Time: 10:30AM – 2:30PM

Location: National Forest

Note: In order to protect small high country streams, I have chosen to change the name for a few. This particular creek happens to be one of them. Excessive exposure could lead to crowding and lower fish densities.

Once again temperatures were forecast to exceed 100 degrees on Monday, August 3, so the name of the game was finding a cool high country stream. I succeeded.

One of the Better Brook Trout

I arrived at my chosen destination by 9:40AM, and the air temperature was already 71 degrees. I changed into my wet wading clothes, and then I assembled my Orvis Access four weight. I was fishing another high gradient creek in tight quarters, so I favored the short and light rod. I began my hike, and after 1.1 mile I veered off the trail and cut to the creek.

Beast

To begin my day I used a clinch knot to tie a peacock body size 14 hippie stomper to my line. Other than a brief period toward the end of my time on the water, when I tested a parachute green drake, the peacock hippie stomper stayed on my line. There was no reason to switch, because the small stream residents simply craved the hippie stomper.

Best of the Day

I moved upstream for .4 miles and cast the highly visible and buoyant attractor to all likely spots, and it was rare that a fish did not engulf the fly. Between 10:30AM and 2:30PM I landed an abundant quantity of trout. All but two were brook trout, and the outliers were a twelve inch brown trout and a thirteen inch rainbow. As I expected, most of the brook trout fit within the six to ten inch range, but I was pleased to net a monster thirteen inch brookie and quite a few that stretched the tape to eleven inches. Many of these char were brightly colored with orange bellies, white edged fins and an amazing iridescent body sheen. Their natural beauty more than compensated for their lack of size in my estimation.

Cannot Get Enough of These Beauties

Shortly after I began casting, I paused to lower my stream thermometer into the creek. I held it a foot below the surface for 1.5 minutes, and it registered 54 degrees. I was pleased. My hands were actually turning numb. Just before I quit at 2:30PM I once again paused to record the temperature, and the thermometer displayed 58 degrees. This small mountain stream is holding up well during the summer of heat waves, drought and wildfires.

Outlier Brown Trout

Where were the fish? Everywhere. I probably wasted time casting to less than marginal spots, but even those yielded the occasional fish. Moderate riffles were money in the bank, but deep pockets and pools also produced.

Another Surprise. A Rainbow Trout.

What a day! Monday was my new personal best fish count. Of course most of the fish were small, but I still relish the surprise take and the deep bend in my small rod. The only fly I lost was the original hippie stomper which became so mangled, that it began to lose its attraction. The diminished state of the stomper was the reason I replaced it with a parachute green drake, and the drake accounted for one fish, before another brook trout took the leader under a rock. I slowly approached and attempted to free the line, but the fish spooked and darted way and broke off the parachute green drake in the process. Although the green drake was generating some interest, it did not live up to the hippie stomper, so I replaced it with a fresh version. Immediately brook trout began to hammer the new hippie stomper.

Fish Landed: A lot