The weather gave me a challenge today. I finally had to stray from my caddis dominated regulars, the elk hair, deer hair, small stimulator, elk and deer hair skittering caddis. Low pressure and cloudy skies killed the evening hatch. The temperature held steady in the mid to low 60's stifling any possibility of finding a steady hatch. I caught two average rainbows on the elk hair caddis before I moved on to the cone headed sculpin. I dredged the bottoms of deep pools and brushy debris jams with the sculpin, enticing sluggish browns and bows.
The top one rounded out the first half hour. The next two came from a really deep pool. I fished up stream, slowly twitching the sculpin downstream. The center picture is a hefty brute of around 16 inches. He ventured from a log jam and inhaled the fly. He ran under the obstructive brush but I quickly brought him under control steering him away from the current. The last trout pictured came from the same pool. He wasn't as crafty as the last but he did give a few half-hearted leaps during the struggle. I hoped to catch a few browns, which are very rare in this creek, but thus far I had struck out.
I fished a lot of these runs that flowed through deep pools. They produced the best fishing close to the undercut bank.
The top fish came from an undercut. The second came from the center of a pool approximately 8 feet deep. He put up a good fight so I snapped this picture and unhooked him. I didn't measure him but he must have been at least 16 inches. It wasn't two minutes before I lost my store bought cone headed sculpin. I held my breath and opened my streamer box. Luckily I had a similar version, the silver headed rusty cone headed sculpin, which I tied a few weeks ago. I took a few deep breaths and continued.
This guy did the job!
The vibrant sides on this rainbow made me feel better about being eluded by the browns. I got a cool picture of the release too! I missed a few really nice strikes, probably because I haven't fished with a sub surface fly in awhile. After about an hour and a half of fishing I caught around 15 rainbows averaging around 13 inches. My luck was soon to improve...
This fat brown trout came on the same fly. He hit hard and dove deep into underwater brush. I steered him away a few times and he soon gave in. I didn't measure him but he must have been at least 16 inches. After a short fight, a quick picture, and a short revival I released him unharmed. My heart beat hard as I scaled around the pool and over to another deep run. At the tail end of the pool, where the water slowed, swirled, and dropped off, I felt a heavy tug.
This brown also went unmeasured. He didn't deserve the dignity of a measurement due to the below average effort exhibited in his escape. He came to hand shortly after I set the hook in his lip. He is the most vibrantly colored brown I've ever caught. I caught a few more nice rainbows and a few little ones before calling it a day. I fished for about two hours, ending the outing with around 20 fish. I caught two browns which made the trip a great success!
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