Category: Fishing Reports

If you are going to fish it, might as well as tell us how it was

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East Walker 03/18/09 – A new season begins!

First I need to clarify what I mean by a new season.  NV fishing licenses run march 1 through the last day of February.  This is my first trip on my new license, not 2009.  The few trips I have made this year have all been winter fishing trips more about solitude and freezing my ass off, then about catching fish.

Today was a beautiful pre-spring day.  Temps on the EW were in the mid-60’s, slightly overcast, little to no wind, and a flows that have been steady for several days.  The reports trickling in from friends fishing the EW have all been good.  The downside was that every angler much have been suffering from the fishing jones as there were cars and fishermen at every corner – it was pretty crowded for this section of the river.  I could only guess at how crowded the Miracle Mile section would be if the ranch was this pressured.

I drove past the first 3 likely parking spots as they were all stuffed with cars.  I decided to drive down to Red Wash and was the second car there…rats!  No matter.  I suited up and headed toward the fence that demarks the special regs from the put and take sections.  I will admit that I almost never fish this section, always going in the opposite direction (as does everyone else when they start at Red Wash) and I am happy to say that I discovered some new water that will get more attention from me this spring and fall.  In fact, one of my found spots produced the only two fish that I caught the entire day.

Yup…you read that right…only two fish.  And I had such high expectations because I have been hearing about “20 fish days” and “fish on every other cast” stories all week.  I tried a handful of flies, but the one that got the job done was an olive streamer that I call the green goblin.  Pretty sure that is not this fly’s official name, but it’s what I call it.  It is an evil fly that has caught some of my biggest fish.

I did fish all the way up river to my usual favorite spots.  I only saw one of the three people that were in the other car, so we were all spaced out pretty well.  Back at the parking area, the other crew was getting ready to split, but the word from them was that they had a tough day as well with a total of 4 fish netted between 3 angles.

Make no bones about it though, it is time to start fishing and I will start hitting the water with some frequency before spring runoff starts.

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East Carson River – 08/25/08 Early AM

This Monday dawned bright and early for me.  I was meeting my friend Dave at hangman’s bridge for a quick outing at 7am.  That means I am out of the house by 6:15 so that I can get some gas and a cup of coffee…you have to be crazy to be a fisherman.

Our plan is to hit the trail at Hangman’s, hightail it to the Creek hole, fish for an hour or so, and hike back out.  Dave and I both have work, but I know that the boss is out of the office, so I figure that if I check in around 9:45-10:00, no worries.  Anyone that has done this hike knows that it is an easy hike after the first hill, and a great time to catch up so that you do not waste time chatting while actually in the water.

We arrive at the Creek hole and I notice rising fish in the big pool below the hole.  Question is – what are they taking.  Not being able to identify the bug that is hatching, I take the safe route and tie on a #20 Parachute Adams to try to match what I see.  No takers.

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West Carson River – 08/19/08 Early AM

Back from Utah and back to my home waters.  I am finding that I am super busy trying to get caught up with three weeks of email, phone messages, honey-do’s, etc.  I start to burn of the catch-up routine, so the best remedy is to head out fishing.  Since this is a work day, I have to do one of my early morning slams.

Leave the house by 6:45am.  On the water by 7:15am. Done fishing by 8:30am.  Back in the office and ready to work at 9:00am.

I decided to keep it simple and hit up the West Carson at the gauging station up the road from the house.  The first thing I notice when I see the water is how much lower and clearer than even a month ago.  I guess that I hoping it would be the same, but that is an unrealistic expectation.  As I string up the rod, I am diligently keeping an eye on the back wall of the gauging station hole.  I see some gentle rises in the slack water, so I tippet down to 6x and tie on an olive-bodied spinner.  I slowly creep into position and start casting.  Up comes a fish to look at my offering – refusal.  Another fish comes up to take a gander – refusal.  Hmmm…..

After about 10 more drifts with no activity, I change to a #18 Para Adams.  First drift, a fish comes up to take a gander.  Nope!  Then another.  Again, refusal.  Now I am getting flustered.  In total frustration, I try a #12 Royal Trude.  This fly is like NOTHING that is on the water and is much, much bigger than any fly hatching.  But, a friend once told me that you sometimes have to “give them a reason” to react.  First drift and I nail the 12″ ‘Bow that seems to prefer the back wall between two rocks.  She is easily the biggest fish in the hole in this thin water and she fought nicely.  I figured that she spooked the entire hole at this point.

A quick readjustment upstream to the cable hole, and I grab a super spunky 10″ trout on the first drift.  He was tight agaist the bank, under a rock that I have seen many anglers stand on to fish this hole.  Just goes to show you that just because you fish the same river freqently, does not mean you have to fish it the same was every time.  Mix it up a little and you might be surprised.

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Utah Safari Pt 4 – Big Cottonwood Creek

4 days, and a big circuitous loop of North Eastern Utah, I find myself back in Salt Lake City.  There is a big trade show to unpack and prepare for, but there are still three days to go before opening bell and one more fishing outing in the Utah Safari left to talk about.

After spending a few hours finalizing my booth setup on the second morning, I decide to head out fishing for the rest of the afternoon.  I have to be at the airport later that evening to pickup the boss, but I have around 8 hours to fish.  I wanted to try something new, but close.  I stopped in at the Western Rivers FlyFisher and got the scoop on what was close and fishing well.  The recommendation was to hit up the Big Cottonwood Creek just up the road.  Good thing I did as the best tip I took out of that shop was that waders were mandatory on that watershed.  On the drive up the canyon, I did not see the sign, but at the parking area on my way out, I witnessed a warden giving a fisherman a stiff warning for not heeding the rules.  I hunted for the sign on the way down and sure enough, it was posted.  I bet it was in the proclamation as well, but who reads all the fine print.

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