Point Four: Small Stream, Big Trout

May 29th, 2024

This week, as runoff ravages on making the usual rivers I go to unfishable, I decided to go a bit more off the beaten path and try fishing a high-altitude lake a couple hours away from the city. I left midafternoon so I knew I only had a few hours to work with once I reached the lake so I booked it down the highway just about as fast as I legally could. Once I reached the turnoff for the lake, a 17-mile unpaved-but-well-maintained road lay before me meandering through a meadow flanked by lush forest land and red rock cliffs. Despite all this beauty, what most caught my attention was a beautiful stream that zig-zagged back and forth across the meadow. The stream

was free-stone, had a lot of vegetation surrounding it and apparently missed the memo that spring runoff had started as the water was still somewhat transparent albeit a little tainted in color.

The road to the lake ran parallel to the

stream and admittedly I probably spent more time glancing at the water than I was focused on the road while driving. Initially I planned to skip all the potential fishing access spots in favor of continuing the trip to the lake but as I noticed more and more of the undercut banks, gentle riffles and swirling eddies that could be teeming with fish my interest in dipping my line into this gorgeous little river began to take hold. I pulled off at a site where I saw some fish rising in some still water, donned my waders and assembled my pole.

I excitedly walked up to the river and began strategizing my approach. There was a beaver dam about 100 yards down river which resulted in the flat water and a steep descent down a muddy bank to the water. Caddis flies were also buzzing around in an astounding abundance which made my choice in which fly to use unmistakable. I quickly cut loose the stone fly from last week and tied on a size 18 elk hair caddis and quietly descended the bank and dipped into the water. Good sized appearing fish were slurping off the surface up and down this stretch of river as I casted upstream into the leisurely current. On my second cast there was a deep

sounding gulp off the top of the water where the fly once was and the hook was set. The fish put out some great runs, frantically swimming up and down the stream and stripping line away from my reel only a truly decent sized trout could. After an exciting minute, the fish began tuckering out and finally floated up allowing me to net it. It was a beautiful brown just over 16 inches in length. I was pleasantly surprised by its size; this was a smaller stream right around the 50-60 CFS caliber and thought most of the fish would have been quite a bit smaller.

I eagerly released my first catch and started casting again, expecting similarly instant success. However as if the fish swam off Paul Revere style warning all the other fish in this stretch that trouble was afoot, fishing went cold. After catching this first fish I didn't see so much as a rise

from a fish anywhere in sight. I wasn't sure if the all-over-the-river nature of the

fight spooked away all the fish or if the school of trout simply stopped feeding. Either way it really tapered down my excitement as time went on. I eventually tied on a dropper to the dry fly in the form of a size 20 zebra midge hoping some depth might do the trick in triggering a bite. After a few more minutes I caught another, somewhat smaller brown about 12 inches in length but about as feisty as the first. I decided to try another spot and packed up in favor of some faster flowing water, thinking I may have find some action upstream.

I drove a couple more miles up road and parked in an access point where the water appeared to be flowing more freely. Here the river was more narrow, averaging about 15-20 feet across bank to bank and about a foot in depth. Tall trees surrounded one side of the stream and thick brush conformed around the other side, making for some difficult casting and more technical fishing overall. I walked

up the river, covering what felt like just about every square foot of water where the

fly would float. The caddis hatch was still very present, and almost suffocating in certain parts, where you'd imagine a deep breath in would inhale a bug or two. Despite the nice water, good structure along the banks and a very healthy hatch of insects, I didn't see any fish rising anywhere, let alone any fish to take interest in my fly.

The slow fishing dulled my enthusiasm a little, but it was still really nice to be out on a beautiful day in complete solitude on an idyllic stream. After about three hours fishing I didn't see any other anglers, or people in general. On the drive to the lake I only saw one other car. It was the perfect conditions for a day on the water.

When the afternoon drew to a close and the sun dipped below the mountains I decided I should call it a day and waded back down river to where my truck was parked. I felt a few more casts in me once I reached the point in the river where the access point led to and fished a few extra minutes. I wasn't having much hope of catching any other fish at this point and thought I'd just enjoy the serenity of the moment and allowing my mind to go blank as muscle memory took over my casts. On one particular cast upstream the fly contoured up and down the waves of the riffles when a small pop off the top water was seen prompting me to set the hook.

The take was so subtle I thought it was a small fish snatching the fly off the surface.

Once the fish led out a nice steady pull and a began thrashing however I knew I was in for a fight. The fish was all over the river similar to the first fish of the day and breached the water twice, leaping several feet out of the water where I fully realized it was a fairly big fish. After plunging back into the water, it pulled my line up river and dangerously to the edge of an undercut bank. At any second I thought the line would wrap around a submerged stick or log and break free. Luckily the line kept the same tension and after a couple minute fight that felt like an eternity the fish started showing some signs of exertion. It was pulled to the surface but still jerking a fair amount just out of reach of my net. I definitely lost my cool in my eagerness to net the beautiful fish and rapidly moved closer into the river to finish the fight and secure my catch. In me doing so I slid on the muddy bank and fully fell onto my side into the water making myself totally wet, but somehow managed to still slide the net over the fish. It was an amazing, euphoric finish to the day I couldn't have been happier about. This fish was in the 17-18 inch range but I didn't bother digging out my measuring tape and released it right away after a quick picture. Today went to prove you never know what to expect out of a small stream with such nice sized fish.

I basked in the pleasantness of the day and moment before returning back to my truck. It was a great outing and a place I will surely return back to later in the summer. It was ironic the one place I intended to go being the lake I never reached, but that will be an adventure for another day.

I caught two 16+ inch brown trout today, satisfying another point off the Legendary Angler program. As of now I have four points and 96 to go.