Everything started according to plan though. Invitation to fish private water with a good friend within 45 minutes of town - check. Wake up to a few new inches of snow - well, check. Drive out of snow and into sunshine - much better.
See epic wildlife on the way to the river - check. Yup, it's a moose ladies and gentlemen. Furry canine in tow with exceptionally long tongue - oh yeah.We were set to fish Cow Pond Creek**, a tailwater that flows into the Still Atmosphere River** about 40 miles out of town. About a week or two ago, the local ranchers ramped up the flows for irrigation season but the water was clear so we thought there might be a few hungry/foolish fish around.
We were right, I caught the first fish after changing to a large black stonefly immitation:
I ended up catching a few more nice browns, but my good nature eventually won out and I relinquished my last stonefly imitation to The Wife.
We fished around in a really nice riffle/run for a bit before moving on upstream. The water was nice and clear so you could see the good lies in the riffle as darker blue water. After struggling with strong wind, heavy flies and wind-resistant strike indicators, The Wife switched over to dry flies and tied on a stimulator. After missing the first fish, The Wife got into a Lunker. She fought it for a short while before landing it and getting this smile maker:
All in all, a very nice day on the water. Thanks, Mr. Cupcakes.
* Those who have fished with me before will recognize this as sarcasm. Those who were fishing with me on this occasion will recognize this as a lie.** Place names have been changed to protect the innocent.
2 comments:
Ode to the fish gods! That looks like the right way to spend a day. Playing in the sun with a bend in the rod, well done. And to break the 20 inch mark, that is a sexy fish. Even looks like it was a dog friendly place.
As for me, today i was outside enjoying some soft snow up at Mt Hood. The weather was not the best and the park was definitely the winner today, but it is never bad to get out of town and hang out with some friends.
Well take it easy, and depending on what you are doing, keep the line tight or point those tips downhill and see where they take you!!!
Josh
Yup. It was a great day. We fished for a little over three hours. I caught a handful of fish from 12 to 19 inches, with most around 14-15 inches. The Wife's fish was around 21 inches and Mr. Cupcakes caught a fish around 14 inches. Not a bad haul. The funny thing for me is that I had tied those stonefly imitations a couple years ago and been carrying them around ever since without ever catching anything on them. At one point, I caught two fish on consecutive casts. Couldn't have done that without the relic stonefly imitations.
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