It seems like every time I get to fish with my kid something epic happens. Last year we made this trip at the same time of year. It was was the best day we’d ever had together, this year’s trip was even better. Some of the most epic eats, big fish, lots of them and several crazy encounters that rarely happen. It was like a season of events happened in one day.
The day started off with an amazing drake hatch and we took turns filming/ fishing while we systematically picked off riser’s from the bottom of the run to the top. We were in no rush and we were having a blast watching each other catch 16-18” fish that were eating in oily current like they had been looking for our flies all day. Slow, head tipped back, confident eats that you can see coming from a distance…very high stoke!
We traded back and forth between fishing and filming. It took an entire GoPro battery and almost 2 hours to fish the whole thing. I have no idea how many fish we caught but we could have gone home after that stretch and felt satisfied. Of course we didn’t end the day there
As we approached the next good run we picked up where we left off on the last run with our rotation. One of the things we figured out along the way was that the fish were eating the drakes in that oily slicker water but they were eating the stone fly in the heavier current. Rather than switching back and forth based on the type of water we both tied on a big stone with a drake behind it.
My son picked off the first fish at the bottom of the run on his first cast. That fish was the first cutthroat I have seen that might have been larger in diameter than length.
We worked our way to the head of the run and it was my turn to cast! At this point I’m expecting to catch a fish every time I lay one down. It was that kind of day. I wasn’t expecting what was about to happen.
That fish ate the stone fly (top fly) in really REALLY heavy water. I had seen him feeding before I cast to him. I knew he was a big fish but I wasn’t sure how big. I was able to back him out of the heavy current into some slow water. Out of nowhere comes another fish of equal to greater size and that fish appears to be attacking the fish I have hooked. My son is filming all of this happening in gin clear water right at our feet. We’re both trying to figure out what’s going on and before we know it, both fish are hooked! The other fish wasn’t attacking my fish, he was trying to eat the dropper fly and he got it! I had both of these fish buttoned up for all of 10 seconds before the fish on the dropper broke off. It was one of those things you just don’t see very often. I have doubled up a couple times in my life but not like that and not on fish of that size! It was quite an experience.
We had some amazing eats, LOTS of big fish, we caught some fish of unique beautiful color, the numbers were silly, and the scenery of N. Idaho never disappoints. The best part was sharing that experience with my all time favorite fishing partner. Could end up going down as our best fishing day of all time.
The day started off with an amazing drake hatch and we took turns filming/ fishing while we systematically picked off riser’s from the bottom of the run to the top. We were in no rush and we were having a blast watching each other catch 16-18” fish that were eating in oily current like they had been looking for our flies all day. Slow, head tipped back, confident eats that you can see coming from a distance…very high stoke!
We traded back and forth between fishing and filming. It took an entire GoPro battery and almost 2 hours to fish the whole thing. I have no idea how many fish we caught but we could have gone home after that stretch and felt satisfied. Of course we didn’t end the day there
As we approached the next good run we picked up where we left off on the last run with our rotation. One of the things we figured out along the way was that the fish were eating the drakes in that oily slicker water but they were eating the stone fly in the heavier current. Rather than switching back and forth based on the type of water we both tied on a big stone with a drake behind it.
My son picked off the first fish at the bottom of the run on his first cast. That fish was the first cutthroat I have seen that might have been larger in diameter than length.
We worked our way to the head of the run and it was my turn to cast! At this point I’m expecting to catch a fish every time I lay one down. It was that kind of day. I wasn’t expecting what was about to happen.
That fish ate the stone fly (top fly) in really REALLY heavy water. I had seen him feeding before I cast to him. I knew he was a big fish but I wasn’t sure how big. I was able to back him out of the heavy current into some slow water. Out of nowhere comes another fish of equal to greater size and that fish appears to be attacking the fish I have hooked. My son is filming all of this happening in gin clear water right at our feet. We’re both trying to figure out what’s going on and before we know it, both fish are hooked! The other fish wasn’t attacking my fish, he was trying to eat the dropper fly and he got it! I had both of these fish buttoned up for all of 10 seconds before the fish on the dropper broke off. It was one of those things you just don’t see very often. I have doubled up a couple times in my life but not like that and not on fish of that size! It was quite an experience.
We had some amazing eats, LOTS of big fish, we caught some fish of unique beautiful color, the numbers were silly, and the scenery of N. Idaho never disappoints. The best part was sharing that experience with my all time favorite fishing partner. Could end up going down as our best fishing day of all time
.
