Reunited And It Feels...OK

I paid a visit to my Spring love to see if any big Browns had moved in with spawning on their minds.  I did not have high hopes as I knew the water would be low and fishing wouldn't be easy, if there were even any good fish in the stream. 

As I pulled up I was happy that I would be the first and probably the only angler on the water.  With this stream having a reputation for being prime grizzly habitat I decided I'd take two bear sprays with me.  Funny enough at the first spot I stopped to fish I found a brand new can of bear spray in the grass.  There was no decaying body attached to it so I was pretty happy to find a can of $50 bear spray.  Now armed with three cans of spray I figured I was as prepared as I could be for an encounter.

The water was low as expected and many weeds had grown high in the stream, making fishing even more challenging.  I fished a couple of likely spots with not so much as a fish being seen.  Then I watched a 20" Brown follow my streamer not once but twice.  I think he probably bit it once or twice without me feeling it unfortunately.  At least I knew there were a few good fish in the system. 

Shortly after witnessing that fish chase my offering I watched a Brown that would have gone 5lbs race down a run.  Now I knew I'd make a day of it here, even it meant getting skunked.  Luckily that didn't happen.  The first fish was a 17" Rainbow,  which surprised me a bit.  I don't know if it spent the summer in the stream or followed the Browns up out of the lake recently, but it was great to get on the board. 

I kept hard it with no success for a couple of hours.  I got to the spot where I lost a huge Brown in the spring and unfortunately it looked like an entirely different piece of water.  It was so low and slow that I didn't have high hopes I'd move a fish in it at all.  I cast towards a willow and made a few strips, actually taking my eye off what I was doing for a moment.  When I looked back a good Brown was eating my streamer. 

19.5" Brown

She was a beautiful, thick fish.  Surely there would be a few males fighting over the right to spawn with her in the coming weeks. 

As I fished up a little further I hear water being displaced rapidly upstream and look up to see a huge wake in the water.  I wondered if that was a huge Brown or perhaps a beaver.  As I stood and watched, two huge Browns swam by, nipping at each other.  Unfortunately they wouldn't slow down or stop and were gone in an instant.  Each was 22-25". 

Fishing my way out I caught one more Rainbow of 18".  A nice fish and nice to get another one for the day but not what I had come for.  I'm sure the allure of those few big fish will bring me back to see my love again before the season ends in 5 weeks.  While the chances of getting one of the few pigs in the stream are small, I can't resist the challenge...bears and all.

Wyoming Part II

I headed back down to Wyoming on Friday to enjoy what was possibly the last of our Indian Summer fishing my favorite freestone. 
Fishing was good with plenty of 15-19" fish landed and one Rainbow around 21" that broke off just as I was going to net it...oh well.  If you won them all it wouldn't be as fun, at least that's what I'm telling myself. 
There several Rainbows taken on hoppers like this one.

19" Rainbow

On Saturday morning I fished my new switch rod and swung streamers for a few hours.  It was great fun to practice this method of casting and fishing even if the catching wasn't great.  I only got two fish but this one was a beautiful male Cutthroat that was just under 20".  Believe it or not the Cutts in this drainage don't know they are supposed to roll over.  This fish actually put a bend in the 6wt switch rod. 

Big Cutt taken on the swing

I was fishing through some good looking water and not moving any fish kind of wondering what was up.  The shops in town claim that the fish are highly migratory in this river and sometimes just aren't where you expect.  I was guessing perhaps this was the answer until I saw this.

I've seen a few otters while fishing but never one this big or even this color.  Usually they are gray and about half as big.  This guy saw me, got in the water and keep popping up to take a look at what I was doing.  I suppose he was bigger than average because the river is full of bigger than average fish. 

All in all it was another successful trip and left me wanting to try and get back one more time before the snow flies.

Wyoming...Montana 50 Years Ago?

I spent a few days in Wyoming fishing my favorite freestone river and once again wasn't disappointed.  After having traveled to Canada recently, where the outfitters advertise that the fishing is like Montana was 50 years ago, I'd have to say that I'd rather fish Wyoming.  It is surely an overstatement to say that it is as good as Montana before it was discovered, but there is some fantastic fishing in Wyoming. 

Unfortunately the memo was leaked and there were plenty of other anglers on the water this time.  I fished the same water last September and found nothing but solitude and big, hot fish.  There were still plenty of good fish but I bumped into more anglers that I would have liked.  Unfortunately the two biggest fish that I hooked up were both lost.  One was a beautiful, technicolored Cutthroat that was 21-23" and thick.  I've honestly never had my butt kicked by a Cutthroat...until this guy got a hold of me.  I fought him for perhaps 2 or 3 minutes before he came unbuttoned.  He didn't break off, my drag was set stout, and I made him work for every inch of line he took...he just won the battle.  The other fish was a Rainbow of over 20" or so that I fought for several minutes and couldn't seem to get the upper hand.  I decided that rather than kill the fish by playing it to exhaustion I'd put my tippet to the test and shape my rod like a taco shell.  Unfortunately my tippet broke after 15 seconds of this and off he went. 

I did land this 20" Cuttbow on a hopper, which was cool.


20" of Fun

 If the weather holds I'll try to make another trip or two down that way this year.  Until then enjoy some random shots.

First fish of the trip 18" Cutt

This caterpillar was colored just like a tiger

First fish on the new switch rod--19" Rainbow

The only fish I was in a spot to lay down for a good picture...17" Rainbow

Wardner/Fernie British Columbia

I spent my birthday with my wife and dogs in Wardner, British Columbia last weekend.  I spent one day fishing the Elk River and one day fishing the Bull River.  I've read for years about how great the fishing is in this part of Canada with it often being described as what Montana was 50 years ago and had wanted to check it out for some time. 
This area is certainly beautiful and the fishing was good.  However, the reality didn't live up to the hyperbole.  The Elk was good fun and delivered up plenty of Cutthroat with a few being 17-18".  However, I had four guide boats cover the water I was on, including one who anchored across the side channel I was on and ate lunch, putting off the vibe that he would wait all day with his clients to fish this water.  I moved on as I had already taken 7 fish from the spot anyway.  There are many spots I fish regularly in Montana that I never see a guide boat on, let alone 4, and certainly I've never had a guide be such a douche bag as to anchor on the water I was fishing.  It was funny that when another guide floated by and asked this db how it was going he muttered, "Not good".  I doesn't surprise me that a guide who would park on a wade angler would also be so poor at his job that I would be catching lots of fish while he couldn't get his clients on any....but I digress.

On Saturday I fished the Bull River.  I was told it was a smaller river and gets much less traffic so thought it sounded good.  The river is beautiful and freezing cold.  It was smaller than the Elk but flowing at a steeper gradient and clearly colder.  I hiked up a canyon and found some beautiful water.  The Cutthroat were plentiful and willing to rise but unfortunately were not large.  The largest fish were 15" or so. 

All in all it was a good time but certainly it's no "Montana 50 years ago".  Fifty years ago it didn't cost $100 in license fees to fish for two days. 


First Canadian Fish--14" Cutthroat on a hopper



Spot where I started fishing the Elk



Elk River



Moreof the  Elk River

Nice 17" Elk River Cutthroat

18" Elk River Cutt

Underwater shot

Bull River

More of the Bull