January 10, 2016 – High Water, Spinning Rod, and Some Good Wild Browns

Best of the day.  A monster for this trickle, probably 14 inches!

I had it in my mind that I must fish on a 65 degree day in January, even if it rained over an inch in my neck of the woods overnight.  When I checked the gages this morning, however, many creeks were blown out, some approaching flood stage (in the 99 th percentile for several in the area).  I wasn’t ready to quit, but I took my time, knowing my wife and son had plans from 1:30 to 4:30 today.  I had coffee, played some Legos with the boy, and actually ate a real breakfast.  Fly fishing was off the table, but there was a chance that the spinning rod could get called into service if I picked the right stream.  

Hours passed and the gages didn’t look much better, but the rain had stopped for a long time, so I just said eff it around noon and headed to a little trickle in SEPA, a tributary of another creek I fish from time to time.  It was a relatively short ride, so I figured if it was unfishable, I could go further north and find a couple other similarly sized creeks that often fish better with a jolt of water.  Wild trout never really get stupid—they can still amaze me with how hard they can hit something with a treble hook (or two) and not get hooked—but muddy water does make them braver.  The high water also coaxes the big fish out of their safe, secure lairs.  The creek was far from perfect, but it was fishable and seemed to improve as the day progressed.

When I arrived, the sun was trying to peek out of the clouds, but in the course of three hours I had sun, clouds, wind, torrential downpour, and even distant thunder a couple times.  No one weather pattern lasted more than 30 minutes, but at least it stayed warm.  I had silk long-johns on under my pants and breathable waders, and if I were a wrestler trying to make weight tomorrow, they would have been a good idea.  I was glad I wore my rain jacket, though.  

I actually landed smaller ones than this today too.  Cute little guy...

I fished a deep hole to start, and I got a couple short hits on jig and soft plastic combo.  It’s been a while since I fished for trout with the spinning rod, so I had to remind myself to be faster with my hooksets, the kind of hooksets that would break 5x tippet if I was fly fishing.  I got the hang of it again after a while, and by the time I found bigger fish, I was an old pro, hooking everything that made a move for the Rapala CD 1, from 4-inchers to 14-inchers and all sizes in between.  

Side note: I have a love/hate relationship with this deadly plug (CD1, CD 3 and CD 5 all work well for trout—size dictated by the creek).  For years, I have had the bills break during normal fishing.  In the past, I would collect ten or twelve plugs and send them back to Rapala’s customer service department, and they would replace most of them if I had receipts.  About two years ago, the return form letter changed, blaming the fisherman for fishing the plug too deep and, god forbid, letting a crankbait bounce off rocks!!!  No replacements…  I have tried numerous alternatives, everything from pins minnows, to Dynamic Lures, to Trout Magnet plugs, to Rebel Trackdowns, to just plain jig and a twister or paddle tail.  Nothing seems to work as well, so I reluctantly put up with the breaking.  I had another plug break today, so I will be sending another package to Rapala, but I am not holding my breath.  Not surprisingly, Kenny found an old lot of Rapalas, mostly CD 3’s, and they don’t break nearly as easily, so Rapala has definitely changed materials over the years.  The change in form letter tells me I’m not the only one sending them back with similar problems.  Oh, well, back to fishing…

Getting better as I made my way downstream.

The fish were getting better as I made my way downstream hitting each pocket and pool.  Downstream was effective due to how shallow the creek is and how slowly I had to work the plug to get hits, often just about holding it in place in the current.  I didn’t want to jinx it, but I actually had a feeling that I would find a big one or two on the prowl today.  Conditions were just too perfect not to fool a normally wary wild piggy.  As I approached a log jam/plunge pool/undercut bank trifecta of a hole, I thought this is the one, and sure enough a good 14 inch fish smacked the plug.  I saw him turn and dart back to his lair, but I couldn’t turn him in time.  He was hung up in the roots of the tree for a hairy minute or so.  This was almost another “big one who got away” story except that I stayed patient and kept even pressure, waiting, hoping he would free himself.  Luck was on my side, as he darted out again, and I was eventually able to drag him into a shallow eddy to land.  With all the rain, I decided to forego “keeping him wet” and get a shot that would show his size a bit better than my hand.  Two pics turned out okay (the one that opens this post and the one below), and I got him back in the water with plenty of fight left in him.

Another shot of the little piggy.

It started to pour again, and I almost quit shortly after that, but it was still early, maybe only 3 PM, so I just turned and fished back upstream, targeting spots I couldn’t fish effectively from upstream.  If it rained again, at least I would be moving in the right direction.  One particular log jam only produced one little guy on the way down, but it yielded a better fish when I was able to drop the plug right in the cover from below.

Plenty of cover for them to hide in.

My "last fish" was another decent one, around 11 inches, who hit the plug in a deep, muddy flat that I assumed was shallow and sandy on the way downstream, so it was a good stop to make.  He took a nice leap or two, which was appreciated, so much so that I decided to end on that and make my way quickly back to the Subaru.  I always have to make one last cast though (several, actually), so I caught two more little guys while in sight of my vehicle before I actually quit for real, for real.  I lost count around a dozen, and at least 5 of those were over 10 inches, including the one who was about to outgrow this little creek.  I would call it a great day.

Another good sized one, my last decent fish of the afternoon.