Point Three: Some speckled browns always make the day worth it

May 21st, 2024

My fishing experience today turned out much different than what I had planned. I had wanted to explore a reservoir that was supposed to hold a good variety of trout but one of the major highways leading to the lake was inexplicably closed, creating an additional two hours of driving time had I wanted to take an alternate route. I drove up to the roadblock which presented as a literal and metaphorical fork in the road as to where I should fish instead. Right next to the roadblock was a

large reservoir that I knew held trout but I was unsure as to how reputable of a

fishery it was. My only other option was to backtrack and fish the beautiful-but-blown out Blue Ribbon river that paralleled the road up and was the tailwater for the reservoir. Intimidated by the runoff, I decided to take my chances fishing the lake.

The conditions were beautiful on the lake with clear skies, a slight breeze and warming temperatures. The latter of which made me worried the fish went to deeper, cooler water and not accessible from shore. I began fishing with a white streamer and almost instantly got a hit on a slow retrieve off a rocky drop-off, it was a good-sized rainbow from the looks of it and fought it for a few seconds before the fly popped out of its mouth in the usual heart-breaking fashion. I then proceeded to get thoroughly skunked for the next two hours wading up and down the shoreline. There were a few fish that kept rising about 100 yards offshore I noticed beyond the range of my casts as if they were taunting me. After not having any luck and the early afternoon breeze and heat setting in I decided to move on to the next place and give the river just downstream a shot.

I arrived at a place on the river I haven't fished yet and was pleasantly surprised to see clear water even though the water was running high from runoff. I walked

along a path parallel to the river until I found a stretch that appeared slow enough that would hold some feeding fish. Wading out to a spot, I saw a large stonefly atop a boulder that gave me a good indication on which pattern to fish. I threw on a few feet of 6x tippet to the leader and strung up a size 10 stone fly below an indicator. The spot I chose held a slow current nestled where the main channel of the river diverged into two swift currents, it seemed like a place where fish would seek refuge from the fast water and feed more peacefully.

I casted into the stretch of water I was targeting, about 25 feet away upstream before letting the fly and indicator make its lazy descent towards me. After a few minutes it seemed as if I was at the appropriate depth near the bottom as I snagged a few loose branches which gave my heart a good rise thinking they were fish at first. When my indicator drifted just past me off one of the casts it submerged quickly and disappeared into the depths in a way

that felt unmistakable that it had to be a fish. It was a decent 14 inch brown which put up a great fight and was netted quickly. With the first fish caught, I always feel a sense of relief knowing I wasn't getting skunked and fished a little more carefree afterwards. I stayed in the same run and working it like a grid, catching an additional 3 browns all slightly smaller than the first, between 12-13 inches.

After a quick flurry of catching some fish is when the day slowed for me. I netted four fish and if it weren't for the benchmark I made for the Angler program I created of getting a point for catching 5 brown trout at 12+ inches I probably would have gone home for the day. However I was determined to catch that fifth and final brown for the day. I embarked a little more up river and after another hour of fruitless casts I noticed an eddy off a swift current where a school of fish were rising. I couldn't tell what they were feeding on but saw some tiny flies buzzing around the water and thought a tiny 24 sized midge may be for their liking. I worked this water for a few minutes with the fish pretty astute at knowing my fly wasn't a food source. Just when I thought of switching it up however I had a taker. A violent splash on top water and the fight was on. The fish made several valiant runs including one where it plunged down river with the current that made me think the line would snap at any second but thankfully it held out and the final fish was caught, a nice and healthy 13-inch brown.

I left the water triumphant from the final catch and enjoyed a great drive home. This day felt like it was exactly what I needed after a stressful week at work, days spent on the river like this can feel so therapeutic and cleansing for the soul.

On to the next challenge, 97 more points to go...