Trip Report: Good Fishin', Good Company

Lately most of my free time has been spent fishing instead of blogging. I got out a few times over the past week before heading out today with a new friend, Chris (aka the Fading Angler) in the morning and with my Dad this afternoon! It's always a pleasure to share some of my favorite waters with family and friends.

Last Sunday I got out with a friend to chase big trout. We were somewhat disappointed by the day's catch but landed a good number of fish including this 15+ inch brown trout. I can't remember what fly he took but I'd guess it was the Pink Squirrel of Prey.

 These two nicer trout came to net on Friday evening. I fished for an hour or so after work and landed a few shy of a dozen. Again, I hoped to hook into a few beastly trout but nope. I always tend to get big trout fever this time of year! This morning I met up with Chris from The Fading Angler to chase trout on a private stretch of stream that I'd gotten permission to fish last night.

Chris said that he'd be happy to play photographer for me and his stills behind the camera did not disappoint. This beastly lady brown took the San Juan Worm and put up a great fight. Chris ran the net like a pro before showing me what's up with his first driftless rainbow trout.

Between the two of us we must've landed well over a dozen trout. Three rainbows came to hand and lots of browns. I noticed that while most of the fish came on the SJW most were barely hooked as if they were only giving the fly a taste! After parting ways with Chris I headed home to meet up with my Dad. We formulated a plan to fish a scenic stretch of stream later in the afternoon.

We both started with the SJ worm. I caught a decent brownie on my first cast and things were looking up! After catching a half dozen smaller fish I approached a deeper run that ran along an undercut bank. I landed my fly within inches of the shoreline and watched the indicator dip below the surface. After setting the hook my line darted deep beneath the undercut. After a little drama I steered him out of the cut and into my net.

After a few quick pics he was set free. We continued upstream but caught fewer and fewer fish as the afternoon turned to evening.

I hope to go fishing tomorrow for a little while but I have a lot of flies to tie and a few rods to finish so we'll see...

Trip Report: Finally Got Him (and his buddy)

With the wife out of town I decided to spend most of my weekend afield. I got out last night for a little while on a stream close to home and found the river in great shape. Streams in the area are running full with a great greenish-blue stain. I decided to work on my streamer game and had OK luck.

 Today I fished two new steams that endured significant flooding a few weeks ago. The streams were running clear and chocked full of small fish. I landed around two dozen before shifting my focus to a stream I know holds some monsters. One of these monsters snapped my line as we battled two weeks ago so I decided to try and get him again. I arrived on this stream around 230 pm and headed toward his lair. After rigging up a pink squirrel of prey I began testing the waters. After landing a few smaller fish I set the hook and saw a huge flash!

This chunky beast took the squirrel of prey and went berserk! He swam upstream, turned around, and launched at least three feet out of the water before crashing down on the surface. He darted toward a boulder but I was able to turn him. He again launched out of the water and dove into the weeds. I held the 6 weight high in the air and gently teased him out of the weeds. He took a few smaller runs before I was able to skate him close. With a quick stab I thrust the net under him and he was caught! From the back of the reel seat to the top of the cork grip measures 11 inches. I didn't measure the fish but I'd estimate him at 20". After a short recovery he shot out of my hand in back to the depths. I was shaking! I'm pretty sure this is the guy that snapped me off within my reach two weeks ago! After a little break to bask in the glory of the moment I added an orange scud dropper and launched another few casts.

 This guy took the scud and shot upstream before I could catch a glance. I new I hooked into something sizable. He took me to the reel and instead of darting around like trout tend to do he only ran upstream. I held my rod tip high to avoid boulders and other obstacles but this fish only wanted to run one way. At first I struggled to make headway but after a few pushes upstream he succumbed to the sheer power of the 6 weight. As soon as he got close enough I plunged the net beneath him and hoisted him out of the water in victory! Again, no measurement but I'd estimate this fish at around 20". After a few pics I let him revive and released him to the depths to compare experiences with his little buddy. Again shaking with excitement I decided to call it a day! What a day!

 On my walk back to the car I thought about the number of decent fish I lost last year on the three and four weights and decided that I'm not going back to the lighter rods any time soon. I doubt I would have been able to land either of these fish with anything lighter than the rod I used. I also recently switched from using 5x to 4x tippet. The first fish came on the 4x and the second came on 5x which I'm still using for dropper flies.

Trip Report: Weekend of Fishin'

Yesterday I was itching to get out fishin' but with recent rains I wasn't sure my destination would be fishable. Upon arrival I decided to give it a go regardless of a dark stain on the water. I tied on a funky little streamer and headed upstream.

The walk in was tough but worth the effort. I approached the first spot and let 'er rip. I landed a few smaller trout before hooking into a nice one. I steered him around for a brief moment before the hook popped out and the hook flew out of the water and high into the tree behind me. I re-rigged with a slightly different streamer and bam.

This trout measured around 15 inches. He put up an ok fight but was slightly disappointing after losing the last fish. I landed a few more before calling it a day. When I got home I texted a co-worker and he was down to fish today. We got together around 9 and arrived on stream shortly after. I tied on a pink butted pheasant tail with a san juan worm dropper and bam!

 Waters had cleared significantly over the last 24 hours. I saw this fish as soon as I set the hook and was able to steer him around some obstacles. He took the san juan worm. We landed a few more small fish before moving to another stream.

 This stream had only a little cloud to it. I could see fish dart around with every step. Unfortunately they weren't interested in my hopper. I landed a few browns including one around 14 inches before heading upstream to chase brookies.

This was the biggest brookie that I caught. They took an assortment of the san juan worm, scud, pink squirrel of prey, and brassie. Between the two of us we must have caught 20 brookies! On out way back to the car we heard a loud growl from the trees around 15 feet away. We kept moving and spotted nothing but I swear it must've been a bear or mountain lion or some kind of freakbeast! We made it out alive to fish another day!

Trip Report: Hopper Afternoon

Inspired by reports of good hopper fishing in the driftless I decided to put off mowing the lawn in favor of chasing trout. Skies were cloudy and temps hovered in the low 80's when I arrived on stream around 515pm. I like to have a little wind when I'm chucking hoppers but as I was rigging up my homespun Whitewater Valley 9' 6 weight I noticed only a very slight breeze. I tied on a deer hair and foam hopper and headed down to the river.

 The stream was a little stained but I hoped not too stained for the fish to see and attack the hopper. I immediately missed a few half-hearted hits before catching this little fella.

The sun was going down fast but they were still looking up for the hopper. After a few more missed strikes I snapped off on what appeared to be a decent fish. Disappointed, I tied on another and moved upstream.

 This guy came from a run where I've lost a few nice fish to an undercut. He sucked the fly from only a few inches off the bank. They key to garnering strikes was landing the fly right up against land.

This sparsely speckled chunker was the last decent fish to hit the hopper. As the sun set I tied on a size 18 CDC pheasant tail emerger and landed two more smaller trout. It was nice to get out this evening but hopefully I can find a hot and breezy day this weekend to chase trout with the hopper.

Trip Report: Darn Good Fishin'

I wasn't planning to fish much this weekend but after purchasing a new car yesterday I had to celebrate. Every time the wife and I have to spend a lot of money I usually have pretty good luck on the stream. When we had to pay north of a grand to fix up our puppy I landed two 20+ inch trout. Last night proved similar.

After landing a few smaller trout this skinny trout hit! He put up a solid fight but didn't spook the pool.

Next I hooked and briefly landed this 20+ inch beast! I didn't bring the net so I scooped him up with one hand while I reached for my camera with the other. I held him out of the water for a split second before he slipped out of my hand and flopped into the water, snapping my line. I snapped a few pics like the one above before he swam off.

 

This finally, this guy took the fly and put up a great fight. I'd guess he measured around 18 inches. After landing a few more dinks I decided to call it a night. All fish came on a size 14 Pink Squirrel of Prey fished on the bottom. When I got home I check my schedule and found no plans for today. What else would I do but go fishing!

 I texted my buddy Jesse whose a spin fisherman and he was down to fish. We decided on a death march deep into trout territory.

Before long I landed this nice brownie from an unsuspecting lie. He put up a great little fight and because I had the net he was easy to land. This fish, along with all of the trout I caught today, came on a pink San Juan Worm.

This decent little guy came out of the water pictured behind me. It was interesting to see the water levels drop and the water clear throughout the day. We had a great stain on the water which definitely helped conceal us from the fishes view.

We put in a few miles of hiking and fishing. A decent number of fish came to hand but it was not as fast and furious as I hoped it would be. I will be unable to fish for the next week but hopefully I'll build a rod or two and restock my fly box!

Two New Builds and A Couple Trouts

It's been a busy few weeks yet between work, family, building rods, and tying flies I managed to get out a few precious times. Weather has been rough on the trout recently with air temps in the 90's and flash flood conditions on a few local streams.

This rod is one of the few that kept me off the streams. It's available now at Whitewater Valley Flies. It's a 9ft 4wt built on a fast tip blank. I took it out in the yard and again I really want to keep it! Only $175.00! I also found a great deal on a kit so I purchased it and scratch the hell out of the blank while working on it. Rather than sell it I decided I'd keep it as a streamer/big hopper rod. It's a 9ft 6wt built on a medium/fast blank. I took that one out last night and although I only had 5 wt line it cast pretty darn well!

After fishing with this rod I purchased another of the same setup which should be available within a few weeks. If anyone has any interest in having a custom rod built hit me up!

 Unfortunately the last couple times I've fished it's been shortly after some strong rains. On this day the stream was running high and muddy. I fished a small streamer and landed a number of averaged sized browns.

 I spotted a few rings in a wide, deep pool and cast a cream colored comparadun mayfly pattern at it. The fly disappeared and I set the hook. At first it seemed like I hooked a log. A few seconds after the hook set I could tell that I had something, not a fish though. As I pulled it near this is what I saw!

A dinner sized snapping turtle breached the surface a few times before I snapped the line. My first snapper on the fly! It was my first time fishing this stream this year and I hoped to have much better luck. Yesterday I found much better conditions. We had a full day of heavy rains on Saturday and the stream appeared to benefit significantly from the flush. Silt was washed out leaving exposed rock on the previously mucky bottom. Weeds were thinned out and areas with log jams were washed out.

I started with the streamer and landed a good number of fish. Soon after losing my streamer I settled on the pink squirrel of prey.

A brookie!

This guy and another decent trout came from the same deep pool. They both put up a great fight on the new 6wt and I am satisfied with how it handled. I spotted a quick hatch of some type of light colored mayfly around size 18 but couldn't capture one to ID. Hoppers are beginning to hop and a few fish took 'em off the water as I walked through. Within a week or two the locust sized hopper patterns should start to take the bigguns! Stay tuned...

New Build

Check it out over at Whitewater Valley Flies!

And coming soon...

They're just waiting for a finish coat on the thread wraps!