On May 27th we hit the river for probably the 4th time. We had caught fish on previous trips but had not really found the big hogs we were lusting for. Here are some of the pics from our May trip.
Our next trip to this river was on July 5th which has to be the latest into the year I have ever fished it. Usually the run off is over and the fish are moving back down river by now but with all the water and snow pack the river has stayed and so did the fish. In fact as the spawn ended we saw more life on the water than ever before too. So on July 5th, Jack and I helped setup girls camp for his wife and then headed to the river. By the time we got there it was noon. Our plan was to fish until dark or until we were sick of fishing. Jack's dad and friend Roy were already there and had some numbers already. From noon until around 3 it was slow but steady. About a fish every 30 min or so. We weren't killing them. I wandered down to the pond and caught my first flush over chub and a Lake Trout. About that time the fish in the pond were really starting to rise to bugs on the water and I wanted SOOOO bad to catch one of these pigs on a dry fly. I switched to dries and studied the water. It looked like caddis and I have seen lots of Golden Stones around so I put on a dry golden stone and an elk hair caddis. The main run of rising fish was just at the edge of my casting ability. After about 30 minutes I fooled one. It was game on. Landing that 19" bow with an elk hair caddis in its mouth was a good feat when that pond offers plenty of water for the fish to just swim away from you. It took a while to wear out the fish and bring it to hand. It was so much fun that I wanted it to keep going, but the fish kept giving my flies the middle finger (or fin). A few rejections and it was getting a little frustrating. As the sun was slowly dropping on the skyline I had brought 3 to hand on dries. Lost 2 others and suffered the pains of trying to find that secret fly that they wouldn't be able to resist. As the action on the surface slowed I finally noticed a different bug that I previously thought was a golden stone. I managed to catch one and to my surprise...... Brown Drake mayfly. HUGE BROWN DRAKE MAYFLY in fact. How did I miss this??? I started seeing more and more. As I closely watched I came to realize that most of the rings were the fish backs as they arched to head back down. I believe they were focusing on the emerging drakes or ones that had drowned. To add salt to my wound on my ego I didn't even have any Brown drake patterns in my boxes. I sat on the bank and was feeling ready to call it a day. That is when Jack started sticking fish in a stretch of water that we normally walk past. I watched - more dejected than ever - as he caught 3 or 4. Then he told me to rig back up for nymphs and get my butt back on the water. I gave in and re-rigged for nymphs. The fly that Jack told me was his secret...... Copper John. I laughed...... you know how long it has been since a copper john caught a fish for me??? Forever!!! But it made sense. Golden Stones on the water all morning..... Drakes this afternoon..... I could see how in fading light this would work. We stayed until it was too dark to see. We killed them for the last 90 minutes of daylight. Including a 23" buck that I brought to hand that made the whole damn thing worth the gas money. Love this stretch of water.
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| 18" Bow on a dry |
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| I know the bandana is sexy but if you saw all the mosquito bites I had on my hands you would understand why I had to cover my neck!!! It saved me. |
AND FINALLY.....
A few weeks after our July 5th trip, Jack's friend Roy sent me a text. It said something about a picture I had to see. When I finally got the picture it was seriously unbelievable. This is why we fly fish - for the chance to go to battle with a fish like the one Roy brought to net. This is probably a flush over fish from the upper reservoir but who the hell cares. This is fish porn at its finest. Wish I had been there in person.
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| Yes... he let it go. It is still haunting my dreams!! |
