'Strong

Fall means I'm supposed to get to the creek around 8:30 am and be the first one there.  RIGHT!  There's 6 cars in the first lot.  Looks like noon in July.  Judy said she was full today, but she didn't tell me they were all here already!  So I take a peek and see 5 fuckers, I mean nice other fellow fishermen, already parked in the main pool.  No problem, I can go up.  I get my shit together and start walking up.  My first view of the little log jam reveals 3 more assholes, I mean brother anglers, hacking up that flat.  OK, I'll just go on up to the big island hole above the pipe and fish there.  I get to the bottom and look over, and there's two mini vans parked, with presumably the rest of the wolf pack fishing that.  Now I'm pissed.  $80 for fucking nothing, and my feet already hurt.  My last option was to walk clear back to the bottom run of the property.  Its not a long walk by, say, Ranch standards, but this ain't the Ranch.  And its kinda cold, and I'm already grumpy. I saw pods of risers all up and down the creek, all being cast to, while trekking to find a spot.  None of the idiots, I mean casters, were even hooked up.  How the hell could that be!

To shorten the story, I fished the mucky deep bottom of the parking lot hole, below the mob. I managed to catch a bunch from the tail-out and the far bank while standing belly-button deep in the muck.  A couple were nice fish and nice takes.  The midges were doin' it, and so were the fish. 

After a couple hours and a bunch of fish from that lower "phd" flat, I moved on downstream to the lower pool above the outlet of the property.  BINGO!  There was nobody down there, and the fish were up.  Guess I should have went that way first?  I spent most of the mid-day down there casting and catching.  Midges were pretty thick from the start.  Early afternoon, some PMD's made an encore appearance.  The big ones too, not those little sulpher thingys.  Not a lot of 'em, but the fish were eating them like the last supper.  Then some baetis joined in on the party as a couple of showers came and went.  So at one point, there were all three on the water, and the fish were eating just about anything reasonable.  User-friendly for sure.

So it ended up being one of the best days I've ever had on Armstrong's, and probably "The" best in September or October.  As good as any.  Mostly cloudy, with three showers that always turned up the hatch a notch.  The fish rose all day, and I had to quit about 4:30, leaving rising fish.  Age sucks.  I could have fished till dark if my back and feet would have wanted to.  I never stopped to eat, or pee, or anything.  I never dreamed it at 8:45.

This flat can be murder.  Slow, soft, wide. Hell to wade.  Make sure your shoes are on tight.

The magic midge from Harrop worked wonders again. #20.

First fish not long into it.

Later down to the bottom run

All mine!

Sweet

Different bug!  #18 PHD, but pretty damn similar to the midge.  They loved it.  FOD.

That spring creek "slam" thing again.  

On September 20!  Where were you on a few of those July days???

And, I just happened to still have that box in the vest.  Imagine that!  Hung a few.

A little frosting on the peaks.  Cool rain on the creek

My favorite cast on my favorite flat in Paradise Valley.  Always big fish cruising here, and you can see every move they make.  (There's 4 in this photo)

Late in the hatch, on said flat, they got tough.  I went to the #22 Griffiths and . . . wait for it . . . 7X!  I never do that.

It worked for this last fish of the afternoon that I watched and tried to catch for nearly 30 minutes.  What a day.