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The weekend before last I dusted off my old 70's vintage Fenwick glass rod and got out chasing some blue lines for dry fly action. The river I left home for was running slightly high, but clear and fishable. After some scrutiny I saw a fish or two rising along the edges for a sparse caddis hatch. Using a elk hair caddis, I explored what I could reach with minimal results. Fish were rising across river, but it was just slightly too high to cross safely. I left after an hour to explore new reaches of a freestone I figured would be more wadable. It was wadable, but I couldn't find a fish to save my life. I have really good action along this stretch in lower water, so the scouting trip was well worth it. I have three new spots along the lower west fork alone.
I went back to a section of the main river, above most of the run-off tribs that I hoped would prove better than the lower section. I waded through a promising run casting my elk hair with only one missed rise. I was reeling in to give up when I looked at the run I had just fished, only to see rises everywhere, right where I had just waded through. In the instant I had turned my back, a mayfly hatch popped off. Seconds after I declared a stretch fishless they popped up by the dozen. For just under an hour I enjoyed spectacular action on my favorite all-round mayfly pattern, the old school H.L. Variant. In the midst I even noticed huge hexes coming off the water. I tried hard to capture one for a pic, but they were scarce and stayed just out of reach. I landed just over a dozen small wild redbands on dries, one brookie, saw tons of nature including: deer, moose, eagles, one angry ass beaver, and a close up wolf track. I learned the next day they trapped a wolf in the same drainage the same day at 23 mile. I was at 30 mile when I got the grey wolf track.
I went back to a section of the main river, above most of the run-off tribs that I hoped would prove better than the lower section. I waded through a promising run casting my elk hair with only one missed rise. I was reeling in to give up when I looked at the run I had just fished, only to see rises everywhere, right where I had just waded through. In the instant I had turned my back, a mayfly hatch popped off. Seconds after I declared a stretch fishless they popped up by the dozen. For just under an hour I enjoyed spectacular action on my favorite all-round mayfly pattern, the old school H.L. Variant. In the midst I even noticed huge hexes coming off the water. I tried hard to capture one for a pic, but they were scarce and stayed just out of reach. I landed just over a dozen small wild redbands on dries, one brookie, saw tons of nature including: deer, moose, eagles, one angry ass beaver, and a close up wolf track. I learned the next day they trapped a wolf in the same drainage the same day at 23 mile. I was at 30 mile when I got the grey wolf track.
. Who is dis man!?! He fishes too much! His trip reports are too good! How does he maintain this seemingly perfect trout bum lifestyle while I toil away, fishing much more rarely than i'd like!?! I've even seen trip reports where he is with an attractive woman (I'm assuming his wife/girlfriend) who ALSO fishes. Are you kidding me? Who is dis man!?!
