Finding Triple-Digit Trout

Nope, the title isn't referring to numbers of fish. That would be on my home stream where I have caught triple digit numbers in an evening. Today it was a different stream with larger trout and triple digit was in reference to the air temperature, which was 84°F when we started in the morning and 103°F by the time we finished in the afternoon. With Tom's and my birthday the first two days in August, it will sometimes be a little hot when we get together for our birthday bash.

Hoping to get some teeth marks in the new batch of Morrish hoppers

We arrived early morning to three vehicles where we normally start. No one was in sight, but it was obvious these were fisherman, so we headed to another access and found a few nice fish.

Tom with a nice bow from a shallow but undercut grassy bank

Reaching the end of the most fishable water, we decided to return to the original start point and hope we'd be able to find some fish behind those who had gone out earlier. We did. The fishing wasn't spectacular, but we found enough to keep it interesting. My poor skills rubbed off on Tom today. As he was drifting a bugger, he left it sitting out of the current while looking where to toss his next cast. I saw his indicator go down as he pulled in a little line to get set for the cast and thought it sure looked like he had a fish. A couple seconds later, he looked down, saw the indicator down, and was surprised by the presence of this nice rainbow at the end of his line.

Tom's fish that hooked itself

Tom's good skills also rubbed off on me. I had drifted the hopper past a clump of overhanging grass when Tom called out that there was one following it. I immediately spotted the fish, watched it slowly follow the fly downstream and nose up to it until the fly disappeared from sight. A little lift of the rod and the fight was on with this nice brown. It took a Tom-level of patience and calmness to not pull the fly away too early. 

This guy was hiding under the little grass clump right above my head in the picture

Talking to a couple guys we ran into who had been there the day before, they said there had been a group fishing it all week. With the high temps and that much pressure in the previous days, we were happy to find the fish that we did in the triple-digits. Another successful birthday bash for Rick and Tom.

In pursuit of the little guys

Having finished the Yakima float with the brothers by 10 am, I was left with a decision - head straight home, or head home by way of a small mountain stream. Yup, you guessed which route I chose. In the realm of some of our "on-the-way-to" trips, this was just a mild detour that only doubled the 90 minute drive home, but a detour well worth the time for the solitude of a small mountain stream and the beauty of westslope cutthroat trout. For me, big trout are fun, but there's something about small streams with their small fish that holds a special place in my heart.

Monkeyflower along one of the few flat stretches of this little mountain stream

I'd visited this stream before, finding reasonable numbers of small cutts, so I figured I'd try a couple different sections to see what I could find. Same as my last visit, I found beautiful cutthroats eager to take a dry as it floated by. The size ranged from a few inches up to about 8 inches. It's so fun to watch them rise to the fly in the crystal clear water.

A very good sized cutthroat for this little stream

Same as my last visit, I didn't find large numbers of fish, which seems to be limited by the lack of pools or substantial riffles in this fast falling stream. When I finally climbed out, the view upstream was white water as far as I could see, which it had been for much of the stretch I had fished. But when you found a nice little pool, you would almost always find a fish or two. You can't complain about an afternoon like that!

Tom Remembers Why He Bought a Drift Boat...

After Rob's guided trip on the Yakima with his son-in-law Brad, Brad decided he'd like to go more often and volunteered to get the flat tire fixed on Tom's drift boat trailer (it has been flat for years). With the tire fixed, we decided to make a Merrill boys trip to fish Friday evening and Saturday morning. We can call it Rob's birthday celebration.

We met at Red's to pick up a few flies and arrange for spotting the vehicle at the takeout and were on the river a little after 5 pm. Tom and I immediately questioned the wisdom of letting someone with double vision row first when a short time after the launch Rob took us straight over a good sized boulder just under the surface. However, that was the only mishap and we soon were catching fish and all was forgiven (next time we'll let him row the last turn when it is so dark you can't see the boulders anyway).

It was typical Yakima fishing, tossing big bugs (Chubby Chernobyls) close to the grass banks with a stone dropper about 12 inches below. Fairly consistent action throughout the evening, with numerous 10 to 14 inch rainbows and a few in the 18 to 20 inch range. Rotating the rowing duties, we all managed to find at least one of the big guys before getting off the river at about it's-so-dark-I-hope-we-don't-miss-the-ramp o'clock.

After a short night at a motel in Ellensburg, we were on the water again a little after 5 am, and found similar action as the evening before throughout the morning float. Little guys to keep it interesting while waiting for the big one. You never know how they're going to hit. Rick's 19.5-inch rainbow on Friday hit with an explosive splash, which was good because he was fishing blind with the fly directly in the reflected glare of the evening sun. He set the hook by sound. Rob, on the other hand, had an 18-inch rainbow that took the fly with nothing more than a little dimple as it drifted right next to some overhanging brush. Rick, who was rowing, watched the fly quietly disappear without a splash and was surprised when Rob said he had a nice one. The take looked like one of the little ones we'd been catching.

We all caught nice fish, but Rob owned the morning, catching at least three that were over 18 inches. A great little trip to bring the brothers together. Maybe now with the flat tire on the boat trailer fixed we might get together like this a little more often...

Bradzilla Rocks the Rainbows

Brad and I headed to Ellensburg Wednesday night and planned to fish the following two mornings with Shan from Red's Fly Shop, with whom we've fished numerous times.  (Yes, that Shan--see our Alaska Adventures from September 2019 and other previous entries for more details.)  After a short night's sleep we got up to the alarm at 3:45am to get ready, grab some breakfast at McDonald's drive-thru, and meet Shan at Red's Fly Shop for our 4:30am start.

July 2

It started somewhat slowly as we began the canyon float--Brad had to wait until his second cast to hook a fish.  We fished large dry stonefly patterns in the slowly increasing light.  Brad's fly was larger than mine.  Punching it in close to the banks and being rewarded with--my fly floating over the top, apparently appearing like an appetizer, and then Brad's larger fly coming up second and being eaten by the fish.  What's with that?  Front end of the boat usually gets more strikes--which is why Brad took pity on me and let me fish in front.

I finally got a good solid fish and after a nice fight was able to get a photo, then release him.  Brad may be catching more, but I found one that was photo worthy.

A beautiful Yakima River rainbow

Brad didn't wait long until he too found a photo worthy fish that tried to attack his fly as it floated by and missed.  Brad, ever the one of steely nerves, saw that the fish missed and hadn't eaten the fly and just kept the fly floating in the drift along the seam line in the current.  We watched with amazement as the trout circled back around, came downstream and sucked in the fly, at which point Brad set the hook and the chase was on!  

Brad's biggest Yakima rainbow ever
(up to that point)

We added a stonefly dropper as the day brightened and found fish on both the dry and dropper.  We continued to enjoy the beauty of the canyon--lots of eagles, deer, and other assorted wildlife--and found fish throughout.  Finished after floating a few hours and had a great morning!   What would tomorrow bring?

July 3

We arose to a brisk outside temperature of 48 degrees so it was going to start a little cool.  We met again at Red's at 4:30am.  (I don't know if Shan sleeps.)  We were concerned that the low overnight temperatures might slow down fishing if it reduced insect activity.  Brad started with the stonefly dry/dropper setup we'd had yesterday and I had a single dry fly to cast.  Once again, Brad deferred the front position to me, and I tossed the fly toward the shore as we began the float.  It floated all of about 20 feet until it was slurped in by a nice rainbow.  A great start to the day!  

We had pretty steady action on both the dry and the dropper.  If my timestamp is correct on the camera, Brad landed this photo worthy fish at 5:21am.  He looks pretty awake for that time of the morning.

#1 for Brad

Okay, now to just find me another photo worthy fish.  We each caught more rainbows, on both the dry and dropper, with neither fly really prevailing in preferences.  About an hour later, Brad hooked another nice trout.  Into the net and . . . yet another fish for photo.

Yet another

Okay, now to really just find me another photo worthy fish.  We both continued to catch more rainbows, on both the dry and dropper, again with neither fly really predominating.  About ninety minutes later, Brad hooked yet another nice trout.  Into the net and . . . another fish for photo.  I'm sensing a theme here that wasn't what I was expecting. What about the guy in the front getting more fish because they see the fly first?  What about letting the old guy get the nice fish?  Not to be today I guess, but I was happy with the action and pleased to be able to have these two mornings with my son-in-law.

Who's idea was this trip anyway?
Bradzilla rocked the rainbows!

As always, a wonderful guided float with Shan, ever courteous, knowledgeable, and skilled. Great friends, great river, great fish.  Happy Independence Day!