Midweek River And Stillwater

Adam and I took advantage of one of the breaks between storms to head for the river and explore in search of trout. Both of us needed a day off and the midweek timing seemed to mesh with all the natural happenings of spring. The cranes were in nesting and the bald eagles were circling always watchful for any chance at an easy meal. We managed to find a few trout and also one white sucker amid the riffles, runs, and pools of the big water. The sun warmed us enough to make what wind there was tolerable. In a moment of carelessness I broke the top two feet off my fly rod. We were too far up river so I continued to fish with what was left the rest of the day. Thank goodness for weight forward lines. The trout seemed to be taking buggers when they were on the feed but overall the action was rather slow.

Battling a side channel trout


Adam with a nice river brown


A native sucker before breaking the rod


This tree has seen a lot on the river


Working a riffle with a nice drop off


On the way back to the car we saw our fourth coyote of the day as we startled him from his curled up nap, basking in the warmth of the river bank cliffs. We had a late lunch with a nice red ale and decided to try out some area stillwater. The ice was completely off and we began taking trout almost immediately upon arrival. Some healthy browns and rainbows were found and they put a good bend in what was left of my rod. A quick storm rolled through but the fishing seemed better on the back end of it. A fine day full of relaxing walking, beautiful scenery, and some quality fishing. Now to see about sending in a rod for repair.

Stillwater brown... my first brown ever from this particular lake


The storm hitting full force


A sort of weird rainbow release shot