MO Changes

As I leave the MO this morning, it's with a bit of a lump.  The proposed changes to the Wolf Creek Bridge access area and campsites are going to become a reality.  Wednesday, the fire pits and a couple of signs were removed, and FWP personnel told me camping was free.  On many of my fishing trips, its the places that I return to that keep me coming back.  Hell, a guy can catch a trout anywhere.  But this little place, though not particularly scenic and certainly not off the beaten path, has so many vivid memories over the decades.  Spot number one, which I get more often than not, has a perfect view of the river, the hatches, how many fish are rising, and the sky cover for the foreseeable future.

Seeing this place conjures up swarms of caddis over the bushes on summer evenings.  When you open the truck door, its full of 'em.  Same with the trailer.  Tricos covering the truck and trailer at dawn.  Days hunkered inside waiting out a storm.  Quick runs to Wolf Creek for ice and ice cream.  Summer wind storms trying to blow anything outside away.  Walking the boat from the campsite to the river right below the bridge to embark on another float to California Island, Lone Tree, or Craig.  That place were you walk under the bridge and look upriver at all the heads coming up to eat caddis and PMD's in July and August.  I've met some great people here.  It's been a rendezvous spot with "Gunner" Dorian for around 30 years. I've enjoyed walking down the boat ramp at dusk and casting caddis to the numerous big fish feeding in the slow water just out from the ramp.

OK, its not going anywhere, but the campsites will change, and there will only be three instead of seven.  (Good luck getting one in the summer).  It just won't have the same feel, probably not even close.  There's camping in Craig, with no internet/phone, and never an empty spot.  Stickney has a few, but who want's to be there?  And there's still the little shady spot 6 miles up Prickly Pear for the hot summer days.  But, there's no place like home, in number one, riverside, at Wolf Creek Br.  It will be no more.

Soon, pavement will cover the place, and it will be more like a developed campground instead of seven little posts with picnic tables that don't match up to the site numbers.  We never did figure out which side of the posts sites 2-7 really sat on.  I did, they were on the left of the posts, but the picnic tables didn't match!  The mystery will die, unsolved.  "Pave paradise, put up a parking lot."   They did it on the Fork at the Log Jam some 20 years ago, and its better for it now.  Changing this one just doesn't feel good.  With a bit of sadness, I pull away.  Will probably be back in a couple three weeks.  Hopefully it hasn't started yet.

Not for long . . . 

"Well, let me tell ya, back before they paved this area. . ."

No more sunsets and hatch watching from my camper window.  No place else like it.

Fucking Pavement.  This makes me puke.

The Grand Finale

Today was the day I thought would happen yesterday.  What do you get when you combine no wind, complete cloud cover, no rain, and a blanket hatch of BWO's starting at 10AM?  Heaven.  Nutty good.  Perfection.  Too easy.  As good as it gets.  "Fantasy fishing" as we say back home.  The kind of day I dream about all winter, and all season, and tell stories about "the best dry fly river in America."  Honestly, I wouldn't want to cast to so many heads like this all the time.  But, I hadn't had one of these MO days since last year around this time, and even then, it wasn't this perfect. Mid-40's didn't even feel cold without the wind.  The glare was tolerable.  The fish did become size-selective due to so many bugs, but it kept things a tiny bit challenging and maintained the required eye strain.  Fun meter pegged!

I still can't figure out what it is about that crazy Sri Lanka Emerger, but I had to play that card today, and it did it again.  Made 'em stupid.  I had been withholding it all week, kinda like the San Juan Worm of BWO fishing, but hey, I was right in the middle of the dream.  I did catch and hook fish on a ton of other flies, like every one I tried, but when one that I wanted wouldn't eat, the Sri Lanka usually worked.  The other good ones were on curved hooks, with the tail end in the water a little. 

Flows have gradually dropped from 4650 last weekend to 3900 this morning, and the weeds were trying to thin a little.  Then today, they jacked it back up a few hundred and the weeds came floating down big time.  I needed a lot of MO this trip.  I missed the summer, so a year was a lot of time to wait.  I'm not quite "MO'd out" yet, and a week usually does it, so there might still be an October return.  I won't top today, though I could match it with perfect conditions.

Have I missed the mahoganies on the Fork?  Still should be some good Livingston days left.  What about Silver?  Will the Beav. drop?  Flat Cr.?  The Portneuf, Lost, Boise, "O", So. Fork, and the no-tellums?  I'll never touch 'em all.  How long before the constant  winds of fall kick in?

For now, I have to go home for a couple days to see the doctor and dentist.  Then I have 3 weeks to burn before Campeche! I might need to tie some tarpon flies too.  I can't think of a better way to get a little sleep and hit the road south in the morning.  I'll be buzzin' from today all the way home. 

CLICK For Pods of Risers Video (2 min.)

Perfect on arrival, with a pod of heads working.

Didn't take long

Long hike from the truck!

I cleaned up on two pods

Great on the dark background

Glass calm all day!

Pod below the beaver hut.

Not sure where I got this, but they liked it.

In full swing

Lots of spent ones all day

FOD  It just has something . . . 

I had eats on ALL of these!  Even a caddis.

See that head/mouth?

Bring your hackle stackers Bob!  They loved it.

Last fish.  

Mid-Week MO

Weather Tuesday was back to sunny and breezy with a few afternoon clouds blowing through.  Fished the islands across from the Ladders in the morning, but it never happened.  Moved to slower water for the late afternoon, and there were some fish up, per usual.  Above the bridge, and Lone Tree.

No risers

Packed with pods

All over

Wednesday was the day to fish the "D-Gate."  (That's an inside thing, and you would have had to be there.)  A few nice finally appeared on the high bank, and tried to take me to school.  I finally won, sort of, though I only netted a couple of 'em.  I did get them all to eat, the last taking over an hour.  I think it was a misplaced Fork fish, but a little CDC loop-wing biot emerger finally did the trick. I tried 7 or 8 other bugs without even a refusal right down the lane in perfect timing.  It took the loop wing first drift.

That first look coming down the hill always gives me a goose bump or two

This was the area where they came up

One in particular right in the middle of the mess, next to and under the sticks

It took this one, size 20.

He wouldn't keep his head up

Thursday was one of those, "be careful what you wish for" days.  It started out as the dream scenario.  Cloudy and flat calm.  An epic day on the horizon.  I got to the Ladders at 10 am, just in case.  There were a couple of fish eating something on the inside of the riffle in the upper side channel, and I got 'em to eat.  But there weren't really any bugs until, well, 12:46, per usual.  But that cloudy day I've been wishing for ushered in some light rain showers and a gusty cold north wind that kept the fish and bugs down except for a couple of chosen spots.  The same inside seam in the upper channel, and the fast riffle/hole at the top of the lower channel.  Everything else was blown out.  Temperature dropped to 42 by late afternoon.  It was good, and the bugs came off, but the cold wind dropped the fun meter.  On the way back to camp, Lone Tree was full of risers all up and down it, but I was warming up again by then, and just watched.

Perfect conditions on approach

Lots of waiting and watching until afternoon

Fish rose in this faster riffle and bucket despite the wind

Too cold to hold 'em

Had some love on the softy

Wing on this was dark dun, necessary for visibility

Black Adams shined again today

This is the seam that had constant risers.  Catch one, two more move in.

The Glare was murder.  Black wings needed, and still blurry and cross-eyed after a while.

More MO

It's been windy at times.  Some showers today.  Just windy most of  yesterday.  Moving around fishing different runs.  Tricos were out around late morning yesterday, but none today after a little cold front.  Cloudy all day today, and the hatch started about 12:46.  Went good throughout the afternoon, helped buy a few rain showers.  Fuck there's a lot of weeds floating down!  Big chunks that will nearly knock you over, and tossed salad nearly everywhere.  Saw a few PMD's and Baetis again today and loads of the little Pseudos.  Wind not too bad after about 1:30. 

Down Sterling Channel

Nasty passing to the south, and windy.

Fish from the same neighborhood start to look the same?

Busy Restaurant

One pattern, all day.  #18 worked fine.

After Some Fish.  

Waiting on morning Tricos, never happened.  A couple good fish up along here around noon.

Set up to be a perfect Baetis afternoon

Ready to float across to the islands, but no morning hatch.

Black Adams eater

Only pattern needed for FOD.  #18 got all ate up.

This flat was good!

They're tiny Pseudos

Not as big as they look

That is a stray PMD on the right.

Some here too.  Duh!

Last fish under the bridge in a pod.