Got out for the general opener (one day late) today with @ColinShots. We didn't have high hopes with rivers still running a bit high and cold especially with the heat last week melting snow off but then temps dropping again this week. Our goal was to scout out a tributary that's been closed for as long as I've known it but has recently reopened (does that EVER happen?!). So while we weren't terribly optimistic for today, we were optimistic for the future since it's had zero pressure forever and on top of that the road adjacent to it is closed indefinitely. Now keep in mind we were totally happy catching 6" fish all day so our expectations are still somewhat low.
While we didn't rope any hogs, I landed a fish that was probably just about as big as my biggest fish caught in the mainstem of this system but both of us got broken off by significantly bigger fish.
I was fishing this bucket here with a hot head leech and a fish swiped at it and then the next cast it broke me off. I'm still buzzing from it.
Then within 30 seconds @ColinShots hooks up with what looked to be a 12-14" fish (a real hog for this zone) and after one big jump broke him off. We were both riding a high. We hiked a bit further back up and decided to try the hole again on our way back. I saw that Colin hooked up in the same zone but next thing I see was him neck deep in the creek. He still landed the fish and naturally we called it after that.
He's a wet boy.
So excited to get back to this creek and explore it as it comes back into shape (it was up about 100% from last week) and warms up a bit (it was about 50 degrees). I fished a couple of sweet small glass rods: a Barclay 6'8 wt and a 7' parabolic 4 wt.
While we didn't rope any hogs, I landed a fish that was probably just about as big as my biggest fish caught in the mainstem of this system but both of us got broken off by significantly bigger fish.
I was fishing this bucket here with a hot head leech and a fish swiped at it and then the next cast it broke me off. I'm still buzzing from it.
Then within 30 seconds @ColinShots hooks up with what looked to be a 12-14" fish (a real hog for this zone) and after one big jump broke him off. We were both riding a high. We hiked a bit further back up and decided to try the hole again on our way back. I saw that Colin hooked up in the same zone but next thing I see was him neck deep in the creek. He still landed the fish and naturally we called it after that.
He's a wet boy.So excited to get back to this creek and explore it as it comes back into shape (it was up about 100% from last week) and warms up a bit (it was about 50 degrees). I fished a couple of sweet small glass rods: a Barclay 6'8 wt and a 7' parabolic 4 wt.
