Sunday, August 21, 2011

Trip Report: Home Sweet Home Stream

Today I found two hours to go exploring on a new stretch of my home stream. I wanted to practice casting in tight quarters so I headed up towards the headwaters. I found lots of brook trout with a few very nice ones.

I pulled these two and and a few smaller ones out of a quick pit stop.
At my destination the water is shallow, with the deepest pools only about two feet deep. As you can see there is little room for casting, but plenty of fish! It didn't take too long for me to give up on this spot. I caught plenty of average sized fish but after a few hundred yards of hiking the creek became impassable. I then moved on to an area full of campsites. I parked the car and got out to check the water. The first spot I looked at was a pool with a big tree fallen across it. I stood on the bank, about 5 feet above water level, and dipped my Deer Hair Stimulator in. Instantly, a big brookie slurped it down. I set the hook and fought him out of the trees, but when it came time to land him I couldn't get down to grab him. With 4.9 lb test line I tried to "fly" him. I lifted him out of the water with no problem but as soon as I gave him a little velocity the line snapped. Luckily he flew right up to where I stood. I grabbed my hook from his lip but decided against a photo as he was full of dirt. I didn't measure him but he was probably about 15 inches! After that I hiked a ways past the campsites and down to the river.
More tight casting! This spot didn't harbor as many fish but I did pull a biggun from the nearest run.
This chunker gobbled up the Stimulator and ran like crazy. Luckily for me, he had very little room to run. He came to hand after a short lived fight. I wanted to get him back in the water fast so I didn't measure him, but I would guess around 15-16 inches! From here I hiked up to a pool right near an access road that I sometimes fish when I am short on time.
 I stood at the beginning of the riffle and made long casts at the top of the pool. I literally caught a fish every other cast! After about 15 minutes and 15 brookies I decided to head home so I hiked back to the car. Overall I must have caught around 35-40 brookies.

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