Stream #122

On the way to Girls Camp to help with hikes for two days, stopped to meet a new friend and visit an old one. First stop was at Cowiche Creek to try and pick up another new stream. Found a small stream, somewhat like The Creek in nature but smaller, flatter, with far fewer fish, at least in the stretch I fished. Very brushy along the sides, with very limited access in or out. Fished a 1/4 mile stretch from bridge to bridge in about 30 to 45 minutes. Found a half dozen fish, missed twice that many, most smallish, and spooked a few more. There were a limited number of deeper holes in this stretch, just not a lot of water to hold large numbers of trout. But those I found were fun, coming up to the humpy willingly. Might be worth exploring a different stretch with more gradient another time, but not a real honey-hole of a place to visit.

The devil fish from Cowiche - don't know what the deal was with the red eye

Nicest Cowiche fish - didn't see any others this size

Next was the traditional stop along the highway in the Tieton River. With the water running somewhat high, fishing was only possible near the boulders along the highway, but that's OK, it is normally where I find the fish. As I caught my first fish, I heard a voice behind me and there was a nice, young game warden to check my license and flies (this stretch is selective gear, which I wasn't aware of, but not a problem since I always fish barbless - if it is open to fishing, I'm OK). Told him it was only the second time I'd been checked in Washington in my life, the other being nearby on the Naches a number of years ago. He said they had hired more people, but still only had three wardens for the Yakima office to cover a lot of territory. Nice guy, checked me out, then was on his way. And I was back to fishing. About 30 minutes, found a dozen fish or so, some on the stimulator chew toy, some on the psycho prince, nothing of great size, one that came off was about 12". But it is always nice to visit an old friend and to receive a few nice gifts, which trout of any size are...

Tieton trout headed back into the water