Not to Be

When I parked the truck and stepped out, there at my feet was a large, black thingamabobber.  Here's your sign.  The sky over the creek was mostly covered in white cirrus clouds making for that dull white glare on the water that makes sight fishing impossible.  Of course, those clouds come with wind, or wind comes with them, whichever the case may be.  The hatch, if you can call it that, was late again.  By the time it started at noon, the wind was blowing everywhere, even on the pools and runs shrouded by cottonwoods or large willows.  Flat light, gusty winds, shitty hatch.

And wouldn't you know it, today was the day I decided to re-visit the middle section, where I've had great sight fishing in the past in the variety of water there.  Riffles, runs, pools, cut banks, sharp bends, culverts, buckets, . . . it has a little of everything.  Good wading gravel in the upper half.  I walked from the Fisheman's Hut to the pond, and back.  Nobody there, just a guide and two clients in the long run above the hut.  Saw a few little ones come up here and there, caught a few, but it was overall pretty dead.  It became clear the wind was going to keep blowing, and any bugs hatching were quickly blown away.  I walked back up and out mid-afternoon with little to show for it.

As I was walking up the mowed trail back to the Hut and truck, I walked up to within about 15 feet of a skunk just sitting on the trail.  Good thing I was watching the trail and not the creek!  This was the final sign.

I just got a cancellation for a rod on Friday.  Forecast is for sunny and damn hot, high 90's.  80's tomorrow.  We'll see if the more "normal" July temperatures make for more rising fish on Friday morning.  A cold creek is a good place to be standing in such heat.  I think I might go back to Eva's too.  Or lower.  Just seems more fishy down there.

Been a couple years.  There were small fish rising here, and the nice mid-creek rock to sit on

Got a few like this

On this

The iconic view from the creeks, after bypassing the skunk.

Panic!

What the hell?  9 am, no midges, no midging fish.  OK.  No big deal.  10 am, not a PMD in sight. That's when they popped on Armstrong's the last two days.  Hmmm.  Do I need to go upstream?  11 am, STILL no pmd's in sight.  A stray rise here and there to something, a stray midge or PMD I can't see.  Pretty close to driving upstream, but I have Eva's all to myself.  Is this why?  11:30, what the fuck?  Are there no bugs down here?  I'm outta here.  Wait, there's a rise.  Might as well cast.  12:00 noon, FINALLY!  A small spattering of PMD's by god.  And now the fish are rising above and below me.  Panic over, but I was beginning to wonder.  No, I was gettin' pissed.

But when it started, many of the good fish weren't taking PMD's that I could tell.  Reminded me of yesterday.  So, I broke out the killer little midge from last fall, and a few went right for it.  They were eating something other than the PMD's and it got things rolling.  Occasionally a fish would take or go after a dun, but it was fish eating emergers that again got my attention.  The bigger fish, doing that zoom after the bug thing again.

I was getting duped by a couple reminiscent of the two fish yesterday.  Today, it was a rainbow and a cutt fighting for position, eating something unseen regularly, and really going after it.  After a few failures, I found the big emerger tied Klink style that I had tied over the winter just for this occasion, this specific run, and these two fish.   Last summer the same week I saw the same thing, and I was looking for a solution.  Two casts later, the rainbow turns a foot and a half to its left and engulfs the fly!  I mean, he had to have it.  Long story short, it was the fly of the afternoon until it got chewed up.  I tied only one, though I had one each of some others similar.  Quite a few fish ate it.

Despite the fairly sparse hatch and gusty winds, fish stayed up all afternoon.  I tied on a lot of flies with mixed results before and after the FOD.  And no love on the yellow hanger, though I didn't have it on during the peak hours of PMD's because that ostrich one was working so well, and it was new to me.  I'll add a few.  Oh, and I always get that Depuy's Slam thing here too, browncuttbow.

I think they were eating midges early in the hatch.  This got some good eats.

The adult climbing out of the nymph case, all on one hook.  FOD by far.  Not the same as just a trailing shuck, or is it?

Never tie just one!  Never!  But for some reason I did.  Just to see.  Know I know.  Here's proof.

This guy moved big time to get it.  Watched him for over an hour before I got the take.

Similar, and it got some eats after the peak.  Pheasant instead of ostrich.

Got a couple on this.  It wasn't it.

Now here's a whole other storyline . . . 

I knew that the photos I had been taking with the GoPro were not bright, shiny, and colorful like some I had taken in recent years.  Certainly not like I'm getting with my regular still camera, despite it being a point and shoot.  I couldn't figure out why, and was thinking it was the new globe I was using with the GoPro to get the in/out shots.  (Pretty cool so far!)  Then I accidentally hit the video button today.  I played it tonight, and holy shit, what a difference in color!  Then it hit me.  I think all the crisp colorful shots I took 2 or 3 years ago with the older GoPro were actually screen captures from video instead of time-lapse stills.  All I know is the color on the video put the color on the stills to shame.  I had forgotten.  Hadn't used the GoPro in a long time.  We'll see.  Only one day left in the clear water, with sunny skies, so I'll take all the "pictures" in video mode tomorrow with the GoPro and see what I get.  Or . . . maybe everything was just right in that short accidental video.

Banks and Flats

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Creek Time

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Riffle Stop

Flows are down to 1160, water is clear, so dry fly time on the Maddy.  However, it is also Salmonfly time, and that means Salmonfly Saturday, and the hordes coming.  I fished early, before they came.  I left when there were few places that weren't walked on or cast on.  But it was a nice change, fishing the caddis in fast water to risers.

Nobody when I started.

Epeorus bank had some rising fish!

This one landed on me.  They're coming . . . 

Green Ones and Brown Ones.

Drakes, that is.  You know, here one day, gone the next.  The Drake saga.  The green ones made an appearance this afternoon up high.  The brown ones flew around a little,  but never really showed up at Millionaires.  The regulars say the browns are over, but they all showed up tonight just to make sure.  Me, I'm outta here.  Its been a tough ride, with a few peaks and mostly valleys.  But I'm already counting down to June 15, 2019,  I just can't help myself.  350 days.

An afternoon shower brought out the bugs and some rising fish

Tons of PMD's sprinked with a few green drakes

A few fish finally took care of this bug

I was really ready for one more night shift

Clouds were close

They flew for a few minutes

Then it was just a fisherman hatch.  Word got out on last night!

Never happened

Pure Magic

Tonight was the tomorrow night I hoped for last night after seeing the forecast for increasing clouds this afternoon.  The clouds rolled in, and as soon as they did, like clockwork, every brown drake in the river decided to hatch, or so it seemed.  5:30 pm, and I was late!  Both bugs and fish stayed active till dark.

Sometimes everything lines up.  The wind blew, but not enough to stop the hatch or fishing near the high bank where I was positioned.  Enough rain drops fell to make me get the rain jacket, but not long enough to drown the flying bugs or discourage the trout from rising.  Distant thunder was heard, but no lightning was close enough to be a threat.  The parking lot was nearly full, but nobody was near me.  The sun even popped out before finally setting, but didn't affect the swarming hatch at all.

This was, without a doubt, the biggest brown drake hatch I've ever seen.  The kind I've heard rumors about, and read stories about.  Fish were on 'em, big and small.  And they all seemed super charged.  Maybe brown drakes are like an energy drink?  The Ross does need a little more backing.  A couple took it down close!

The star at the center of the trout fishing universe shined brightly this perfect evening.  Cool and cloudy/rainy tomorrow, the computers say . . .

Early afternoon below the log jam, down the trail with a #12 Green Drake Cripple

It fooled this toad, and missed another

Early evening clouds.  There were drakes in the air on the drive into the park!

The only bug I tied on.  Size 10!  No midge/baetis shit here.  Went through a lot of angel dust keeping it dry.

Typical of the ones I hunted

These are bugs, not birds!  Big honkers.

This is one of thousands.

Cool cloud formation while I was waiting to get some line back

When the rain stopped, it was like a postcard.  Breathtaking.

Dodged a bullet.

No prettier river.  No interstate traffic.

My only company in the next pool up.  Had a ton of water to myself.