 |
| Greedy payoff. |
The last day of October, outing 71 of 2019, was an excellent fishing day on
Valley Creek. My only regret was that I
did not put my streamer rod in the car. Of
course, there was no guarantee that yesterday would have been an exceptional streamer
day, since it was in fact an exceptional nymphing day, but there were just a
few spots that I nymphed yesterday where just knew a monster had to live, and
my right arm ached to toss a streamer. Last
night was a mess weather-wise, with tornadoes nearby taking out trees and
powerlines, so I was not hopeful about fishing today. In fact, I proposed chasing stockies today at
the Tully to my dad last night since it looked like the lake was holding back
the crazy flows of other creeks. I did
not check this morning to see if that were still true, but I did have to check
on Valley. How happy was I to see 100
CFS and falling fast? My dad was tired and so declined my offer in the morning, so I took my time and finished some reading and
had my second cup of coffee, but I was tossing a bugger on Valley by 11 AM.
 |
| A bit too dirty to start, but things eventually got good. |
Things started out slowly since the water was just a tad
too high to start. I experimented with
different colors and sizes of streamer, and I finally started getting bumps on
a small black leech about 45 minutes into the trip. The first fish I landed after a couple that
took one jump and got off took the black leech, but I did witness some others
roll on it—which can be a sign they don’t want to eat it, just want it out of their
territory. To sweeten the pot, I guess,
I found a black crystal bugger that I thought might pick up a bit more of the
sunlight and also had a bushier profile that might move more water. It was small, so I pinched a good size split
shot ahead of the bead too. In dirty
water, pretty is not a prerequisite for effective rigging. That was the ticket.
 |
| Presentation does not have to be pretty in dirty water, just effective. |
Casting across to let the bugger get down, and then
slowly pulsing the swing was met with a lot more enthusiasm during my second
hour on the water. In that time,
covering 500 yards of water, I moved, hooked, jumped, and landed over a dozen
decent trout. By all accounts, streamer
fishing can be a 50/50 proposition. Part
of the excitement is not only the ones you land but also the fish you see, and
batting .500 is not uncommon. After
landing a couple fat 12-inch fish, and losing a gorgeous male that was an angry
14, maybe more, I wanted to see a really good one. Inching my way in the right direction, I
landed a couple 14 inch fish, including a perfect pre-spawn male. Using a stouter rod and 10 lb. test, I tend
to muscle the fish a bit more, quickly landing and releasing them. I took my time with this one, just so I was
sure to net it and get at least one good picture of a nicer fish.
 |
| Fruits of improving conditions. |
As sometimes happens, I began to see the creek clearing
up. Fish may have been up in the cleaner
riffles now taking nymphs, and a definitely saw a few little guys noticing a
hatch of olives on the surface. Like
yesterday, though, I chose only one weapon in the garage this morning, so there
was no going back to the car for a nymphing rod. Instead, I worked some deeper,
still muddy holes, especially around down trees, and I landed at least three
more nice 11 to 12 inch fish in the slower holes too. As it approached 1:30 PM, I started seeing a
few other guys coming out to fish the dropping water, so I turned back. I could have quit and been happy, but twice
on the walk back I gave into the nagging feeling that I experienced yesterday as I walked by (big) fishy lies. Now rigged with a streamer that was regularly
getting noticed and eaten, as I approached for the second time one of those too-perfect
spots, I just had to give it a shot. Man, was
I glad I was feeling greedy today!
 |
| At least 8 + 8 and a solid fish. |
The two photos, above and below, and the one that opens
this post, are of the fish that made my stop worth it. I quickly and efficiently wrestled this
beautiful fish out of a deep and bouncy log jam with the help of 10 lb. fluorocarbon,
and the measure net had him just over 16 inches and beefy, just a perfect wild
brown trout. I did miss one other and
catch one more nice fish at another too-perfect spot that did not show me any
love on the way downstream, but this 16 inch fish was the kicker, so the last
fish did feel gratuitous. It could have
gone either way today, and I don’t always benefit from being greedy after an exceptional
day, especially returning to the same creek (though a different stretch of Valley today)
but thankfully it all worked out.
 |
| The kicker on a second fine day in a row on Valley Creek. |
No comments:
Post a Comment