cpiercem
Well-known member
I really haven't reported much of my summer trips from last year, so I thought I would do a little catch up as time allows.
I fished two creeks in the last week or two of July for a couple of days each. They are from 50 to 100 miles apart, but they have several things in common. They are both small, both very brushy, and they both have a buffet of species to choose from. They have cutthroats, rainbows, brooks, and browns. Fishing is like a box of chocolates!
The day was beautiful and bright, and this first creek was clear but a little full. The first pool I fished in I caught a brown,
Then a rainbow,
And a cutthroat. Excuse the blurry picture.
The next pool up I caught a little brook trout, but I didn’t take a picture of it. In about 15 minutes I got the whole creek slam!
It is very very brushy! Getting a fly to the sides under these willows was an exercise in frustration. Not to mention just getting from point A to point B.
In a few areas the willows opened up, and I felt like I could breathe again. These small streams are fun to try and pinpoint cast within inches of the willow roots and not end up in the roots. With each cast I am channeling the power of the “Force” for a fish to take the fly before I am hung up. I am sure I heard Yoda at my shoulder muttering something about my lack of intelligence more than once.
These fish in the sun are beautiful. What a nice cutthroat for this stream. The pink colors on this one just shine.
This nice little pool had a deep undercut on the right side under the willow roots.
My first drift through was too far out, but I saw a swirl of interest. So I sat down and watched for a few minutes to study the current and any bugs that were coming down through there. While moving slow and keeping low I moved back into the bushes and farther to the right in order to cast well in front of the right bank current and to be able to mend my line off to the side. One foot, 6 inches, 3 inches and I started to panic about drag, 2 inches from the bank and my fly disappeared in a subtle sip. I set the hook, and the whole pool exploded. That fish ran up one side, then down the other, all the while diving for every rock and root available. Several times I had the tip of my rod actually in the water attempting to get her to come back out of the willow roots that line the undercuts. Finally I landed her, a beautiful brown.
What a monster for a stream of this size!
The fly literally fell out of her mouth when I went to remove it. It had the tip broken and was bent open. I don’t know how I ever kept this fish on to land it.
The second stream I visited was also covered in willows. By covered I mean that in a lot of areas the willow touched and intertwined above the water. It was a jungle to push through both on the bank and in the water.
This picture doesn’t show the worst of the willow mess, but it does show the water color and some of the tight deep pools. The sticky mud was worse to get through than the willows.
But the fish were beautiful.
Even though rainbows, browns, and brookies are also in this stream, the cutthroats seemed to out number them in most pools.
And the cutts seemed to run about the same size. I caught several brookies and a brown which were smaller, and I don’t have any usable pictures of them. But plenty of the cutts.
Fun fish in a challenging creek!
I caught several more cutts, and then I caught my first ever tiger trout.
I was a happy camper!
I fished two creeks in the last week or two of July for a couple of days each. They are from 50 to 100 miles apart, but they have several things in common. They are both small, both very brushy, and they both have a buffet of species to choose from. They have cutthroats, rainbows, brooks, and browns. Fishing is like a box of chocolates!
The day was beautiful and bright, and this first creek was clear but a little full. The first pool I fished in I caught a brown,
Then a rainbow,
And a cutthroat. Excuse the blurry picture.
The next pool up I caught a little brook trout, but I didn’t take a picture of it. In about 15 minutes I got the whole creek slam!
It is very very brushy! Getting a fly to the sides under these willows was an exercise in frustration. Not to mention just getting from point A to point B.
In a few areas the willows opened up, and I felt like I could breathe again. These small streams are fun to try and pinpoint cast within inches of the willow roots and not end up in the roots. With each cast I am channeling the power of the “Force” for a fish to take the fly before I am hung up. I am sure I heard Yoda at my shoulder muttering something about my lack of intelligence more than once.
These fish in the sun are beautiful. What a nice cutthroat for this stream. The pink colors on this one just shine.
This nice little pool had a deep undercut on the right side under the willow roots.
My first drift through was too far out, but I saw a swirl of interest. So I sat down and watched for a few minutes to study the current and any bugs that were coming down through there. While moving slow and keeping low I moved back into the bushes and farther to the right in order to cast well in front of the right bank current and to be able to mend my line off to the side. One foot, 6 inches, 3 inches and I started to panic about drag, 2 inches from the bank and my fly disappeared in a subtle sip. I set the hook, and the whole pool exploded. That fish ran up one side, then down the other, all the while diving for every rock and root available. Several times I had the tip of my rod actually in the water attempting to get her to come back out of the willow roots that line the undercuts. Finally I landed her, a beautiful brown.
What a monster for a stream of this size!
The fly literally fell out of her mouth when I went to remove it. It had the tip broken and was bent open. I don’t know how I ever kept this fish on to land it.
The second stream I visited was also covered in willows. By covered I mean that in a lot of areas the willow touched and intertwined above the water. It was a jungle to push through both on the bank and in the water.
This picture doesn’t show the worst of the willow mess, but it does show the water color and some of the tight deep pools. The sticky mud was worse to get through than the willows.
But the fish were beautiful.
Even though rainbows, browns, and brookies are also in this stream, the cutthroats seemed to out number them in most pools.
And the cutts seemed to run about the same size. I caught several brookies and a brown which were smaller, and I don’t have any usable pictures of them. But plenty of the cutts.
Fun fish in a challenging creek!
I caught several more cutts, and then I caught my first ever tiger trout.
I was a happy camper!
