Fishing!

Warmer pacific air.  Warmer waters in the equatorial zone of the Pacific Ocean.  No jet stream from Canada.  El Nino!  Aside from a couple of PNW cold fronts, its been a mild, dry December in these parts.  Like Montana in early October, without the wind.  I don't often get to fish the river wearing just a warm shirt in December.  Temperatures ranging from the mid-20's overnight into the low 40's by afternoon are strong invitations. Little to no wind most days. To top it off, BWO's are hatching daily from about noon to 3:30, and I have the river all to myself.  Forty minutes from home.  Bankers hours.  No boats.  No gloves.  No cold fingers.  I can hear a pin drop. Thank you El Nino.  

Most of the millions of people who have fished this river have never seen the parking lot completely empty.  It's rare for sure, and always full during "season."  It always warms my heart to see solitude on the final curve down to the river.

This is what we have to deal with courtesy of the BOR, downstream water rights, and electricity needs.  Two daily peaks for power generation, 1100 to 3100 to 1100 to 3100. The trout adapt, I guess.  There were more bugs back in the days prior to this insanity.  I can fish below the dam early, when the morning drop occurs.  About two hours later, the water drops for the afternoon at the access 7 miles downstream.  I make the move to coincide with falling water and BWO's.  

The trail at the start of the upstream fishing looks more like October.

At 3100, the banks are still fishy.

A quarter mile up the trail gets no sunshine this time of year, so a bit of what little snow we've had still survives.

Around the corner, the sun shines daily again with a slight opening in the canyon.

Speaking of the sun shining!

This is where the good stuff starts. A large island with a holding pool/riffle here at the bottom, a magic side channel coming down on the right, and a big dry fly riffle/pool at the top.

The place is just full of these 12-14 inch things, and they seem to make more of an appearance in the winter.  One after another if you want them.  

Favorite side channel on the whole stretch.  Its only a foot or two deep, and always has a few challenging risers.

These all did it well, but the CDC and Organza combos on the left are the hero's.

This is a wonderful dry fly flat fed by a riffle and drop at its top end.  Its normally occupied by half the fly fishermen in Utah and Colorado, but not this time of year.

Browns this size are more common on the small, sparse winter hatches of midges and blue wings.

The flat at the top of the island after the water has dropped for the afternoon.

Looking down at the top of the island as the mid-afternoon shadows grow longer.

The CDC/Organza Mole-Shuttlecock-Hanger-Whatchamacallit Variant has ruled the month.  In a #16 no less!

The magic channel in its afternoon glow.

Some of these larger fish still take the little stuff, and my bigger little stuff.

Walking back home to fish the last couple of runs of leftovers.

Staying just behind the shadows.

Its December, the fish only eat little tiny stuff in slow deep water, and won't move much, right?  Ya.  I did this. A number 10 Sparrow (Gartside), dead-drifted from just under the film to about 6 inches down, in a foot of water.  They ate the shit out of it pre and post-hatch.  Fun stuff in the dead of winter.  It has never occurred to me to even try something like this now, but it was on my patch from the MO in October.

One of those Sparrow fish.

This was really crazy.  Another fly on the patch, leftover from the MO.  A giant #8 2x long Cary Special fished nearly straight upstream along the banks, or dead-drifted in the faster shallow riffles during the last hour.  Fished it where they ain't supposed to be, but they saw it and ate it!  

This is what the rocks look like when the river goes from 3100 to 1100.  Here, where its somewhat wider than most of the canyon, its still a 12-15" drop in depth.

The snow and cold have returned, so this is likely my last fish of 2023.  I'll take it.

This guy and me, we had a little contest.  He rises in the same spot, in the same lane, every afternoon.  A few days ago, he ate my Sri Lanka, better knows as a Veil Emerger.  I missed him.  Then later that afternoon on the way out, he ate a Harrop midge.  Pricked him with that one, but he went back to his spot.  Yesterday, I gave him the Organza hanger.  Ya, took me three tries, but it was the sweetest catch of them all.