Prospector
Well-known member
Time Fished: 515pm - 730pm
Weather Conditions: 66 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: The gauge had 53 degrees. My thermometer read 49. Based on fish activity, the higher temp is more likely. Flow out of dam was 329 cfs and the median for today is 100. Gauge height was 3.5 ft; water was clear
Insects: some midges very visible
As I drove along the stream I saw just one other vehicle. No one was fishing where I parked. I was a little concerned about wading since this stream tends to be swift anyway and due to recent rains they were releasing more water than normal. But just hugging the shore was fine and I ventured a little deeper at times with no issue.
I had made the drive over from Spring Creek (Forest Co) after striking out there. I chose to start with a streamer since the water was high and I didn’t do well on Spring with small streamers so I selected the largest yellow Maribou I had in my wallet. I wanted to make sure fish would come to it. It was probably a size 6 on a 4X long hook.
First cast I caught a rainbow so changing streams was a good decision. I caught several on my first pass and had several others take swipes. Although I saw no insects, I noticed several trout breaking the surface. Maybe 4-5 times. A few appeared to be taking emergers since they porpoised while others sipped normally in slack water beside the current. On pass #2 I switched streamers and caught some more but continued to see trout breaking the surface. I decided to sink a prince nymph since the trout were after something. I have seen Caddis here in the past and a prince had worked on previous trips. I did catch one on the prince but that slowed my action significantly. I had done well earlier in the year on rainbows sinking a weighted sz 6 wooly bugger so I switched out my prince for the larger fly and caught just one more as I fished the run throughly.
So enough with the nymphing. I took off the split shot, left the olive wooly bugger on and stripped it like a streamer and fish were all over it. Movement on the fly was key. I ran a few more streamers and picked up fish on them, with the small yellow Maribou I struck out with on Spring maybe being the second best fly.
I needed to try for the rising fish before I left so I tapered down and tied on a small green bodied Caddis and had no takers. The fish continued to rise about 1 ever 1-2 minutes but again I saw no insects. I thought with the fast flow and low light maybe a big silhouette was better so I tried a sz 12 Caddis but once again no takers. With what seemed like a hole of hungry fish I thought a meaty profile would bring some up but they were selective on top.
Not knowing what else to try I cut my leader back and put on the olive wooly bugger for one last streamer pass before I left. I only had one strike and it would have been fish #20 had it not spit out my fly on an acrobatic jump. So I finished with 19 rainbows (17 on streamers and 2 on nymphs).
Weather Conditions: 66 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: The gauge had 53 degrees. My thermometer read 49. Based on fish activity, the higher temp is more likely. Flow out of dam was 329 cfs and the median for today is 100. Gauge height was 3.5 ft; water was clear
Insects: some midges very visible
As I drove along the stream I saw just one other vehicle. No one was fishing where I parked. I was a little concerned about wading since this stream tends to be swift anyway and due to recent rains they were releasing more water than normal. But just hugging the shore was fine and I ventured a little deeper at times with no issue.
I had made the drive over from Spring Creek (Forest Co) after striking out there. I chose to start with a streamer since the water was high and I didn’t do well on Spring with small streamers so I selected the largest yellow Maribou I had in my wallet. I wanted to make sure fish would come to it. It was probably a size 6 on a 4X long hook.
First cast I caught a rainbow so changing streams was a good decision. I caught several on my first pass and had several others take swipes. Although I saw no insects, I noticed several trout breaking the surface. Maybe 4-5 times. A few appeared to be taking emergers since they porpoised while others sipped normally in slack water beside the current. On pass #2 I switched streamers and caught some more but continued to see trout breaking the surface. I decided to sink a prince nymph since the trout were after something. I have seen Caddis here in the past and a prince had worked on previous trips. I did catch one on the prince but that slowed my action significantly. I had done well earlier in the year on rainbows sinking a weighted sz 6 wooly bugger so I switched out my prince for the larger fly and caught just one more as I fished the run throughly.
So enough with the nymphing. I took off the split shot, left the olive wooly bugger on and stripped it like a streamer and fish were all over it. Movement on the fly was key. I ran a few more streamers and picked up fish on them, with the small yellow Maribou I struck out with on Spring maybe being the second best fly.
I needed to try for the rising fish before I left so I tapered down and tied on a small green bodied Caddis and had no takers. The fish continued to rise about 1 ever 1-2 minutes but again I saw no insects. I thought with the fast flow and low light maybe a big silhouette was better so I tried a sz 12 Caddis but once again no takers. With what seemed like a hole of hungry fish I thought a meaty profile would bring some up but they were selective on top.
Not knowing what else to try I cut my leader back and put on the olive wooly bugger for one last streamer pass before I left. I only had one strike and it would have been fish #20 had it not spit out my fly on an acrobatic jump. So I finished with 19 rainbows (17 on streamers and 2 on nymphs).
