To give you a gauge on how today went, I pulled into the campground with the same flies I had on when I left. That is equivalent to golfing 18 holes without losing your ball. Bugs were hatching off the water continuously. The girls were pointing out different bugs, flipping rocks over, and finding all the little nymphs. Charlie came along and had a nice leisurely swim through some of the beautiful runs I had yet to fish. Regardless, I had a wonderful day on the water. The last fish I caught was a little brookie, a rare find in this creek but they are there.
First wet wade of the year, ditching the waders and boots is a luxury for me. The girls joined me in wading, they are getting more and more confident with themselves, needing me less. Taking care of business, snickers and PB&Js are our fuel for days like this.
Dry fly season is upon us and boy do I love it. Watching those trout come up and sip your perfectly presented fly is just so rewarding. Most of the fish I caught took the fly within the first second of it being on the water, catching me off guard. After about 3 missed opportunities I caught on quickly and paid more attention. I was pulling 3 or 4 fish out of each run which is rare considering the clarity of the water. One brown had red spots on its dorsal fin which I've never seen before. The others just had such pretty designs and coloration's on their adipose fin. Like I said before in my other post each fish is truly unique.
Since my visit last week the water had dropped significantly. Kind of concerning considering how much rain this area has had and how early it is in the season. Soon we will only be able to fish in the morning and afternoon because of water temperatures. Once temperatures reach over 70 degrees the trout are extremely stressed and even catch and release can be deadly at that point. Trout are not like warm water fish and are somewhat delicate. That is why it is important to return them as soon as possible, especially on those warmer days. With the water dropping, soon these fish will start getting more pressure as flocks of tourists come to disrupt their ecosystems. Conservation is vital to their existence.
I've gotten to watch these fish grow in this little creek over the past few years. Not five years ago most of them were so small it wasn't much fun. Now that they've been given a chance to thrive and grow it has really become a spectacular stream to fish. I'm sure once they get a year or two older the word will get out and the entire stream will be stripped of life. The way of the human.
We keep searching for our little diamonds in the rough, but more and more people keep showing up. The whole jeep and quad scene is really big in this area and they have no problem destroying the land with them. Soon we will run out of places to do that. So when you are visiting a park or forest, make sure to STAY ON THE ROAD and don't have your posse of 5 quads going "off-road" on the vital vegetation our forests provide. There a literally hundreds of miles of designated trails...but you know....tearing up that gorgeous field that the elk and deer graze is just so fun.
