It’s hard to believe that August is already upon us. Gone
are the God-awful mosquito hordes of June and the jumbo-jet sized horseflies of
early July. The deer flies of mid-July are still an occasional annoyance,
although easy to deal with given the memory of insects past.
The fishing, as of late, has been lights out depending upon
the river you have chosen for the day. Despite steady rains, some rivers have
reached their low point and the clear waters have made even the most
fly-friendly trout spooky. The lower flows, however, have made the larger
rivers much more accessible to the wade angler … provided you know the river,
as one misstep can lead to sheer panic or worse.
On those rivers, mornings have provided the proverbial “Zero
to Hero” opportunity, where an inch more or less on a cast can have you hooked
on a log or battling a trout thick in the shoulders and mad as hell. Fish in
the upper teens, pushing twenty inches, are now showing up in the net.
Afternoons have meant hoppers and non-stop action with sizeable brook trout.
I had the pleasure of fishing with Kirk on Saturday, another
of several Trout Unlimited members I have guided who volunteer countless hours
to protect our cold-water resources. We
began the day on a lower stretch of one of our rivers known to give up big fish
and that it did. Kirk hooked and landed two impressive rainbows in the upper
teens and (sorry to reveal this Kirk) hooked a monster brown that did
everything a big fish does to escape. The 20-plus inch fish’s first ploy was an
impressive leap to what seemed like face level followed immediately by a run to
the only piece of wood nearby, a four-inch chunk sticking nearly vertical from
the river bottom to about one foot out of the water. Not much was said after it
released itself on that piece of wood. We simply savored the perfect cast,
drift and hook set that led to the encounter. Neither angler nor guide did
anything wrong … the fish just won the battle. The afternoon was filled with
ravenous brook trout approaching a foot, all of which were eager to chase a
hopper or a bushy stonefly attractor. We lost count of the number of fish
brought to hand, always a good sign of how the day went.
The start of August has truly been special and one can only
believe that the madness will continue. It’s going to be a long time before my
waders get a chance to dry.
What a day Randy do a superb job of putting me on fish. He points to an x mark on the stream you cast and drift to it and your on fish. We pulled off the "Michigan Hat Trick" with browns, brooks and rainbows.
ReplyDeleteIt was quality and quantity from start to finish as well as great company. Randy provides knowledge, fun and a good sense of humor, don't pass the chance to get with him.
For anyone who has fished Rock Creek in Montana the water and surrounding woods will remind you of parts of it.