6 weeks later
- Thread starter swimmy
- Start date
Did you fish?Crazy
swimmy
An honest tune with a lingering lead
Yep. I’ll type up a report in the next few days.
Bruce Baker
Steelhead
Great photo!
swimmy
An honest tune with a lingering lead
Quick update. Initially the wife and I brought the camper down last Saturday to catch Ryan Bingham. The next day we'd get out t for a float. But this site was so bad a$$ I found it hard to leave.
So I decided to stay and the mission became to see how the river had been affected by the flood. And to stick a good one on a dry.
River looked great in the valley One of my favorite put-ins is no longer there as the river took it out. There are some new bars created from deposited cobble, and a few new runs that we didn't have last year. Flows are still a bit high coming so in another couple weeks we'll get a better look at how she'll end up. With over 350 structures damaged or destroyec, sucks for those affected. But this might end up being a good thing for the fish.
As for fishing, the dry fly bite was slow...at least big dries. It was also hot during the day with temps topping out in the low 90's. The bobber guys were picking them up and while I did throw a streamer around for a bit, I pretty much stayed committed to the dry. I hadn't put many in the net and found that really there was only about an hour or two first thing in the morning that they would really look up. Even the evening bite was slow for me.
Being that today is my last day here, I decided to get up early and try to be on the water before sunrise. As I was driving down, I stopped to grab a shot from one of my favorite views in the upper valley. Not the greatest sunrise, not the worst. But I love early mornings.
I got to my spot and rigged up. There are midnight stone shucks on the banks so I know there are stone flies around. I started working up river with a Water Walker and immediately hooked into a nice one. But such as my luck has been the past month or so, the line went limp. Crap. The eat was cool but would've liked to have put that one in the net. I have missed a LOT of big fish this year on the dry. Weird.
Anyway, kept working upstream until I got to the high bank and had to turn around. Landed a couple of dinks but nothing too exciting. I switched to a purple chubby and worked back downstream to my truck.
At the bridge there is a nice bucket just upstream and I wanted to hit it one last time before I called it. Sun was getting up and bite had been slow. I made a cast across the head of the bucket and twitched/skated the fly through just going through the motions. Sure as shit, a decent brown completely jumped out of the water and nailed my fly. Oh hell yeah It was on. I fought him for a bit and managed to get 'em to the net.
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I'll take that fish any day on a dry, much less bottom of the 9th and down to my last strike. What a great way to end the week. Now I don't want to leave but I'll be spending more time over here in the coming weeks/months and will have more to share about some of the changes to river. Crazy though what these fish can survive.
Just for reference, here is the same bridge six weeks ago.
So I decided to stay and the mission became to see how the river had been affected by the flood. And to stick a good one on a dry.
River looked great in the valley One of my favorite put-ins is no longer there as the river took it out. There are some new bars created from deposited cobble, and a few new runs that we didn't have last year. Flows are still a bit high coming so in another couple weeks we'll get a better look at how she'll end up. With over 350 structures damaged or destroyec, sucks for those affected. But this might end up being a good thing for the fish.
As for fishing, the dry fly bite was slow...at least big dries. It was also hot during the day with temps topping out in the low 90's. The bobber guys were picking them up and while I did throw a streamer around for a bit, I pretty much stayed committed to the dry. I hadn't put many in the net and found that really there was only about an hour or two first thing in the morning that they would really look up. Even the evening bite was slow for me.
Being that today is my last day here, I decided to get up early and try to be on the water before sunrise. As I was driving down, I stopped to grab a shot from one of my favorite views in the upper valley. Not the greatest sunrise, not the worst. But I love early mornings.
I got to my spot and rigged up. There are midnight stone shucks on the banks so I know there are stone flies around. I started working up river with a Water Walker and immediately hooked into a nice one. But such as my luck has been the past month or so, the line went limp. Crap. The eat was cool but would've liked to have put that one in the net. I have missed a LOT of big fish this year on the dry. Weird.
Anyway, kept working upstream until I got to the high bank and had to turn around. Landed a couple of dinks but nothing too exciting. I switched to a purple chubby and worked back downstream to my truck.
At the bridge there is a nice bucket just upstream and I wanted to hit it one last time before I called it. Sun was getting up and bite had been slow. I made a cast across the head of the bucket and twitched/skated the fly through just going through the motions. Sure as shit, a decent brown completely jumped out of the water and nailed my fly. Oh hell yeah It was on. I fought him for a bit and managed to get 'em to the net.
I'll take that fish any day on a dry, much less bottom of the 9th and down to my last strike. What a great way to end the week. Now I don't want to leave but I'll be spending more time over here in the coming weeks/months and will have more to share about some of the changes to river. Crazy though what these fish can survive.
Just for reference, here is the same bridge six weeks ago.
swimmy
An honest tune with a lingering lead
Awesome day with a good buddy.
Stuck an absolute toad...and got 'em on a dry. Didn't see the fish but he was sitting in a shallow run. Drifted a purple chubby over the top, saw him submarine, open up that big mouth, and it was on. Just an absolute perfect trout.
.jpg)
Sticking a big brown on a big dry is about as good as it gets round here. Stoked.
Stuck an absolute toad...and got 'em on a dry. Didn't see the fish but he was sitting in a shallow run. Drifted a purple chubby over the top, saw him submarine, open up that big mouth, and it was on. Just an absolute perfect trout.
Sticking a big brown on a big dry is about as good as it gets round here. Stoked.
Bruce Baker
Steelhead
Very, very nice fish!!
Beautiful fish! That mouth.....well done waiting long enough to set the hook. Big mouths like that are easy to pull a dry right out of.
And.....of course........nice hoody
And.....of course........nice hoody
swimmy
An honest tune with a lingering lead
Beautiful fish! That mouth.....well done waiting long enough to set the hook. Big mouths like that are easy to pull a dry right out of.
And.....of course........nice hoody
Yeah, we call it buck fever. It is hard sometimes to be patient but I stick 'em right in the top of the mouth.
I've put a lot of days this year throwing around the big dry and while I've hooked some good ones just haven't been able to get them in the net. I feel that one was earned.
