Fished upper Pine Creek near Gaines from Thursday afternoon--Saturday evening. On Thursday late afternoon and evening, I did well on a bead head nymph combo in the faster water. Very few fish feeding on surface that afternoon and evening, though we did catch a couple right before dark on dries.
Friday morning was slow for me when i switched to the deeper pools, but one of my partners took my advice and fished the swift areas with the pair of beadheads and did well. Too hot to fish for me Friday afternoon, but was pleasant in the evening--but no real hatches and very few rises.
Saturday morning I did well early again fishing nymphs in the current, then switched to a blue winged olive dry in mid-morning and caught 3 nice browns that started to rise then. In afternoon I fished spinners (the metal kind--am i allowed to say that here?) in West Branch of Pine (above stocked area) and caught half a dozen or so native trout. Then back to Rexford in the evening, where I continued to catch natives on a Blue Winged Olive . Incidentally, if you are taking a first time fly fisherman to that area, that is a great place to practice your dry fly skills, since the natives often seem to be around and biting, even if you don't see a rise. I think it's where I caught my first trout on a dry fly 30 some years ago. As the evening progressed, I saw many green drakes on the trees and bushes along the stream, and just after 8:00 there was a spinner fall (which was rather obvious to even a casual observer). Unfortunately, we had to leave by 8:30, and the trout were not yet rising to them at that location--but it was still pretty neat to see. I guess if we would have stayed until full dark, could have caught some fish...
Anyhow, it's sure a pretty place to fish, whether you catch them or not. Saw several bald eagles, including two that perched across the creek from us --seemed to be waiting for a meal of injured trout. And almost always see some deer there. In past years have seen a bear cross the creek, and got video of an otter fishing for trout one evening.
Tight Lines!
