But a good one. Yesterday I had planned to visit a nearby creek in the afternoon but got delayed as it looked like a storm was blowing in. The area I was planning to visit was covered with thick black clouds and it looked like there was little sense in making the drive. I went back to work repairing damage that was done by the heavy snows of last winter. When I reached a stopping point I looked up at the mountains and the clouds had completely disappeared, it was time to go!
I have been checking on the creek for weeks now and watched the flow recede from a whitewater torrent down to what is now above average flow but very fishable. This was my 5th trip up and previous trips had produced very little, I was beginning to wonder where all the cutthroat had gone. The stream is much different now after the floods with some great holding water having been filled in, some nice runs now being long shallow riffles. One real nice pool that Freestone did quite well in last year was now so shallow that the bottom was visible.
Arriving late, I was only able to fish about 200 yards of water, it was near dusk and this is grizzly and black bear country. No one was around so I didn't want to venture too far by myself. The first run yielded nothing although I expected some action based on past experience. Moving down to another likely spot I hooked 3 fish on a parachute Adams but surprisingly all 3 LDR'd. I moved down to another great looking run and on the first cast hooked a 17'' cutthroat-a monster in this small stream. Soon another cutt about 14'', another around 12'' and then a 15 incher-all exceptionally large for this stream. That is about a season's worth of decent fish in a stream where the average is around 11''. The last fish of the day was a brilliantly colored brown of 14'' that was really a surprise.
There is much water to explore and Freestone will be here in a few days and we will hit all of it. We will have to learn the stream all over as it has changed so much, some new channels having formed downstream that hold some promise. I'm excited to see what is in store once we get away from the road and into more rugged territory. Last year on her birthday Sue probably caught about 30 fish and had more fun than catching 100 in a lake. I'm hoping for similar results this year.
I have been checking on the creek for weeks now and watched the flow recede from a whitewater torrent down to what is now above average flow but very fishable. This was my 5th trip up and previous trips had produced very little, I was beginning to wonder where all the cutthroat had gone. The stream is much different now after the floods with some great holding water having been filled in, some nice runs now being long shallow riffles. One real nice pool that Freestone did quite well in last year was now so shallow that the bottom was visible.
Arriving late, I was only able to fish about 200 yards of water, it was near dusk and this is grizzly and black bear country. No one was around so I didn't want to venture too far by myself. The first run yielded nothing although I expected some action based on past experience. Moving down to another likely spot I hooked 3 fish on a parachute Adams but surprisingly all 3 LDR'd. I moved down to another great looking run and on the first cast hooked a 17'' cutthroat-a monster in this small stream. Soon another cutt about 14'', another around 12'' and then a 15 incher-all exceptionally large for this stream. That is about a season's worth of decent fish in a stream where the average is around 11''. The last fish of the day was a brilliantly colored brown of 14'' that was really a surprise.
There is much water to explore and Freestone will be here in a few days and we will hit all of it. We will have to learn the stream all over as it has changed so much, some new channels having formed downstream that hold some promise. I'm excited to see what is in store once we get away from the road and into more rugged territory. Last year on her birthday Sue probably caught about 30 fish and had more fun than catching 100 in a lake. I'm hoping for similar results this year.
