Today I got out fishing with a buddy. We had a vague plan for the day and started off at a nearby state park.
They stocked some bigger rainbow trout here last year and I wanted to see if they were still around. They are! They didn't want a streamer but happily took a gray size 16 zebra midge fished deep. When we arrived the stream had a brown stain that limited visibility to about a foot.
This was my big fish of the day! The stream muddied and after about 45 minutes of fishing we decided to head south where there was less snow on the ground. We decided to hit a north-south running stream with hope that there would be even less snow.
The drive was beautiful! I decided to put effort into fishing streamers today and figured that unless there was a hatch I'd focus my efforts.
I started with an olive bugger type fly and eventually switched between a mohair leech type fly and bugger. At this stream fish were triggered to strike when the fly was twitched slowly past good hiding spots (rocks, logs).
The third stream we hit is a beautiful little river that flows through a tight little valley. In the pool on the left fish started to surface periodically. I watched from a distance as little bwo mayflies took flight and bounced around current seams while laying eggs. I tied on a size 20 bwo dry fly and took chase.
I landed all four fish that I targeted before the hatch died down. The stream was clear in this section but as they day progressed and temperatures rose the stream started to dirty. We bounced around between access points and found fish feeding in areas with snow-free banks.
By the end of the day around 2 dz fish came to hand, mostly on streamers! I hoped to move a few brutes but only landed fish between 10-14 inches. We fished from 830am-5pm with plenty of driving and breaks in between. I'd like to get out a little tomorrow but unless temps get well below freezing tonight I'd guess all streams in the area will be toast tomorrow.
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