Favorite Spring Fishing Spot

While summer is set to officially arrive on the calender tomorrow, here in the Northern Rockies it feels more like early spring.  We continue to have cool, wet weather and our rivers and streams continue to be mostly chocolate milk.  After 6 months of winter it does start to get old. 

There is however a stream that fishes best this time of year, in fact, in a normal year I might only fish it for the first few weeks in June.  This year it is over its banks and will likely hold fish well into July.  It is a stream that the local shops insist is crap.  They say it used to be good before the fires of 89, they say it isn't worth risking bumping into a bear or moose.  They say if you must go, take several fishing buddies and plan on seeing some pretty country but not catching any fish.  To be honest, on any given day all of this might be true.  I can spend a few hours there and wonder if there are any fish in it.  I've yet to run across a bear or moose but in all likelihood will at some point as the area is directly in a migratory corridor. 

However, on a good day, I get the stream all to myself and catch plenty of fish while experiencing one of the most beautiful places to fish that I know of.  The fish are not usually easy to come by but patience and persistence are rewarded with fish that average 18" and with virtually none under 16".  Meanwhile most anglers in the area are elbow to elbow on the Firehole vying for their chance to catch a 12" arsenic laced fish. 

This weekend I spent half of each day on this favorite spring time fishery and was rewarded for my labor.  Saturday I took my life into my hands and ventured out by myself.  While it started slow, when it finally got going, it was fantastic.  The smallest fish was a 17" Rainbow with the biggest being this 22.5" Brown that was pushing 5lbs. 

I was shocked when this fish took my offering as the fish in this stream are generally Rainbows 16"-19" with an occasional Brown in that range.  Had someone asked me to provide odds on landing a pig Brown in this spot they wouldn't have been high.  The fish fought hard, especially considering I was fishing my 3 wt, and with the stream having gone over it's banks it was a challenge landing it as even 50' from the edge of the stream the water was 12" deep.  I was able to scoop her up and run to the nearest spot I could lay her down, measure and photograph.  Needless to say I was pretty excited as 4-5lb fish are not a common occurrence, no matter what the fly shops would have you believe.  Let alone on this under appreciated, bear infested stream.

After hearing of my good fortune on Saturday my fishing buddy decided he'd use his Father's Day hall pass to head up to creek with me on Sunday.  Again, we had a slow start but we stuck with it and finally were rewarded with quality fish.  He didn't knock them dead but he did land a quality 19" Rainbow and I was able to get a dozen or so that maintained a solid 17" average.  Of course there was one that got away that I'd suppose was much bigger.  By the way it pulled, doubled over my rod, and promptly broke off I think it was a heavy fish.

With the summer bed and breakfast season in full force in our house I plan on hitting this little gem again next weekend.  Who am I kidding, I'll be back before then. 

19" Rainbow

Here are a few bonus shots of some mountain goats we had the pleasure of seeing at another spot.  As rare as these are to see, we've been fortunate enough to see this family last spring and this spring at the same spot.  Amazing animals to watch climb nearly vertical slopes.