This is from 6-18-11
I haven’t really been fishing creeks lately as most everything has been blown out. Stillwaters and a 7wt has been the name of my game recently. As a matter of fact; I postponed my Stillwater trip that was originally slated for today.
My day started pretty early as my destination was a nice little spring creek (that I will not mention by name) less than 30 miles from the Montana border. After I got up, put my stuff in the car and put the dogs out I was on my way. This time it was a solo trip, so I didn’t have to worry about picking anybody up. The other nice aspect of this trip is the fact that my wife and kids are in California. So no having to try to guess at when I would be back.
It was somewhat overcast I made my journey. I past by an awesome tailwater on the way wishing that the flows were in the normal range; if they were I would have fished it tomorrow. Next up I drove past Silver creek; not sure what’s up there but the reports have not been good so far from that place. Once I got to the Craters of the moon national monument, I knew I was making progress. After a quick stop in the town of Arco I was back on my way.
I arrived at the creek at around 0800 or so, got out and started to gear up. While I was getting ready another car pulled in and he started gearing up. We chatted a bit and decided he and his buddy that was on his way would take the section below the bridge and I would take the section above. With that I was on my way.
When I first saw the creek, I remembered why I love fishing these little places. Sure the fish are smaller but that’s not what it is always about. You see I had a pretty long and stressful week at work and this was just what I needed to relieve the stress.
As I waded in, I noticed I spooked about 8 fish…….Oops. I stripped off some line and started casting. After a short time I had my first take. When I landed him, I found it very fitting that this was the first fish of the day.
The next fish from the same run had some shoulders on him….
And the release
After working through several braids of the creek I decided to take a break and just relax for a bit. By this time I had already lost count of how many fish had been landed.
After about 15 minutes I decided to get back to fishing. Almost immediately I was rewarded with this cool little guy.
Now I finally made it to one of my favorite sections of this creek. There are a couple of reasons I like this spot: 1. it is slower and deep 2. The fish in there typically look good and put up a nice fight. Actually all the “larger” guys are quite fun on the 0wt rod.
As I continued my way “up the creek” it was more of the same. You have these runs that hold on average 10 or more fish. What is funny is that while they spook when you wade there, they don’t seem to spook when you hook one of their buddies.
By this time in the day I started to feel rain drops. A quick look and yup a storm was rolling in.
I decided to check the time and it was already 1435. What the hell I thought to myself; I had just fished six straight hours and forgot all about lunch.
I decided to check out another spot which ended up being a great choice. This spot had quite the population going on.
Which way is the water????
Oh there it is.
Continued due to 20 photos per post limit...
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