Friday, July 1, 2016

Pre-Fourth-of-July Small Stream Fireworks

Tom texted me last Sunday - "Fishing this Friday?" So I gave the What-to-do-meter a spin, and it came up "Go Fishing" like it always does! This thing was the best present ever! Every fisherman should have one.
The What-to-Do Meter
We met at an undisclosed McD's for dual #8 meals (with OJ) as their doors were opening, then off through the back roads to one of our favorite haunts. As we approached the access point, we both let out a sigh of relief to see no other cars present. It would be a good day indeed! Little did we know how good.

We donned our rattlesnake chaps and pushed our way through the tall grass to the creek. Clear, not too low, and, as we slipped into the water, just cold enough. Tom started with the usual black woolly bugger and I tried a big, ugly black streamer, hoping a big brown would find it enticing. It didn't take long before Tom found fish. And it didn't take me long to switch to the usual small black bugger after he had three and I had nary a bump.
A nice little rainbow to start the day
A little nicer brown
Although nice fish, these were small for what we typically find in this stream. That would change at a grass bank at the head of a stretch of frog water. Tom laid out a perfect cast, drifting the bugger right against the grass, and was aptly rewarded as a monstrous brown took the fly and ran. 

Big brown fighting in the current
A few minutes later, this beautiful, 20-inch brown was in the net. That is a fish to make the day, yet the day was just starting.
Beautiful brown
We continued up the stream, finding a fish here and there, many "small" at 12 to 14 inches, quite a few 15 to 17 inches, like the one below. Fish were scattered, and some likely water turned out no fish, but as we moved up, we realized that we were having pretty good numbers for a typical day here, though we were still hoping for another big boy.
Typical nice rainbow - very fat and stuffed full of October caddis (case and all)
Passing by some frog water, we noted a number of rises in water we normally walked by, and stopped to toss our flies in. Tom had one take down, but no other action. Noting the rises to a small, spent mayfly, I tied a #18 CGPPN below the bugger, but still no love, so we moved up to where the water was again flowing. We found a few more fish, but ever since the rises, Tom was itching to tie on the hopper, and he finally gave in as we approached a nice riffle that drops into deeper water a a bend in the stream. 

I was first up in the hole, and as we approached a large fish rose at the head of the riffle right above the drop off. Tom asked if he could take this one, as he had just put on the dry. I was about to tell him to move on up ahead of me so he could get a good cast, when from over my shoulder 60 or 70 feet of fly line lay out in the current with the hopper floating down just above where the rise had been. My next thought was to tell Tom he'd never get the hook set with all that line out, and just then his fly disappeared in a large splash. Hook set, short run, and a jump clean out of the water displayed a beautiful rainbow that was easily 20 inches or more. Then the hook came flying back at Tom as it was thrown from the fish's mouth. Ecstacy and agony, all in a few seconds. Another couple casts, and he found a smaller, 15-inch rainbow to take away a bit of the sting. Then, it was my turn, and tossing the bugger to the far bank at the head of the hole,  I was promptly rewarded by a take down. Another very large fish, equal to the one Tom lost. Another brief fight, with the fish rolling several times near the surface before throwing the hook. The pains of fishing barbless!

Moving up, we came to a corner hole where Tom claims to always pull a fish or two out with streamers. After fishing the dry and bugger with no love, he tied on an articulated something and let it swing in the current. Strike! Nothing. Strike! Another miss. Strike! The fly was gone. That was a big one! He tied on another, let it dangle practically at his feet, then a hard strike and a football of a rainbow came flying out of the water. This 18-inch bow was finally brought to hand. Tom found two more fish, a little smaller, out of the same run.
Tom's reward for dangling a streamer
It was just before noon, and it had been a very good day already. Moving up from the corner, I picked up a couple more on the bugger, Then, running the indicator right through the edge of the grass along the bank of another small run, I had a take down followed by the sight of a very large fish. This was big enough to make me really nervous about losing it, made all the worse when I saw that it was hooked on the size 18 psycho, not the larger bugger. In the small stream and clear water, the fight was in full view. Each time the fish got near enough for Tom to reach out with the net, it would take off back upstream. Finally, I got the head turned towards Tom and guided it into the net. Barely! Tom said he wasn't sure it would fit! Reading off the net scale, it stretched from 12 on one side to 11 on the other, a full 23" inches and enormously fat. My biggest ever from this stream.

Almost too big for the net
Beautiful rainbow
Tom decided he had had enough of hoppers for the day and returned to nymphing. The nymphs continued to produce, though none so large as the beast I had landed. We reached a stretch that was new to us, and decided to continue fishing up. We found a few more fish, including another brown in the 20-inch plus range that took my fly ran towards the bank right in front of us, realized there was no undercut there, then took off upstream before slipping the hook. Oh, I'd like to have that one back! The new stretch added several miles to the day (up and back) without a huge payout in fishable water. Now we know to turn around at our normal turn around point. 

By the time we ran out of water, it was 5 pm, and we had a 5 mile walk back to the car. Luckily, we found a wax currant bush full of berries to give Tom the energy to make it back to the car. Well, almost back to the car. Tom was worn out from heavy exercising the previous day, so lay down and slept at the side of the road while I walked the last 2 1/2 miles and came back with the car. On the way back to civilization, we stopped at the sight of a badger right next to the road, who promptly faced us and stared us down while I tried (unsuccessfully) to get my camera out for a photo before he ran away. Nice end to a marvelous day. One of the best days every on this beautiful little stream.

One final lesson from the day. As I helped Tom pull off his rattlesnake chaps, I felt something bunched up at the bottom. The hard plastic inserts on the sides of his chaps were shattered and collected in a pile at the bottom. He had been fearlessly leading out all day through the rattlesnake infested grass with no more protection than the canvas fabric for the sides of his legs. So before you go tromping through head high grass full of rattlesnakes, secure in your safety because of the protective gear you are wearing, make sure your gear is functional. We only saw three snake skins, no live ones today. Good for Tom that we didn't run into any.

Stocking up for some extra energy for the long walk back


3 comments:

Tom Merrill said...

That was a great day indeed!! It will be even better when the prodigal returns from missionary service in Peru!!

DrRobFish said...

The Peru Prodigal asks if you'll toss 60 feet of flyline over my head at the rising fish when I get back and go with you, or let the poor prodigal have first crack at that rising monster? Prodigal Preference anyone?

Rick Merrill said...

I think we will need to cast first for a while. Your casting will be way off from the casting you've been doing south of the equator where you had to adjust for the Coriolis Effect moving your casts to the left instead of the right...