Float Tubing High Country Water

I had the afternoon and evening to head to the mountains and chase some trout with the fly rod.  It had been nearly two weeks since I had a chance to get on the water and I was in need of some cooler air and relaxation.  The float tube seemed like it would be a fun way to fish, so I loaded up the car and took to the highway.  The temperatures at altitude were a relief when compared with the valley floor and I quickly rigged up and got out on the water.  The fish were all on dries and for the most part I fished a grasshopper all evening without having to change flies at all.  The lake is thick with cutthroats now as a result of what must be the current stocking management plan.  I did not find a single rainbow trout this evening.  It was nice to see a splake for the first time this year.  I am still hopeful some of the larger hold over splake are here even though I wasn't able to find any today.  I am looking forward to another tubing trip here this fall if I can talk Floyd or Eric into hunting big splake.  More bull moose spotted this evening.  Three different bulls were feeding along the road on the way down to the valley.

The typical cutthroat dominating the lake

The scenery is hard to beat while tubing

Brookies would break through the cutthroat onslaught on occassion

First splake of the year

Mountain Brook Trout

George and I took a trip into the mountains to check out some scenery and find a few trout along the way.  The snow pack has produced a wonderland of lush meadows coated in wildflowers.  The amount of water this year has been unbelievable.  We had the countryside to ourselves as the threat of a late day thunderstorm and a bit of wind seemed to have kept everyone else at home.  We did eventually get stormed on and it cut our day a little shorter than we had hoped.  I think we made the right decision to head for the car and skip the cutthroat trout lake in favor of hiking out.  We ended the day watching a pair of bull moose browsing a creek at the top of the pass.

Meadows of flowers

George coming up the trail

Medicine Bow peak in the distance

Beautiful colors were everywhere, on fish and flowers alike.  The high country does not disappoint.

A glacial stream that hosts wild cutthroats

First Trek Above The Trees

The high country is finally open and Eric and I took advantage of the mostly snow free trails to find our way into some of the mountain lakes.  We have been anxiously awaiting access to these mountain trout havens.  Getting our high country packs together and our legs on the trails, we ventured in and found some beautiful cutthroats and brook trout on various lakes scattered throughout the back country.  Trekking poles were helpful on the snowfields.  It was hard to believe the sheer amount of snow that was remaining in the mountains.  One stream that can normally be walked and fished was covered with a snow cave for quite a lengthy portion of it.  The fish were willing and we enjoyed a fine day in the mountains exploring everything we could in a day trip for the first time this year.  I will have to make as much effort as possible to hike into the high country before the fall snow begins to fly in September.  A monster storm was approaching us just as we were hiking out in the afternoon.  It is good to see the mountains are back to their normal selves.  On the way home we managed to spot four different bull moose.  They are out thick in the evenings feeding in the marshy creek bottoms.

Eric and Xena on the trail

A Marmot assessing our threat level

Bear River Cutthroat Trout

One of the many lakes we fished

Beautiful brook trout were everywhere

Eric on the shores of a brookie lake

A buck that walked past us with no concern at our presence

Brook trout were taking hoppers

The storm approaching over some of the snow fields

Higher Lakes Starting To Perform

Ice out is slowly headed to the higher elevations and the fish are ready to take advantage of the open water. I hit a lake that is right about at 8000 feet and it was just starting to reveal its treasured open water. The edges were all open with ice shelf conditions on some sides. I watched an immature bald eagle fishing the edges of the open water. The eagle was onto something. The ice edges proved to be the hottest fishing with trout using it like an undercut bank. Fishing a stripped bugger along the shelf often provided a crushing strike or swirling follow. I was able to entice fish to strike right at my feet with the figure eight swing of the bugger before recasting. A couple fish were taken on the nymphing setup but bugger fishing proved to be the most fruitful on the day. It was one of those stellar early season days that you look forward to at the start of spring. Wildlife everywhere and active hungry fish destroying streamers.

I started the day checking on the river... not quite ready for prime time yet but very close. Perhaps this coming weekend it will be open entirely.

I did spot my first moose of the year and watched her retreat to the willows

Lake is very low but fished well while losing ice all day

Second cast and I was into a brown, a good omen for the day

My first Snake River Finespotted Cutthroat of the year

A pretty brown trout that hammered the bugger

The best fish of the day - a 20+ inch Snake River that pounded the fly right at my feet. It was a startling take and a bit of a fight to keep him from cutting me off on the ice edge.

At the end of the day, I waded out on a large sand flat and got into some browns that must have been in hunting crayfish on the flats

Video of Snake River Cutt Release

High Country Lakes

The valley heated up into the 80's today presenting me with a perfect day to to escape to the high country. I packed the vehicle with the float tube gear and set out for the cool peaks. I rigged up the three weight with a #12 stimulator and a trailing #16 bwo and had a hoot with the high country trout. The majority were cutthroats and some were definitely recent stockers. The better fish were holding deeper in the open water and I worked to them exclusively once I figured this out. I did manage a single rainbow and a few brook trout mixed in with the cutts and eventually I found a lone splake as well. From the numbers of cutthroats I was either in the thick of them based on my lake location or they have been the stocked majority in the past two years. They were definitely the predominant fish species of the day. After I had enough of the tubing, I took a short hike to another close lake and was able to meet up with Floyd for some tiny brook trout fishing. These fish seem even smaller than past years and getting one or two decent ones mixed in seemed like a real accomplishment. You can't fault them too much though, for what they lack in size they make up for in beautiful coloring. The columbines were in full bloom in the high tundra around the lake and you couldn't ask for a more peaceful end to the evening walking out through a field splashed with the various vibrant colors of summer. On the way back to town a group of four bull moose were eating willows in the coming dusk. In a month or so they won't be so cordial with each other.

Overnight In The Snowy Range

Saturday morning Floyd, his trusty sidekick Dakota, and I headed into the back country for a camping and fly fishing trip. With a couple moose sightings on the way up, we then headed to a remote lake at about 10,800 feet that is off the beaten path. Camp was set up on a level and forested bluff overlooking the lake and it was time to fish! Brook trout riseforms pockmarked the surface in a consistent fashion and we spent the evening working the lake in peaceful solitude. Trout were rising to my beetle pattern preferring it over the trailing mayfly. Eventually the beetle was shredded and we both thought dinner sounded like a good plan. I fired up the Jetboil for a little dehydrated sustenance and then in the approaching evening dusk threw a black bugger to some more consistent action. A nice campfire and some Old Chub ales to end the night and we were off to slumber for more trout to come on Sunday. After listening to coyote howls and a few elk bugles throughout the night and early morning, we got up and had breakfast then worked the water some more with fish falling for buggers early on and then moving to nice big hoppers on the surface. Midday arrive and we packed up and headed to two more lakes that were on the way out to the trailhead. Both proved fruitful with additional brookies pounding the hoppers and the final lake producing some of the largest trout of the trip. After arriving back at the car we realized how lucky we were to be able to spend the night in the back country in total seclusion. The storm clouds and rain were just starting to form as we headed back down the highway to town... perfect timing.

Rainy Cutthroats

In to the mountains this evening, a nice night to be out. I watched the temperature drop from the valley floor at 75 degrees to 46 degrees at the parking area to start the walk to the lake. Upon arrival, the rain began and quickly turned to a very cold hail/rain mix. I worked top water with a para adams and did well finding a splake to start the evening and a nice selection of recently added cutthroats. This should bode well for the coming years. They do well at other lakes at this altitude and this one has a lot of depth and surface area. It was nice to see so many of them in here. I watched an osprey take advantage of the bonanza as well smashing a trout in the middle of the rain storm. Moving on later in the evening, I tried to find some brook trout at another lake but the few strikes I had either missed the fly entirely or were too small to take the fly in their mouth. As the temperature dropped I headed out and stopped to watch the resident pair of bull moose for a short while. They have been causing many moose jams this summer as they tend to prefer a particular willow patch right along the road.