My wife and I have been planning this trip for years. We finally checked it off our bucket list this past summer. We packed up our Sotar, a few rods and some dehydrated meals. It was a brutal ten hours on horseback traveling 30 miles over the mountain pass. We got to the confluence a few hours before dark. I hopped off the horse and waddled over to the pack horses to unload our raft and camping supplies. I was mentally and physically exhausted to the point where I couldn’t muster the energy to wet a line that evening. We quickly set up our tent and called it a night.
I woke up the next morning and immediately assembled my rod and tied on a purple haze. Words can’t describe how excellent the fishing was. Virtually every cast was rewarded with a beautiful Westslope Cutthroat. The fish weren’t particularly big in size but we’re hungry and feisty. Every fish managed to put a nice bend in my 4wt glass rod.
After the morning wade session, we packed up camp and leisurely started floating down the river. It took every ounce of restraint as I wanted to fish every run and hole. The fishing never slowed down that day. It was fish after fish no matter what pattern you tied on.
I got to the point where I was tying on random patterns to see if there was anything they wouldn’t eat..
By the end of day one I was tired of catching cutthroats on the dry. We lost count of the total within a few hours of launching the raft. I was determined to catch a 30” fish and shifted my focus on the elusive Bull Trout which are legal to target in this particular river. I switched over to my Sage X 7wt and proceeded to strip large (4-10”) double/triple articulated streamers through every hole we passed. I managed to catch some rather nice and somewhat larger (16-20”) cutthroats. I eventually tied on a triple articulated white Sex Dungeon and started swinging.
To be continued..
I woke up the next morning and immediately assembled my rod and tied on a purple haze. Words can’t describe how excellent the fishing was. Virtually every cast was rewarded with a beautiful Westslope Cutthroat. The fish weren’t particularly big in size but we’re hungry and feisty. Every fish managed to put a nice bend in my 4wt glass rod.
After the morning wade session, we packed up camp and leisurely started floating down the river. It took every ounce of restraint as I wanted to fish every run and hole. The fishing never slowed down that day. It was fish after fish no matter what pattern you tied on.
I got to the point where I was tying on random patterns to see if there was anything they wouldn’t eat..
By the end of day one I was tired of catching cutthroats on the dry. We lost count of the total within a few hours of launching the raft. I was determined to catch a 30” fish and shifted my focus on the elusive Bull Trout which are legal to target in this particular river. I switched over to my Sage X 7wt and proceeded to strip large (4-10”) double/triple articulated streamers through every hole we passed. I managed to catch some rather nice and somewhat larger (16-20”) cutthroats. I eventually tied on a triple articulated white Sex Dungeon and started swinging.
To be continued..
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