Monday, March 14, 2016

A Return- Sort Of

Having fished a stream last week I was determined to follow up on it's potential of being one of those really special streams that lock a place down in your memory. Yesterday I drove to that stream thinking how much nicer today was going to be instead of the rain out I faced on Thursday of last week. The sun was promised to appear, the temp were to be mild and no wind. I reached the road where I would park and geared up. While walking to the access point I saw a tributary to the stream I was going to fish. Many of these streams are seasonal, in other words they dry up as the warmer weather begins to take hold. It looked so inviting I said to myself give it a shot. So I pushed through that first clump of tangled briars and made way to the little brook. The first thing I noticed was the abundance of stoneflies. They were every where. At one point I had several on my jacket as well as my rod. This seemed to tell me perhaps this stream runs like this all year and not just in the Spring.



In the tails of pools as this I drifted wet flies. It did not take long and I was into a brook trout.


What a beautiful specimen. Bright and feisty.


As I walked the stream I noticed the terrain around me was changing, there were some very big boulders, and the little stream I was fishing was suddenly running through a very deep valley. I knew I would be OK as long as I stayed close to the water, and that is what I did. In the slack water I noticed several fish rising. They seemed to be just breaking the surface. I tied on a Bomber and soon managed to take several brookies.






The stream while not very deep had those places where you might find a fish that could be persuaded to take a streamer and the place above is one of them. The yellow-orange streamer did find this willing fellow.


I continued my exploration of this wonderful stream. Watching for rising fish and just enjoying what was before me. I fished for many hours catching and letting go some of this worlds most beautiful wild jewels.


With something like this to behold your day cannot be any better.



20 comments:

  1. A Perfect day!!! Gorgeous wild jewels !! Warmer weather wakes up the stone flies too !
    Another very successful exploration!!! Way to go!!

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    Replies
    1. TROUTI
      Thanks
      Pete those stones were unbelievable, like blackflies in June.

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  2. Those bugs are a sure sign of Spring!!
    Beautiful fish Alan...

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    Replies
    1. HighPlainsFlyFisher
      Thanks
      Jeff I think Spring has arrived, please.

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  3. Can't wait for our season to open (last Saturday in April) although I think it might be June before the snow melts enough to access the streams. We're having an awesome winter.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz-Shoreman
      Thanks
      Mark awesome winters make for good fishing in the later months.
      Opening day is soon.

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  4. Thanks for taking me along. Nice!

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    Replies
    1. Bill/Tully
      Thanks
      The pleasure was mine....love bringing it to you.

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  5. Alan
    So colorful, and yet another awesome stream, just curious do you ever carry a few of the brook trout home for a meal? Thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill all of the brookies go back into the stream.

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  6. Beautiful setting for sure Alan. I'm surprised you hadn't discovered it before.

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    Replies
    1. Howard Levett
      Thanks
      Howard there are so many streams like this...I hope I have time to fish them all.

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  7. I have always been told that stoneflies are a way of telling us that the stream is healthy and everything will be okay, looking at that stream I think everything is going to be okay. Beautiful photos, thanks for the trip.

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    Replies
    1. Brad Basehore
      Thanks
      Brad it makes sense. Looking at the volume of stoneflies the brookies will do eat well.

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  8. Alan, what's the fly in the last photo there, is that a modified bomber of some sort?

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    Replies
    1. Klags
      Thanks
      Adam that's a "mini-stimi" a variant of the stimulator.
      A good fly http://smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com/2015/06/palmered-variants-and-mini-stimi.html

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  9. Replies
    1. Peter Johnson
      Thanks
      Peter I owe it to nature and the camera.

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  10. Very nice Alan! - it's nice to see the stoneflies appearing, the hope of better things to come for sure

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    Replies
    1. Mark
      Thanks
      Mark they were very heavy, had one fly into my ear.

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