Ice fishing sucked, so I went to the river.

[TroutBumDave]

The Strawberry River, that is. Starvation was a bust and since I drove all the way out there I wasn't about to leave without a bite. I drove into town and talked to a local and he put me on 'em. It looked like a beautiful place to spend the last two hours of daylight, so I got my gear on and headed out.



First thing I did was pull up a submerged stick/bog to check for bugs, and wow, I have never seen scuds like that before. Massive and plentiful. I tied on an olive scud and a small yellow nymph that came in a feebie box from Rainy's (I love those guys) and went to work. Nothing happened for the first 30 minutes and I started to wonder if that local guy and his buddies weren't home laughing their asses off at the guy they sent to the irrigation ditch... Then I finally saw a fish rise. Phew.

Got my first fish on the yellow nymph:


and then it pretty much died down again. I caught one more on the scud and had pretty much run all the river I wanted to, and headed back to the car. As I was approaching my Chick Magnet Prius, I thought to myself, "Self, only a sissy would go home while there is still light." So I went back to where I started. I had about 40 minutes of daylight left, so what the hell. The next 40 minutes were some of the best fishing I've had in recent memory. I took off the little yellow nymph and put on a grey scud. Bingo.



This dude actually ate both flies. They were both jammed into his mouth.





Even caught a few whities -- man, those guys fight like Mike Tyson.







I know, I know, we've all seen pictures of Browns... Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I've been such a carp/bass-a-holic the last 12 months, that this was only the second time in a year that I've fished for trout. It felt good. Real good. I fished on into the dusk and caught a bunch more, and then it happened...



This tip broke last winter and I did a decent (not pretty) repair that held up pretty well. So . RIP knock-off piece of crap rod, I'll miss you.
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[remo_5_0]

Nice report TBD. Looks/sounds like a nice day to get out, sucks about the rod. I have an extra top section of a St. Croix Legend Ultra if you can use it. I ended up with an extra top section after some warranty work and then upgraded to a Legend Elite. Let me know.
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[riverdog]

There's a reason that yellow nymph was free.[laugh]
What rod is that? I have a spare rod section I found in the middle of nowhere and could never find the owner. My best guess ( unmarked distal section) is it's from a 4 pc 8 ft 4 wt Redington.
Sounds like a nice time out minus the ice fishing.
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[orvy]

Very nice Dave but, those look suspiciously like Jordan River rainbows.[]
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[TroutBumDave]

[quote orvy]Very nice Dave but, those look suspiciously like Jordan River rainbows.[][/quote]
Now that's funny!

The rod is a Yellowstone -- cheap sucker from Jackson Cardinal (ya, the fly guys). I used to sell them out of my shop years ago and kept a few. Decent rod, really, and I'll just figure out another way to get that tip back on there. If not, I'll trash it. Thanks all for the offers though, that's mighty nice of you all.

Anyhow, if you're in the Dooshane area, I'd suggest giving this little section a rip -- gobs and gobs of fish in those deep holes. I pulled right up to the river at the rodeo grounds, maybe half a mile into town (coming from Strawberry). Just make sure you stay on the "city side" of the freeway; once you go under the bridge you'll be on Native American land and they'll bust you if you don't have their $70.00 permit. (some guy told me it was 70, I actually have no idea)
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[gstott]

I've always been curious about that section of The Strawberry. A bit of a drive for me these days, but that looks like a great stretch of river. I can't believe that fish ate both flies. That's awesome. I know a lot of people look down on them, but those big whities have brightened many a winter day for me. I think I'll go chase some on The Blacksmith next week. Maybe I'll catch a northern raincuttbrowncarpmastadon while I'm at it [crazy]
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