I think the first time I fished big spring, I caught two very small brookies. My second trip, the same deal. I did hook another rainbow that day but he spat me almost instantaneously. This last trip, I had over 10 fish hit but most of them weren't getting the hook of this streamer in their mouth. I pulled a few nymphs out of their mouths as well. Darn clear water had me short striking pretty bad haha. Took this bow on a simple black rabbit strip streamer I danced across a pool. I approached the hole like brookie fishing, crouching and approaching slowly and casting slowly and gently. Getting the fly presented to the fish without spooking them is half the battle, the correct fly/streamer is the other half.
To be fair, I missed 3 fish on my brief stop on the way home that following sunday night and got skunked. It's a tough stream. I would say fishing it early or late this time of year is key, or during the day when it is overcast is beneficial because you will likely have the stream to yourself. I was extremely pleased with this fish. He ran on me and jumped out of the water 5-6 times, shaking his head like he was imitating his steelhead cousins. Definitely a memorable trip.
