Wenatchee Steel

December 27, 2010

Tom and Rick along with Brian A. and Don Schurtz spent a couple hours this morning on the Wenatchee. Fished a run along the bike trail at the park (near Monitor?). It was Rick's morning, well deserved, as all three of the others were fishing spinning gear with bobbers. Rick had three fat whities (Tom's new favorite!), one wild steelhead about 23" to 24" to the hand, and another steelhead on briefly. Sorry no photo, everyone else was downstream and my hands were wet and slimy. It was a beautiful morning, not too cold, no wind, and a bit of sun peeking through after the sunrise.

Rick

Whitefishing....

I had such a good time last week on the Methow hauling in the whitefish, I got permission from Elizabeth to hit the Wenatchee to see if I could find some more whities. She said to bring a few home this time to try a new recipe from the whitefish cookbook I got her for her last birthday. But alas, it was a bad day. I worked several stretches of the river really hard, but no whities to be found. I did hook this steelhead one of the many times my backcast was hitting the water behind me (when it wasn't in the trees or breaking off hooks on the rocks). I threw it back though; I'm a true believer in white meat and bones now - nothing better than a fish with lips.

Little Nunya

I just love this place! Sure, it is a small stream full of beautiful little trout, but I know lots of places like that. Somehow, though, Little Nunya is unique for me. I think it is the incongruity of driving for miles and miles through rolling hills of dryland wheat, with no mountains or trees anywhere in sight, knowing that just ahead, invisible from the wheatfields, is an oasis of a coulee carved into the earth by ice age floods decades of millenia ago. And that in the bottom of that coulee runs a small, cold creek teeming with trout.

After miles of wheatfields and shortly after passing an overgrown pioneer cemetery, the road dips suddenly into the coulee, the wide bottom opening before you. The clumps of cottonwood trees in the distance mark both the stream and an old homestead long since abandoned. A slight bend in the road hides the pullout at the bridge until the last moment. You round the bend and the empty parking area brings a sigh of relief - you have the stream to yourself. One last moment of worry as you get out of the car and immediately hear the sounds of tumbling water - will the stream be clear? (Runoff from the surrounding fields occassionally turns the water chocolate brown). You walk out on the bridge and peer over the railing, just in time to see a dozen or more dark shapes in the gin-clear water below you dart out of sight into the faster water upstream. Yes! This is going to be a good morning!

Well, this morning it was a very brief, but very good morning on my way to Michigan via Spokane. After dropping Melinda off at her before-school orchestra practice, I was left with a little over an hour of extra time on my way to Spokane, not enough time to hit Nunya, but just enough for a quick visit to Little Nunya, although for only 45 minutes of time on the water. But 45 minutes well spent, with 33 fish to hand, fishing the size 16 psycho prince (what else!). I caught 15 just above the bridge, 15 in the little run above that, and had just enough time to pull 3 more out from down below the bridge.

Most were 6" to 8" like this gorgeous little guy here.

And a few nicer ones like this guy below thrown in to make things more interesting. The bigger ones love to dive into the grass on the banks, where you sometimes have to reach in with your hand and untangle them (or more often your fly because they are no longer there).

Wish I'd had more time, but I'm grateful to have had even just a few minutes at this beautiful little treasure.

"On the way" to the airport (Tom's way)....

Carlynn was flying home from visiting her sister in San Antonio, so after Saturday chores we decided to stop at the Tucannon River "on the way" to picking her up. Well, at least the airport is on the way to the river, and on the way back.

It was beautiful weather for a fall fishing trip, nice temperature, and just a few drops of rain. We stopped at a pullout where the river was maybe 100 yards from the road, but what a 100 yards! After following what appeared to be a fishermans trail, it quickly degenerated into a series of intersecting game trails through chest high grass, fallen branches, swampy ground, and rose and blackberry thickets. Then I saw a few piles of blackish-blue poop and an elderberry bush stripped of most of its berries with the grass trampled flat underneath it. I realized we were probably following trails made by the smaller cousins of the bears who made similar trails and left similar piles in Alaska. It would have been less disconcerting had I not just read the story of a Leavenworth man who lost his eye in a vicious attack two weeks ago by a black bear outside his cabin.

Well, we made it to the river after about 20 minutes of struggle, and found enough fish to keep us happy, none with much size, in contrast to my last trip two years ago about this time of year. I spent most of my time coaching Melinda and helping her wade through the water, which was a little fast in this stretch for her to wade alone in most places. She was able to catch several fish on her own.

Sarah handles the rod very well, and caught a good number herself.

What a smile! But she wishes that when she got the Merrill Orthodontics smile, she didn't also get the Dr Tom fish size along with the smile.

OK, I found a little time to fish towards the end of the day. I'm glad Tom didn't do my braces!

There were October caddis all over, but the fish didn't seem to be looking up for them much (except in a pool of slow water where Sarah was harrassing baby fish barely bigger than the Stimulator Chew Toy she was fishing until she snagged one in the belly and felt bad and moved on). Most fish were on nymphs, black double-bead stone and the psycho prince.

After not quite as bad a bushwack back to the road, we continued our trip to the airport (via Ray's Drive Inn and milkshakes in Dayton) and found Carlynn waiting for us - her flight arrived a half-hour early. I don't know if she tried calling, but I would have told her we were on the way....

Nebo Creek/Diamond Fork

I brought an old pair of hip boots and Jess's fly rod so she could try and arrange a fly-fishing date or two before things freeze up, and what better way to spend a morning than to make sure she was well versed in using them before sending her out alone into the cold, brushy world of fly-fishing!

We tried Nebo Creek early in the morning, with very little luck. I had one fish to hand and only one other take in about an hour on two different sections, including the section Rob killed them on in August. Both were on a black stonefly. I don't know where all the fish went, but we only saw the occasional fish when walking through the holes we had fished. We tried hoppers, humpies, renegades, stones, and even the psycho prince, but no luck. Early morning glare was really bad. I think better luck would have been had a little later in the day, but today this creek only gets a 1 1/2 fly rating (the half because it is so pretty!).

Leaving Nebo Creek, we had a big decision to make - first session of conference or another hour or two together fishing on Diamond Fork. Hmmm, I think Willford Woodruff would understand.

We found Diamond Fork with many turnouts occupied, but about 4 miles up found an open spot. The water was a little clearer than my last visit, but not much, visibility about 12 inches. Jessica received instruction in nymphing with a strike indicator, and once she got the hang of casting with the extra weight/drag of the stike indictor, she did very well.

Jess caught the first fish, the monster shown below (at least a monster compared to my first fish at Leeds Creek the other day). I had a decent brown, then Jessica hooked and fought one that got away. All on psycho prince, but that was all the action we saw. I'd like to fish this with Tom and Mike Dover and see if their day was a fluke when all the stars lined up right, or if we are just lacking the proper technique for this stream (don't answer that Tom!). For today, we give this one another 1 1/2 fly rating.

Lower Huntington Creek

Day three of this southern Utah road trip found us travelling from Escalante to Provo. That could take three days if I stopped every place I'd like to check out between the two, but with one day and Carlynn along, I limited the fishing to a couple quick stops in between some slickrock scrambling, a side trip to a short, but impressive slot, and a diversion to a distant, but not so impressive dinosaur quarry.

Our path took us by Calf Creek, which I couldn't pass without at least a few casts, so I pulled out at a different section from last time and found the fish not quite so willing, with only a couple to hand and a few to the fly and dozens swimming around my legs as I walked on through the holes. This was closer to a bridge and a big pull out, so perhaps they are a bit more skittish here. I did catch one from the main highway bridge, though.

Later in the day, I stopped at Lower Huntington Creek. The first stop was in the bait allowed section, where the river is larger and runs pretty fast. I probably had 6 to hand in a half hour, most out of one hole, size about 8 to 12 inches, all browns except one. A couple are pictured below.

I saw one about 16 inches jump clean out of the water upstream, but couldn't find him. Then I ran into a stretch of river where the water ran fast over smooth bedrock, found no more fish, and decided to continue on to Provo. Well, maybe to continue on upriver a couple miles, then on to Provo, because when I got up above the left hand fork the main river was much shrunken in size and was clearly calling out my name. Shouting it, in fact. The car was practically steering itself into every pullout we passed, so I had to stop.

I was rewarded with several quick fish, including one caught with my newly discovered, no-hook method of catching fish. Really, no joke! I was drifting double nymphs through a hole and hooked (I thought) a nice 11-inch brown. The fish appeared to have twisted up in the line, but when I went to untangle and unhook it, I found the lower fly wrapped around the upper fly, and the resulting loop of leader wrapped around the pectoral fins of the trout. I lassoed the fish! Let's see my good ole pardner Tom catch 'em like that!

All fish in Huntington were on the psycho prince fished below a glorified sinker (brown beadhead stone). This river gets a 3 1/2 fly rating, well worth further exploration. It appears to get quite a bit of pressure, but could yield good numbers of fish, and fish with some size. In the upper stretch I saw fish in the 12 to 14" range holding several pools, but couldn't entice them with my offering. The stream is easily accessible from the highway which follows it for many miles from the outlet of the dam at Electric Lake to the national forest boundary near Huntington. The left fork of the stream, which is special regulation and I believe hike-in, would also be worth a look. If you are passing through the area, it would be a good idea to plan your route by way of Huntington Creek, and leave a few extra hours in your travel plans!

Leeds Creek

Mom has always said I could catch fish in a bathtub. Well, catching trout in St. George, Utah might seem almost as far-fetched, but this morning I visited an amazing little stream, Leeds Creek, that runs off the Pine Mountains just to the north of St. George. I left the hotel just as dawn was beginning to show east over the distant cliffs of Zion National Park, and 25 minutes later I got out of the car and immediately heard that beautiful sound of tumbling water. Looking down the steep bank, I couldn't see any water, but the volume of what I heard was that of a substantial mountain stream, enough to raise the hope of any fisherman.

Scrambling down the steep hillside, I saw quite a bit of trashy fisherman sign and empty worm cups, which dampened my anticipation slightly. I came to a small, somewhat brushy stream, shown below in one of the more open areas.

I quickly caught my first fish, the monster shown below. He fell off in the dirt, where I rescued him and sent him back to grow up. I hoped there were a few more bigger than that.

The first bit didn't yield much action, but then I came to a larger hole that was a bit more open. I could see a fish at the head of the hole feeding, and promptly caught three nice 8" to 9" Bonneville Cutthroats out of that hole. The next hour or so was full of action. The stream was brushy, but not so brushy as to be frustrating. There were enough open areas to keep the action stready. Often you could see the fish holding in the bottoms of the holes, like the one below. I got him with the famous Dr. Tom bow cast, putting the fly right on top of him and watching him slowly follow it down towards me and then suck it in - awesome!

The fish were gorgeous, all about 7" to 9", the one below being the typical smallest fish.

I started dry dropper, and caught the first couple on a psycho prince, but as soon as the light came up a little, it was all hair wing yellow humpy. After a while, the dropper broke off, and I didn't re-tie it on. Probably had three dozen or so to hand between about 7:30 am and 9:00 am.

On the climb out of the canyon, I saw no trails or footprints but those of deer, and had to avoid tons of prickly-pear, which was everywhere. Wonderful scenery, great fishing, I give this one a five-fly rating, not to be missed.

Beaver River

First day in Utah on my trip with Carlynn. She enjoys a couple hours extra rest in the morning on vacation, I don't, a perfect combination when there are streams nearby. We spent the first night in Beaver, Utah, where a short drive of about 10 minutes brings you to national forest land and the Beaver River (really more of a creek). I stopped first a mile or two inside the national forest land, and disappointingly found a rather murky stream (visibility six inches or so?). I didn't see anything at this first stop, and not a lot of really good water, so I hopped in the car and drove upstream a few miles farther, above the water plant and the takeout for a pipeline to the plant (these might dewater the river further down in summer?). Anyway, pulled off where the stream was right next to the road with a lot of big rocks and holes. I ended up catching five browns in this stretch, all about this size, all on a brown, beadhead stonefly with rubber legs. All the fish I caught were in shallow riffles, nothing in the holes, so they are either fished out (lots of trashy fisherman sign) or the water was too murky for them to see the fly in the deeper runs. Either way, fish to the hand is a good start for the trip. I was back in time to eat breakfast with Carlynn, and then on with the rest of the day. I'd give this one a two-fly rating, but with clearer water and a few more fish it could jump up to three flies.

TTT

We are hoping that Sarah commemorated the anniversary of 9/11 without any bombs - since she was taking the ACT test today! I drove her to Walla Walla early this morning where the test was being held. Since the test was five hours long, and I was already one hour closer to fishing streams, I decided to take the WWTT and the TTT (Walla Walla Trout Test and Touchet Trout Test). I think I had a lot more fun at my tests than Sarah did at hers!

The WWTT was a D-. At an access downstream of Walla Walla, I found the river pretty, but absent of fish except for one small steelhead smolt. I had read the water temps in this stretch of river approach the lethal range to trout, but I remember catching a couple nice trout here a couple years ago at a different time of year. I wouldn't go back until steelhead season. So after a very brief stop, I proceeded to the Touchet River right in Dayton.

Starting at the footbridge by the park, and fishing up to about 400 feet below the dam, I caught a bunch of mostly chesters, with some nicer sized fish up to about 10" thrown in. Peacock bodied elk hair caddis was hot, as was the psycho prince. I also tied on the x-leg prince for a while (prince with rubber legs - mmm, mmm, good) which they seemed to like OK too. Probably 40 - 50 fish in a little less than two hours. I went above the dam for a couple reasonably nice holes, and didn't turn a fish. TTT scores a solid B with solitude on the river and lots of fun catching; the fish just need to grow up a little more.

Methow River

Fishing today with Garn Christensen on the Methow above the confluence with the Twisp. I caught five cutts, one rainbow, lots of missed strikes. Garn caught lots on the dries.

My first fish were on black stonefly nymph with bead head, nothing on the prince nymph dropper. When the fish started hitting the Thingamabobber I decided to change to dries. Good choice! Had some big fish attack (I missed) the golden stone fly dry that was my dropper, a few to a chernoble (orange) bug that was my lead fly. This photo of a nice cutt I took early in the day on the black stone.

Diamond Fork

Before returning home, I spent a morning on Diamond Fork to try and replicate the great action Tom and Dover had last week. I found some nice fish, but not like they did. Seven browns and two cutts in about 2 1/2 hours. Biggest was 15" and fat. All on stonefly or psycho prince. Only a couple were from riffle type runs, and half were from one larger, deeper hole. Lots of water covered with no strikes. Perhaps it was a different time of day (about 8 am to 10:30 am) or just a lack of skill, but it was slower than Tom and Mike experienced. Still, nice fish and a beautiful stream. I'd come back.

Upper Huntington Creek

While returning to Provo from Hanksville, we stopped a couple places. First at Upper Fish Creek above Scofield Reservoir, which we found poorly named, virtually free of fish of any size for the first 1/3 mile. Long, flat runs with not much depth. Jess lost a nice one right by the parking lot, I missed a couple in the 10" range. Only saw a couple larger fish (easy to see in the shallow runs). Appears fished out close to the trailhead. Continued on the scenic loop past Eccles Creek, which looked nice next to the road, but didn't stop.

We did stop at Upper Huntington Creek, about one mile above where it runs into Electric Lake. It was a beautiful, but very small stream, full of willing, but easily spooked tiger trout along with the occasional surprise of a fat cutthroat. The stream is completely open, meandering through a meadow and is very narrow in most places. Tigers were 6" to 10", the largest cutt that Mel fought in for me was 14". Jess showed great fly-fishing memory, quickly remembering her out-of-practice skills and catching a number of beautiful fish. Jess fished a humpy, I fished something like a Turck's Tarantula. Not much length of fishable water here, but fun fishing and a great stop on the way through!

Pleasant Creek

On the drive around Boulder Mountain, I was determined to fish somewhere. After reluctantly passing by Calf Creek so I would have time to fish somewhere new, I briefly stopped at Oak Creek and found it more a swampy low spot in a meadow near the highway. Continuing just down the road, Pleasant Creek was much more pleasant. Just a short distance downstream from the highway, we hiked a short distance and found a beautiful stream full of some of the prettiest brookies I have caught, along with the occasional rainbow. The stream is quite brushy, with some open Meadow areas in this section. After missing quite a number of fish, Jessica began remembering her skills and hooked a couple. Lots of fish if you can get to them without spooking them. I fished a renegade, Jess fished a humpy. Both worked marvelously. This stream is well worth a stop if you are passing by.

Calf Creek

This is an absolutely spectacular place to fish! After a long day of scenic driving, the kids wanted someplace cool and wet, and of course, I wanted to fish. We found both, along with stunning scenery, at Calf Creek. We pulled off the highway at the first pull out we could find after crossing the Escalante River. This creek runs over slickrock between huge, red sandstone cliffs. Jess and Sarah took off their shoes and started downstream, while Mel and I went upstream with my 3-wt. We found plenty of willing brown trout in the 6" to 10" range just about every place you would expect there to be fish and some places you wouldn't. It is a very unique stream, as the creek bottom is pretty much sandstone everywhere, and you can find fish not only in the deeper holes that have been eroded, but in small cracks and even flat surfaces where the stream runs only a few inches deep across a sandstone face. I wouldn't pass by here without stopping and fishing! Just don't do it if thunderstorms are anywhere in the area. The high water marks from flash floods the previous week were about four feet above the normal creek level - you wouldn't want to be in there when that came along!

Sunday after church we hiked upstream to Lower Calf Creek falls (without a fly rod of course) and counted multiple fish in every hole whenever the trail approached the creek. I'd never hike that trail on a weekday without my rod!

Santa Clara River

I guess around St. George, this qualifies as a river! However, I won't complain about names as long as there are trout in it. And there are some small browns to be found in the section of this stream below Pine Valley reservior just inside the National Forest fee area. I just fished for a short time while we were driving around the area seeing the sights, and caught several browns. This short section is near the campgrounds and one of the few stretches of the river that is on public land. It is apparent it is heavily fished. The stream looks like it might be getting that icky algae growing on all the rocks, which could impact insect availability. The fish had relatively large heads and small bodies. Small attractor dry was the ticket. Definitely a fun stop if you are in St. George and want to get away from the heat! There is a longer public section below the town of Pine Valley, but it involves a good hike down into a rocky canyon and is not recommended for summertime. We also drove by Pinto Creek to the north - very small, completely overgrown, high steep banks in the public stretch - not fished.

Hobble Creek

Just minutes from Mike and Amy Dover's house is a brushy little stream full of easily spooked browns. A couple hours of fishing was a good prelude to Heather's wedding in St. George later in the day. I fished a couple hours and had about eight to hand using a renegade, psycho prince, and humpy. This stream could be better later in the day, as in the early morning the browns seem to hold in very shallow water at the sides and bottom of the holes, where it is difficult to reach them and easy to spook them. This is not easy fishing, and you walk by a lot of water because it is unreachable due to the brush. That being said, it is satisfying to dangle a dry in a little pocket behind a rock and to see a small brown come up and slurp the fly! I fished at the first pullout after the campground just inside the national forest upstream from the left fork. It is apparent this stream gets a good bit of pressure here.

Nebo Creek--Day 2

Brian & I went back to try a different stretch of Nebo Creek today after checking out of the hotel and packing all our luggage and Stepahnie Lacy's electronic piano into the van. Natalie is still at organ camp all day and Heather and Simon were taking care of business they needed to accomplish. We went upstream to what ended up being about 50 yards downstream from where Page Fork breaks off.

We spent three hours fishing about 75 yards of water. Brian said we had over 50 fish landed--all German Brown trout today. Brian improved his finesse today very much, having discovered that a brown will usually only come toward a fly once--one chance. It was fun to watch them come to the fly. I was with a Renegade-no surprises there, and Brian fished an Irresistable all day. He became much more careful with it once I told him it was the last one I had. We had managed to lose a few flies into the tree branches.

It was a fun second day on the creek; we saw a different stretch of water without so m

any beaver dams; Brian was glad he went even though in the morning when we were heading there he wasn't sure he wanted to fish again.

Nebo Creek

There was a mudslide Monday that covered Highway 89 near Thistle and Thistle Creek and Spanish Fork River were about the consistency of chocolate milk with just about as much visibility. Nebo Creek was running clear. Lots of browns. I landed three cutthroat trout as well. Brian commented, "We caught more fish today than all the other days combined!"

We had fun trading off casting. One would go until a fish was caught, then we'd trade. Bonus casts when the primary caster got hung up in a tree or broke off a fly on a fish (Brian?). It was fun softly casting into beaver ponds and watching the trout come up to take the fly.

I used Renegade again and Brian fished Humpies and the one that is shaped like a Humpy but the body is made of trimmed deer hair so it floats really well (the name of the fly escapes me right now). Another great day on a new stream.