Exploring New Water

Billy's Birthday Present

My brother, dad and I went exploring on some new water this past weekend. The usual destinations still had too much water in them for our liking. This presented the perfect chance for us to get out of our comfort zone and explore some less visited waterways. Our first stop was a 15-20 foot wide ditch. This area consisted of tight casting quarters but good holding water and feisty wild brown trout. The water was high and just a touch off color, I think this benefited us though as we were able to get very close to the fish without spooking them. Nymphing the deeper runs proved to be ticket as trout came to hand frequently enough to make the time go by quickly. It's tough for 3 guys to fish such small water, but we made the best of it and will return in the future.

Fishing In God's Country

Not A Bad Idea.......

Small Feeder Provided Fun Fishing

The next stop was another smaller stream, but slightly bigger then the first. The water was the same but we got some bugs this time. Grannoms, black stones and blue quills came off in decent numbers. The fish didn't take notice but once again the fishing for small wild brown trout under the surface proved to be successful. After a brief preview of this stream we traveled to the headwaters of a more famous river system. This water rarely gets talked about, and doesn't see much pressure after the first few weeks of trout season. But it holds it's own and represents the headwaters of this famous stream very well. A mix bag of stockies and wild browns fell victim to our nymphing techniques. The day wasn't a huge numbers day but we managed to uncover a few real gems that will provide opportunites for us in the future.

A Solid Fish After Many Mini's 

Our next stop was a very famous freestone river. We had our sights set on the Hendrickson hatch but that never materialized. I think the recent cold spell really put these fish on the bottom. So we stuck to our nymph's and managed to get into some fish, but nothing to brag about. In the late afternoon we visited another small freestoner that was a big disappointment. The state started stocking fish in this stream and it has really put a hurting on it's wild trout population....what a shame.

Feisty Wild Brown

Sorting Out Wild Fish From Stocked Fish

Our last destination for the trip proved to fish very similar to everything else this trip. Sporadic bugs, a few fish and nymph fishing. We did manage to bag a few good ones though, which was nice after the plethora of smaller fish we got the day's prior. I think this week will be really good all across the state. Flows are finally getting to normal and bugs should be popping off heavily. If you are lucky enough to be on the water this week it should bring you great fishing. Tight Lines......