Time: 7:30PM – 8:00PM

Location: Inlet of Ruedi Creek

Fish Landed: 1

I departed Jewel Pool at 5PM on Wednesday and drove the five miles to the Little Maud Campground at Ruedi Reservoir. I circled the campground once and selected site number 5 as it is on the western side of the loop and receives sun earlier in the morning than the locations tucked against the ridge on the eastern side. I quickly assembled my REI two person tent and made dinner and then cleaned the dishes. Since there was still daylight, I decided to take a brief walk to the lake, and when I arrived, I began noticing quite a few rings in the water created by rising fish.

Despite feeling weary from a long drive and a full day of fishing, I could not resist the urge to obtain my fly rod and cast to the source of the surface rings in the lake. I walked at a rapid pace back to the campsite and snagged my rod and front pack and returned to the beach area on the east side of Ruedi Creek. I tied on a size 16 gray caddis and began casting toward the area where the current from the stream fanned into the lake. It took quite a few casts and downstream drifts, but eventually I saw a swirl and set the hook. I felt some weight and quickly stripped in an eight inch stocker rainbow and then resumed fishing.

There were fish rising all along the shoreline to the left of the inlet, but I could not entice any additional takes in the still area, so I returned to casting toward the base of the inlet current. I did manage to connect on one additional fish that felt heavier than the one landed, but this fish managed to free itself before I could bring it close to the net.

By 8PM it got quite dark, so I reeled up my line and returned to the campsite. It was a fun half hour of casting, and I considered returning Thursday evening since I would not need to consume time putting the tent up.