03-14-2012, 02:38 PM
Got out to the upper reaches of my favorite stream yesterday. Usually won't even try for another month and last year it was more like 2 months. After a 6 mile bike ride with intermittent snow, the last couple miles were snow covered and on foot. The stream was surprisingly clear. May be too clear as I could see all the fish that saw me coming first as well as quite a few take a look at my fly then ignore it completely. Whenever I invest so much time and energy to reach a fishing spot I always get the sinking feeling the I'm about to be skunked. Took 5 casts to end that as I hooked a small rainbow. Easily had a half dozen fish in the first 10 minutes. Fish were surprisingly active. Ended up with several dozen fish in the 2 hours I covered about a mile of the stream. Mostly browns and small rainbows ( stocked last summer) but did pick up a handful of cutts. No big cutts spawning yet or the big browns that follow them up to munch on eggs. Guess I just showed up too early this year and will have to try again in a month. Biggest trout only 14 inches and most were 8-12 inches. On the way out my dog found several sets of big cannine tracks which I am assuming belong to the pack of wolves or possible wolf hybrids they have seen in the area in the last few weeks. The camera case is 4 by 3 inches. The animal that left the tracks in the picture did so while we were fishing as it wasn't there on the way up. Beautiful day to be out. No coat needed even up at 7000 feet but sunscreen is a must.
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