Everywhere in Trout Country, as we drive from one famed river to the next, we cross over or drive parallel to numerous "no name" creeks. Not a car parked with a Simms decal in sight. Are there trout in these streams, in many cases yes and these are only the ones in sight of a road; countless more flow along less traveled back roads. Now I am on record of enjoying bigger rivers and the ones I refer to when illustrating some tackle or technique post are all famously popular. I was not raised to mention the names of little known, off the beaten path streams but several are part of my repertoire and I spend some time every season exploring unknown to me water. One I like a lot my partner accuses me of wanting to fish because of its proximity to a little café that bakes homemade blackberry pie...he is not entirely incorrect.
Once, on the Fourth of July, not wishing to fish a popular stream besieged by revelers appropriately celebrating, my friend and I looked for a back road access to a rather inaccessible river. Driving gravel ranch access roads we never did get onto our targeted river but we stopped roadside by chance along a fairly wide with some depth irrigation ditch. I commented that, with its lush elodea beds and placid flow it looked for all the world like a man made spring creek...and then a fish rose. Turns out, and I didn't notice till this fish pointed them out, there were PMD spinners flush on the evening lit surface. Oh, and the fish was a brown trout of some 18" and he was not alone. We named the spot, "Independence Day Ditch".
This is not that ditch of which I have no photographs but another rural small stream I enjoy.
Blackberry Pie Ala Mode Creek