Perseid Meteor Shower 2010

I got up in the pre-dawn morning to catch the peak of the Perseid shower and had a nice time viewing this year. Skies were filled with patches of clouds when I went to sleep on the couch. My watch alarm went off at 3am and I got up to perfectly clear, dark skies. The viewing was great this year and I counted 31 with 3 of them being nicer bright ones in about 45 minutes of sitting on the deck. I tried to get a lucky capture on the camera again this year but wasn't able to have it pointed the right direction at all this time.

Change Of Pace

I had talked to Eric about trying to get out on Saturday, but we were both looking for something a little different than the high country. We decided to check out a lower level lake that, if the water is cool enough, can be very entertaining with brown trout and snake river cutthroats both providing strong fighting opportunities. We arrived and put in with the float tubes. This lake has good callibaetis and midge hatches as an almost daily occurrence. We never did see any callies come off today, but the consistent action on midge patterns paid off for a nice day from the float tube. We both took various browns and a couple cutthroats showed up throughout the day. I am glad we took a chance at lower elevations even with the risk of possible warm water. The temps were nice and cool and the fish responded and rewarded us for our gamble. No monster fish today, but many 13-16 inch trout willing to jump, fight, and entertain us.

Kicking In The Rain

I was anxious to try for some big rainbows on top water at dusk and foolishly ignored all the signs of a large valley rainstorm that was pummeling the area this evening. While telling myself it would clear, I packed up the vehicle with the float tube and a couple rods to go find a rainbow willing to take a big cicada or hopper up on top.

After arriving at the lake, it was obvious the storm wouldn't pass by anytime soon, so I made a run at it and fished from the tube while finning through the storm. It was a light rain most of the time and did eventually break near dusk for about half an hour. I thought it would trigger a good bite, but nothing ever materialized. I couldn't raise anymore than one splashy take on dries and nothing on the typical nymph setup. I did get plenty of exercise searching the lake for active fish.

A shot of the sun briefly breaking through the storm overhead

Back To The High Country

Eric and I spent the afternoon and early evening working to the high country trout with dry flies. The three weight with a stimulator and elk hair caddis or trailing bwo was again working its magic, looking tasty to all the various surface fixated fish. It was a four species day once again. I started with a cutthroat that when landed, I unhooked the fly and threw it back on the water. Before I could release the cutt, my rod immediately started to dance around, and I found a splake on the other end. So, I netted him up too and snapped a quick picture of the pair. We had waves of action where the bite would burn hot for a while and then go through a bit of a lull. Once the lake was shaded by the mountain range it was a consistent bit of action.

Eric and I had a great evening kicking around in the tubes and taking in the sights and sounds of the lake. At the end of the evening the temps had dropped to the 40's and we both were a bit cold, making me think that fall is almost here. You could feel that sharpness in the air. I am not sure I am ready for that quite yet.

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.