Yesterday I decided to fish the world famous Rock Creek. At the urging of a friend I stopped at Flint Creek on the way. He warned me that a big forest fire raged near Rock and gave me a few alternatives in case the roads were closed. From town I can see and smell smoke so I didn't think I'd make it all the way to Rock. Flint is a beautiful high gradient freestone stream full of feisty rainbows. The river runs along the road so access was simple. The first pool that I fished produced a fat rainbow.
This chunker measured just shy of 17 inches! He came on the skittering caddis on my first cast at this spot. After limited exploration I moved on to another spot.
This beast struck twice. I got him on the second. This spot wasn't very productive otherwise, but it was really neat. An old light gage railroad track followed the canyon meandering along the river. From here I hit one other spot which produced seven or eight stout little bows. Then I continued on to Rock Creek. At this point the peaks of some distant mountains were obscured by smoke. After forty more minutes of driving I arrived in a smokey valley with a beautiful river flowing through it.
I fished near the headwaters fighting the smoke and heat to catch some dandy trout. Immediately I hooked into a few little mountain whitefish. I cast over a deep pool and missed a strike from a very nice brown. After an hour with little success I stepped back to take in my surroundings.
This river runs swift with many deep pools and side channels. After admiring my environment I took a side channel that looked like it contained some deep pools. I tied on a cone headed sculpin pattern and dredged the deep holes looking for big browns or cutthroats. I pulled the fish pattern along a logjam and my line went stiff. I set the hook and the fish took off under the jam. I maneuvered him out and landed him quickly.
This is my first Bull Trout! They are a species that was at one time fished near extinction. There are very few left so this was an exciting catch. It is illegal to target the species and if one happens to hook into one they must be quickly released unharmed. After snapping a quick picture I released him unharmed. After this excitement I changed to lighter tippit line and returned to the skittering caddis. After a few more misses I tied on a rainbow warrior dropper fly. Right away I caught a decent cutthroat from a deep, fast riffle.
This guy was probably near 15 inches but I didn't measure. He fell for the warrior but also hit at the caddis. After a few more little cutts and some little browns I hooked into a few more respectable ones.
I didn't catch a ton of fish but I caught a diverse bunch. I pulled out brown, rainbow, cutthroat, and bull trout, and whitefish. I wish I would have caught a brookie too! I planned on hiking with a friend from Kalispell in the evening so I decided to call it a day a little early. The smoke also got to me. I drove back to the hotel and met up with my buddy. We decided to hike Humbug Spires, an expansive formation of granite boulders in the mountains. The area is popular with rock climbers. We scrambled along the boulders and hiked some trial. Before we left my friend asked me if I could catch a fish out of the little stream that flowed along the trail. I laughed at him and told him that I can catch a fish out of any body of water.
This spot challenged my in every way. The water had good depth but the boulders made it hard to get a good drift. The banks were so brushy that I had to travel down the stream corridor. Traveling in this way made quiet stalking difficult. I fished for about 15 minutes with nothing. I knew my friend was under the impression that I know what I'm doing but I didn't want to fall short of his expectations. I knew he would pick on me if I failed to catch a trout. I took my caddis dry over to a deep pool and drifted a few times. I saw one little trout in the pool so I hoped to entice him. After a few failed attempts at that little guy the water boiled and my fly disappeared. I knew it wasn't the little one and he felt big. I saw the flash of a nice trout as he swam under the rock that I stood on. I reached down, grabbing my line, and gently guided him from the depths.
This brown was not massive but for a stream this small he is a trophy! Probably around 13 inches. After a few quick photos he was released and we headed back to the car. Overall it was a great day of fishing and fun in paradise!
No comments:
Post a Comment