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A nice surprise or two. |
I have written
about this place a few times over the years.
I rarely visit in prime time, like May, but I typically do catch fish—sometimes
fish, singular—even when I visit on a winter afternoon. It is a unicorn for where it’s located, and I
am always amazed that natural reproduction continues through warm, dry summers
and flooding rains and polluted run-off and so much dog waste and wet dog-destroyed
riparian buffer. I know a couple others
who fish it, but they too tend to treat it like the fragile little gift it
is. I had a couple hours this evening, and
I would rather catch one wild trout here than 30 at Valley, so I made the rare
spring visit to see what was up. I caught
7 trout, including a few nicer fish, a couple YOY, and a couple that are
probably two years old. All good signs. All it takes is one fertile pair of adults
and no more real estate development to keep this thing going. It may never become a fishery, per se, but
this is good enough for a Sunday evening or Tuesday afternoon in early March.
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A really pretty trout from the old reliable hole. |
It took a
little bushwhacking through knotweed, vines, and deadfall to get to a deeper
run that usually produces a fish for me.
I headed there first in case this was going to be a one fish night. I was hoping for higher flows, but I did see
a lot of midges and even a handful of caddis, both tan and dark brown. Sure enough, the honey hole held a fish, and
it was a fat, small stream fish that was all colored up and par marked. I would have been happy to quit then, but I
had just gotten here, so I pushed on. After
nymphing a couple pockets that I knew had to hold a fish and coming up empty, I
remembered the caddis, however sparsely present, and let the single nymph swing
the next couple of presentations. I got
a YOY to eat, and then a toddler, so we had three fish for the effort. Water was low and clear, so I covered
marginal holding water quickly, aiming to reach a few deeper holes before I ran
out of daylight.
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Some crick pics, bonus shots, and the future. |
I left a couple
primes holes to another time, probably another time not in prime time if my
history with this crick continues, but I had a blast at my last stops of the evening. I got clobbered on the first cast, and then I
dropped two decent fish who took the single caddis larva on the fall. One may have been a creek chub, but I had
evidence that this bug would do the trick and these fish were hungry. I stealthily crossed the creek below the
tailout of this hole, so I did not create any further disturbance. In this better position, I landed a nice 11–12
inch wild brown and a couple 8-inchers that I did not photograph. They were feisty too! I was so determined to get a picture of this
leaping 12-incher that I almost rushed the fish to the net. He was not having it! With water temperatures around 60 degrees,
they are in prime condition, so I just let things play out the way they needed
to play out. Despite the low light, I
think I got a good shot of the better fish.
I tried one other deep hole and spooked a similar sized fish before I
decided that I had a longer walk back to the ‘Run than anticipated. I was texting Josh and Brian to see if either
was fishing on Monday and shared some pics.
I think it was Brian who replied that he would be happy to catch fish
that size all day. Indeed. It was well worth getting my butt off the
couch after a day of lawn work for this one.
The alarm is set for 4 AM tomorrow in anticipation of a full day adventure.
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A better shot. Peep the two eye spots. Pretty rare markings |
Nice short trip. I've been reading your blog too long...............I noticed the double cheek spots before I read the caption. :)
ReplyDeleteMusing about the variety of markings for instance, the pics you sent recently How much of the variety is nature, how much is the influence of years of holdovers blending in?
RR
There is debate about different strains that went wild, so I can't really wade in completely, RR. Original genetics, mixing with other stocker strains, environment, diet, all of the above. They will change color to match the specific habitat of their home stretch too. Dark fish that hide deep on dark bottoms or under woody banks and so on.
DeleteThanks, I understand color................it's the spots that keep me up at night! :) The Red Drum usually have one spot, but the more I fish and look at pics multiple spots are not as unusual as I first thought.
ReplyDeleteRR
I wish I knew! This is the first one I can remember, but when I shared with a buddy, he said he caught one with this feature recently. They were technically in the same watershed, just many miles apart, so don't know if there is a connection somewhere. I agree fascinating, science....
Delete