A tale of two rivers.
With warm temps and sunshine forecast for today I was in no hurry to get to the stream. Yesterday's double header was fun and productive but one game today will be enough. The temps have stayed warm the last couple of nights and with the predicted sunshine the freestone streams will be getting quite warm. This pushes the bug hatches back to the cooler evening hours. Bottom line, back to the tailwaters. Left camp at 3:00 with no clear plan for where to fish. Ended up heading up the UEB and to my surprise there were anglers fishing almost every pool (it is Friday afternoon after all).
There is a pool I like to fish that has a difficult entry and exit path (very steep) and perhaps because of the formation of hills surrounding it, it is often so windy you just can't fish it. It is also a pool that is "no secret" to UEB fishermen and often times someone else has gotten there before me This year there has been a fourth problem in trying to fish it. The three times I've gone down the path I've been chased back up the hill by a rainstorm (twice without a raincoat).
Today the stars aligned. The wind was calm, no one was fishing it and there was a bright sun in a clear blue sky with a prediction of zero chance of rain. The car said it was 76 degrees. Clearly I didn't need a second shirt or a raincoat. Descended the path and within half an hour the olives began to come and the fish began to feed. Hooked several nice ones when I noticed it was getting darker. Looked up and a wall of black clouds was quickly covering the once clear blue sky. Saw rain against the hills and once again had to head up the path to the car.
Finished the day at a pool farther downstream with my raincoat on. Never caught a fish over 14 inches but all the fish were wild, brilliantly colored, hooked and landed in a beautiful river valley in complete solitude .
Yesterdays battle with the hot rainbows and giant browns is what the Big River is all about, heart pounding excitement. Today's fishing was for wild trout, sipping tiny flies in a slow water pool. Finesse was the name of the game, pulse pounding excitement? Not so much, but just as satisfying in it's own way.
There is a pool I like to fish that has a difficult entry and exit path (very steep) and perhaps because of the formation of hills surrounding it, it is often so windy you just can't fish it. It is also a pool that is "no secret" to UEB fishermen and often times someone else has gotten there before me This year there has been a fourth problem in trying to fish it. The three times I've gone down the path I've been chased back up the hill by a rainstorm (twice without a raincoat).
Today the stars aligned. The wind was calm, no one was fishing it and there was a bright sun in a clear blue sky with a prediction of zero chance of rain. The car said it was 76 degrees. Clearly I didn't need a second shirt or a raincoat. Descended the path and within half an hour the olives began to come and the fish began to feed. Hooked several nice ones when I noticed it was getting darker. Looked up and a wall of black clouds was quickly covering the once clear blue sky. Saw rain against the hills and once again had to head up the path to the car.
Finished the day at a pool farther downstream with my raincoat on. Never caught a fish over 14 inches but all the fish were wild, brilliantly colored, hooked and landed in a beautiful river valley in complete solitude .
Yesterdays battle with the hot rainbows and giant browns is what the Big River is all about, heart pounding excitement. Today's fishing was for wild trout, sipping tiny flies in a slow water pool. Finesse was the name of the game, pulse pounding excitement? Not so much, but just as satisfying in it's own way.
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