Last of April 2015

Out with neighbor and good buddy.  We stole away for a day trip so we could high stick in broken water.  Original intention was a car drop; we opted at the last second for one car, walk back instead.  Basic setting was water in good condition, sunny, moderate wind.  No people despite popular stream reach.  We packed in some cans of good beer.  Walked pretty slowly. Hoping to see some bugs. 

Nymphing good early on.  Sensing dry flies and the associated small fish, I cast a streamer for maybe 30 minutes before making the switch.  Good reminder on this log pile: don't go get your snagged flies.  Not worth it.  Second cast I hooked the lead log.  Fortunate to use the loop-send to unhook it (would have broken it off; was practicing a form of mitigation) because on the next cast the fly was set up front and as it was settling it was eaten by the big fish of the day.

We found caddis late morning and they were going from there on out.

My neighbor was relieved to cut off the four points of weight nymph rig and get to the grace of the dry fly and glass.  I suppose he brought 15-20 fish to hand on a standard EHC.

This was money water; all water like it was taken apart fairly methodically.  Each piece yielding 3-6 trout to decent drifts.  Drift over where you figure the trout are laying up; watch them rise to your fly; that is the deal here.

Not pretty: just hair tied on a hook, with a trailing shuck.  No hackle.  The fly is effective though.  This rod seems to want to lay this fly out there.  I need that because I'm a high-sticker more than a caster.  So when it starts butter churning smoothness and my arm melds to it and the line lays out somewhat acceptably and I track the tuft on the water; I'm reminded and I appreciate some fine craftsmanship.  As for the caddis they live in the spaces between the rocks.  If we cover up all the rocks we'll kill a lot of their possibilities going forward.  Don't do things that hurt streams would be the basic advice.  One of my old coworkers used to say "don't do dumb stuff."  I've seen a number of amazing caddis phenomena; been alongside some good folks for some of them.  Prolific is a word that comes to mind.  Trying to think about web-spinning hiding secretive creatures that get a call to transform, pupate and take to the air and breath oxygen from it.  People will never know all their secrets and that makes me happy.

Pics out of order, as I got this and all that follow from my neighbor.  This fish I guessed at 14" - he who ate the streamer as it broke the water and fell in front of his dark hold - we used a rolled up cloth tape to measure it; turns out it was 15.5 inches long with a sweet deep mouth.  Bent the 2 wt.  Led me downstream a bit.

Here is the inexhaustible hole.  Simple as that.  So deep the fish can't see you; so much hydro cushion the angler is camoflauged invisible.  You basically have to decide to just leave this hole while still catching fish.  It's proven this bar every time I've visited it.  One highlight was getting a stone cold eat from a whitesucker that was holding down there in the ranks of trout.

Next three pics credited to my neighbor.  Go it afoot.  Find trout in the good places of the world.  Here is one of them.