The wife has a conference in Butte, Mt for the next two days so today I got a chance to fish around the area without the ol' ball and chain. Today I planned on fishing the Boulder River, about 40 minutes away, but upon arrival I found the confluence of the Boulder and another stream. I decided to first follow the other stream, which turned out to be Red Rock.
This creek was full of eager brookies and rainbows. It moved at a medium pace and was characterized by deep runs and pools with sparse riffles. Most of my fish came out of the middle of runs with a few coming out of the edges of pools. The biggest trout exploded from undercuts.
I caught a few bigger ones but this one had the best form. It measured 14 inches had a hefty gut. He put up a good fight with a few good leaps, but came to hand fairly quick. I caught mostly rainbows averaging around 12 inches. I caught a fair number of brook trout with an average size of around 10 inches. Most were very small but this guy bumped up the average.
This fella came from deep under and undercut to snatch the skittering caddis from the surface. He put up a pretty good fight but was no match for the St. Croix! He measured close to 14 inches. After catching this beautiful specimen I began to notice that the fish out of this creek are especially pretty.
After probably 20 rainbows and around 10 brookies I decided to head back to the Boulder River. I researched this river a little online before the trip so I know a little about it. I expected a mix of rainbows, cutthroats, brookies, and a few browns.
Despite a beautiful river in spectacular surroundings I only pulled a few small rainbows and brookies out of the Boulder. I tried five or six spots along a poorly maintained frontage road but although they all looked promising, they all fell short.
I ended up catching a mixture of around a dozen bows and brooks, all very small. I did get on big strike solicited by the black cone head leach fly, but the beast only sampled the very tip of the leach tail. I ended up with around 40 fish in just over four hours of fishing/exploring. Not to shabby!
Stay Tuned: Tomorrow a.m. I'm heading to Rock Creek (if I can get around a big forest fire) or Flint Creek.
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