was having luck early on with a green zebra midge and all of mine were coming on a gold ribbed hares ear. After the action tapered off a bit I threw on a crystal bugger and started dead drifting it with a tight line. After a few casts something slammed it and I brought to hand a beautiful little rainbow.


This fat little football made me more inclined to experiment more with streamers while fishing rivers. I was raving about how fun the hit was so David tried sight fishing to some browns holding along the bank with a bugger and managed to get one to suck it down, however the fish was stubborn and did not get hooked. Overall it was a great summer's afternoon of fishing.








Journal Notes:
-Flow: 818 cfs
-Air Temp: approx. 90 F
-Water Temp: 52 F
-Successful Flies: Gold Ribbed Hares ear, green Zebra midge, rainbow black Crystal Bugger, Pheasant Tail
-Hatches: Golden Stones/Yellow Sallies, PMDs