Drift Boat On The Lake

After overnighting in the vehicle for quick camp efficiency, I got up and had a small breakfast and coffee with ZackDog and Dave and headed for the lake. Starting off in the float tube, I managed to hook up with a nice rainbow that leaped into sky, filled with Arizona fire haze. He came unbuttoned but it was nice to see him rocketing for the heavens. The low viewing angle in the float tube always makes a leaping trout that much better. ZD and Dave soon joined me in their pontoons with the morning bite a bit slow except for ZD. He is so dialed in he just continues to catch them when the rest of us were bobbing around and daydreaming. Adam pulled up with the drift boat sometime in the 9 o'clock hour. I kicked in and joined him and the midges were suffocating in thick in clouds on shore.

We launched the boat without incident. He has serious backing skills with that trailer. From the boat, we found a few fish throughout the day but it wasn't as red hot as the evening before. We both were glad to have the suntan lotion on as the direct sun persisted most of the day and avoiding the sunburn with a few cold beers was a big win in itself. I had a fairly decent cuttbow on the day and Adam managed to get into his first fish of the year. We found some smaller rainbows later in the day but eventually the sun wore us down and we decided to pack it in and head back across the border for home.

Adam took an action shot of my loud yellow shirt

Cuttbow

Adam's first fish of the year

Fast Float On Labor Day

Adam and I headed to the river for a float on a different section. We talked about it as an all day trip, however neither of us took into account the 2600 cfs flows at the time and our section got a little faster than we planned. Typically at 500 cfs it could be a nice float length. At least this lower section had some high desert beauty around and made for interesting scenery. We were finding fish but I boffo'ed every hookset or lost the fish when I was casting. I even broke one off in an over exuberant Jimmy Houston like display of way too much rod backbone. Adam did manage to boat one lone rainbow but it was a slow day overall. We were hoping for the hopper bite but it did not materialize. At the take out the hoppers were all over the place but apparently the wind wasn't strong enough to be salting the water with them. We talked about trying some other water on the way home but were both tired and called it a day.

River Scenery

Adam casting to a large eddy

An uncooperative rainbow

Stillwater Drift Boating

Adam was intrigued with my earlier success this month hitting lower lakes before you would traditionally think they would cool off temperature wise and warm up for fishing action. We launched the drifty and had a grand day of nymph fishing under indicators. We seemed to be constantly hooked up. Midges were taking the majority of fish with some PT takes mixed in. Quite a number of cutthroats on this trip too in comparison to earlier in the year.

My first fish of the day had hooking damage and a large piece of the gill plate missing. Poor guy was still a pretty looking brown though.

Some of the nicer fish we were finding


Adam fighting a brown

Releasing the brown

We kept getting "Colorado'ed" by other boats

More browns kept cooperating

Here is a pair of late day doubles, Adam unfortunately won large fish in each matchup.

Floating The River On High Water

Adam and his lovely wife Christine invited me to float the river on the dropping flows after the record flooding. We had a great time watching the wildlife and scenery roll by as we swiftly headed down river. Flows at the gauge in Saratoga were around 4900 cfs which kept us moving along. We did 19 river miles and managed some decent brown trout on buggers and streamers throughout the day. It wasn't red hot fishing but it certainly felt good after all the high water had closed down floating due to low bridges and dangerous water. Brown was my best color of the day for actual fish takes. I managed to leave a few in the bushes and roots along the banks of the river as well. A beautiful day on the water and I even spotted a few elk on the way home in the approaching evening.

Adam with a river brown

Christine with a nice brown trout

Christine working a back eddy - she deemed this "good" water

A bald eagle that we drifted under before he took flight

I even managed to find a few browns

Looking down river in the afternoon

Getting the Drifty Wet

Adam pulled the drift boat out for the first time this year and we inaugurated it on some stillwater browns and cutthroats. Any sort of moving water is completely blown out and we both enjoyed a day of anchored up stillwater trout on the fly. The day started with us launching the boat in the midst of a cattle drive. The rancher was moving the cows from one field to another and Adam got stuck right in the middle of it. After the cows passed, we parked the vehicle and set out in the boat. The drift boat is a great platform on lakes and it gives you ample space for many food and drink luxuries. We enjoyed a nice selection of microbrews throughout the day and had a wonderful time fighting many trout on midge patterns. Once we would dial in depth it was fairly constant action with a few lulls between hatches. Things did slow a bit in the afternoon as the late day hatch never seemed to materialize. We were taking sporadic fish but not the heavy action of earlier in the day. Eric came out in his pontoon and fished a few hours with us too. It was a bit chilly with the wind but enough sun was around to give Adam a bit of a sunburn. The sunscreen sitting in the car didn't do him much good without remembering to apply it. The fish were mostly younger year class brown trout in the 13-15 inch range with a few larger fish mixed in to 18 inches through the day. We also found a few cutthroats and the first snake river finespotted cutthroats of the year for me. I didn't get any of size but Adam and Eric both had some decent cutts at various times.

Adam blocked by cows

Eric sets up using the Toyota as a cattle shield

It was a nice sized herd

First fish of the day - standard sized brown trout

Adam battling away

Adam with a decent cutt

My best of the day was this beautiful brown

This scene went on all day

Adam found this better brown

Afternoon storm that never quite hit us

Beer, sun, and a sore arm finally took its toll on Adam

Drift Boat River Trip - Day 2

A 5:00am start assured that we were the first boat on the river at the launch. After a quick camp pack up, the drifty was in the water and we were off as the sun wasn't even fully lighting the river canyon walls. In the early morning shade we were into fish immediately and had a better numbers day than Monday but never found the same sized fish as we had been blessed with a day earlier. With the river up the float seemed to go by much faster than normal. We saw a nice golden eagle and lots of early morning mule deer, including a sizable buck, using the river corridor. Songbirds are everywhere in the riparian area and we were inundated with different sightings and songs. More great time on the water with beautiful surroundings, trout, and wildlife. It all ended too early and we drove the shuttle and said goodbyes. Thanks to Adam and Christine for graciously inviting me along on a wonderful two days on the water.

Drift Boat River Trip - Day 1

Adam, Christine, and I got over the hill and managed to float the river with great success in the high off color water. The area rains had gotten flows up above what we would typically think of as "good". The trout were hungry however and we fed them a steady diet of stripped streamers and buggers. Adam's drift boat made things nice and easy with good handling and plenty of space to work out of the boat. With the fish tucked in tight to the banks, we bombed the banks and got some vicious strikes and hook ups from big trout. I actually landed my best rainbow from this stretch ever on the first fish of the day. Adam had a brute brown trout as well and I followed later on with another sizable brown. Christine found her first fish of the year today as well which was a ton of fun to watch. After floating, we had dinner in town and moved upstream to a remote camp spot to set up for the night and be ready to hit the river early the next morning. We watched the International Space Station pass over from camp with the trailing Russian Progress spacecraft following up behind the ISS. Adam did some fire tricks on film for me as we drank a few Trippels and then retired for the early launch on Tuesday.

Guided Trip With Dad

Tetons in the distance

Dad and I had a meet up in Jackson for a few days with the intent of getting out for a day trip with a guide. I had not been on a guided trip before so this was a new experience for me. Initially, we were all set to float the canyon section of the South Fork but as is typical with fishing trips, conditions changed. Flows nearly doubled the day before our scheduled float. A quick alternative was devised and we were off to Yellowstone National Park to enjoy a day fly fishing for mackinaw and brown trout. We went out with Scott Smith as our guide and worked a popular lake and its channel with sinking lines and various streamers and buggers. The day was so enjoyable, we found fish, spotted wildlife, had varying weather from rain to full sun, a nice lunch and dad got some great casting help from Scott as well. Dad and I picked up our first lake trout of the year and both got a respectable brown trout in the mix too. Dad quickly nicknamed his monster headed brown trout "Madame Leech" as she had a few anchored to her. All good things seem to end quickly and as the day waned we headed for the boat ramp and concluded the float. Thanks to Scott for such an excellent time on the water. I can't wait to get back to the Jackson area and spend more time on the local waters.

Autumn Brown Trout

As the water temperatures are beginning to drop on area lakes, Adam and I made it out to find the brown trout to be in a frenzied prespawn feeding pattern. The day was filled with lightning strikes and fish too numerous to count with most falling in the 14-18 inch range. We had some beautiful squash yellow brown trout, all colored up and just about ready to begin their mating ritual along with some large, fat snake river finespotted cutthroat that made their presence known throughout the afternoon. Adam had the big fish honors on the cutthroat with a piggy 21 incher that made him work hard to land her. We had a few big browns too with one that pushed a healthy 20 inches. The drift boat proved to be a wonderful lake fishing platform as we were able to work the water rapidly and position the boat where we wanted to hold with the heavy anchor. Dusk crept in on us, our casting hands aching from a day of fighting fish. Neither of us really wanted to leave but the day had come to an end as beautifully as it had begun.

Autumn Brown Trout