Spent a short hour on the West Carson with a good friend of mine. It was pretty brutal fishing. River was running high, off-color and cold. The only fish I saw, flashed one of my nymphs and then hit the deck. A fishless day, but a very serene day with the mist and clouds swirling around the mountains.
I met one of my buddies at the bridge at Picketts junction. On the drive up the canyon, not only did I notice that the water was chocolate milk colored, but the slight drizzle had not deterred any of the weekend crowding. At least the wind was slight.
I strung up my 5-wt XP for some power in case the wind whipped up. We decided to hit the meadow right there at the bridge. First order of business for me was to take the water temp and turn over some rocks to see what kinds of nymphs I could find. First reading registered 39 degrees….hmmm…that could not be correct, the water was 46 degrees earlier in the week. I submerged my hand and held the thermometer about a foot below for about 30 seconds. Hand was frozen after that exercise. OK. The new reading was 38 degrees. Note to self – trust the thermometer. The fishing was most likely going to be s-l-o-w. With warmer water temps and clearer flows, I would have been ecstatic about an overcast day. As to turning over rocks, it seemed pointless as the water was raging pretty good. Plan of attack – pound the banks and no sense in wasting time hitting anything but the slack water.
You have to give us credit for trying. We walked from Picketts to first bridge, made about 200 hundred drifts, saw a total of two fish, and had a great time talking and catching up. More to come later this week.