Andrwhite610
Well-known member
Friday 3/22/24
CFS: 342
Water: 48F
Air: high 40s (overcast)
I was done work at noon on Friday so I decided to go have a little rodeo with the newest residents of the Tully.
When I arrived on site around 1:30 pm there was one angler present who just arrived and we agreed on our positions. There were 5 Blue Heron in view with 3 positioned up the length of the long pool I planned to fish. I was using an 8’-6” 5 wt. suspending a weighted San Juan worm under a New Zealand wool indicator. I worked up that pool for about 30 minutes with no takes. A spin fisherman tossing a jerk bait or spinner passed by me and worked his way up out of distance. I saw him land one fish. I decided to drop back down and restart the pool with a different fly. I tied on a basic nymph with a large silver tungsten bead. Apologies I don’t know the name. I believe the San Juan was too foreign to the hatchery fish and the large bead nymph was more familiar. I immediately started connecting with fish. I worked my way up the pool for 2 hours landing roughly 15 of the stocked rainbows. All were standard size but one was significantly larger than the rest. Many anglers began to arrive as I was packing it in around 4:30.
Sunday 3/24/24
CFS: 436-706
Air: high 20s into the mid 30s. (Sunny, windy)
On Sunday morning for my birthday I had more ambitious fishing plans but lacked motivation and it was honestly pretty nasty out. Also Saturdays rain had spiked flows enough to second guess things. And I had to be home by noon. I decided to stay close to home.
I returned to the same pool around 7:30am this time with my 10’ 3WT and the same barbless nymph fished on a tight line. With the slow pool and the wind gusts I would have been better suited with my 5WT indicator setup. I quickly got into some fish landing 5 and then all the bites stopped. I explored some riffles below with no luck and then returned to the pool. It was deeper this time and getting harder to wade. Flows were increasing out of the spillway. There were tiny green and grayish Trico sized mayflies coming off?…I’m not the one to be talking hatches.
I got in the truck to warm up and drove down to a lower section. To my surprise only one angler was present when I arrived around 10am. It was still breezy but sunny and pleasant in this section. I fished the same nymph on a tight line until noon landing 9 more of the stocked bows. All similar size with one larger one mixed it. More anglers were arriving as I was finishing.
Over all I got what I came for and even had some opening weekend nostalgia feels. I look forward to more fun days on the Tully this spring.
CFS: 342
Water: 48F
Air: high 40s (overcast)
I was done work at noon on Friday so I decided to go have a little rodeo with the newest residents of the Tully.
When I arrived on site around 1:30 pm there was one angler present who just arrived and we agreed on our positions. There were 5 Blue Heron in view with 3 positioned up the length of the long pool I planned to fish. I was using an 8’-6” 5 wt. suspending a weighted San Juan worm under a New Zealand wool indicator. I worked up that pool for about 30 minutes with no takes. A spin fisherman tossing a jerk bait or spinner passed by me and worked his way up out of distance. I saw him land one fish. I decided to drop back down and restart the pool with a different fly. I tied on a basic nymph with a large silver tungsten bead. Apologies I don’t know the name. I believe the San Juan was too foreign to the hatchery fish and the large bead nymph was more familiar. I immediately started connecting with fish. I worked my way up the pool for 2 hours landing roughly 15 of the stocked rainbows. All were standard size but one was significantly larger than the rest. Many anglers began to arrive as I was packing it in around 4:30.
Sunday 3/24/24
CFS: 436-706
Air: high 20s into the mid 30s. (Sunny, windy)
On Sunday morning for my birthday I had more ambitious fishing plans but lacked motivation and it was honestly pretty nasty out. Also Saturdays rain had spiked flows enough to second guess things. And I had to be home by noon. I decided to stay close to home.
I returned to the same pool around 7:30am this time with my 10’ 3WT and the same barbless nymph fished on a tight line. With the slow pool and the wind gusts I would have been better suited with my 5WT indicator setup. I quickly got into some fish landing 5 and then all the bites stopped. I explored some riffles below with no luck and then returned to the pool. It was deeper this time and getting harder to wade. Flows were increasing out of the spillway. There were tiny green and grayish Trico sized mayflies coming off?…I’m not the one to be talking hatches.
I got in the truck to warm up and drove down to a lower section. To my surprise only one angler was present when I arrived around 10am. It was still breezy but sunny and pleasant in this section. I fished the same nymph on a tight line until noon landing 9 more of the stocked bows. All similar size with one larger one mixed it. More anglers were arriving as I was finishing.
Over all I got what I came for and even had some opening weekend nostalgia feels. I look forward to more fun days on the Tully this spring.
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