My Friday night plan was to hit the EB early Saturday morning. At 5:30 Saturday morning I checked the online gauge and saw that the river had gone from about 120cfs early Friday evening to just a hair below 600cfs by midnight but had now dropped to 445cfs. That's fishable but I should have known better. You can't have that kind of flow increase without the dreaded effect. As I drove down the access road the river had the color of a Dunkin Donuts coffee, one cream, no sugar!! The submerged rocks, usually easily seen, were hidden in the murky flow. I had left the big, heavy flashy stuff at home because, well, I don't like to use it at this time of year. So I spent a couple of hours working a dull hares ear dropper below a a large Wulff dry. No runs, no hits and no errors!! I did see one health rise which let me know that something had survived that hot, dry July. I'll be back.
Sunday morning found me heading east on RT9 for a few hours on the Swift. 8am and the Y Pool lot has 8 cars but that place was not my destination. Neither was the PIPE. I took the right onto River Road and drove a few hundred yards to my "spot".
I love this place in the Summer. It doesn't have the number of trout as the two previously mentioned areas but that means it doesn't have the fishermen! The thin water means that the trout will be VERY difficult. That's OK because it gives me what I want - the chance to fish a dry fly slowly upstream in what amounts to my own private spring creek.
The flow was in the mid 40 range, down from the 120 flow of the previous week. That made the fishing even more difficult. I took two and lost another two in two hours and had a ball.
I could of stayed longer but my grandson's birthday party trumped any thought of that. I'll be back this week in the late afternoon.
I had plans to hit the Millers after the party but the thunderstorms in the air and in the forecast for the evening killed that idea. I'll be there too!
Ken
7 comments:
Be glad you didn't hit the Millers in the afternoon. I was fishing the Bears den when the rain hit. Got a nice bump on my head from a hail stone. Was hoping to hit the late afternoon rise. Only rise I saw was in the water level. Oh well. Heading out to Montana this week to recharge my fishing batteries...The EB definitely reminds me of the type of stream one would find out there in the golden triangle. Definitely one of my favorites.
Ken,
I have a day off on Friday and I'm looking to wet a line! Where do you think I should go? Hit the tried and true swift or try the millers for my 2nd time? I know we've had some rain and some cool nights, could this help some mid day fishing? Unfortunately I only have a couple hours to go fishing, typically 8/9am- 3pm.
What do you think?
Tony,
The Swift has been doing very well (as it does at this time of year) for me. A day time excursion would best be spent there. I think that the Millers is still an evening event as it has been over the years at this time of the season.
The Swift has been an example of trout hunting for me. Low flows and very finicky trout can make for a great day. I love to find a surface feeding trout, sneak up on it and set the hook. I spook enough of them but it's great fishing!!
Ken
Kozman,
Good luck in Montana!! My girlfriend is in the mountains of Colorado this week at a YOGA RETREAT!! Where did I go wrong???
Ken
You had me at YOGA! Tying hoppers as we speak...should be a good trip. If you want a fishing report on a Montana stream while I'm out there, I'd be more than happy to write something up that will make the fly fisherman on this blog salivate.
Fished the swift on Saturday morning, from 6:30 until noon. Only one car in the y pool lot when we arrived -- I couldn't believe it. My friend and I fished the section at the little wooden bridge down to the route 9 bridge. I had luck working a size 10 dry stone with variety of trailers, the size 18 sulfur drawing the most attention. I ended up landing 2 healthy bows, one 17 inches and well fed. I even managed a 15 inch small mouth that took the stone without any hesitation. Definitely a fun morning. It's always nice to catch bows on large dries, especially on a river that nearly demands size 20 and smaller.
Ethan
Kozman,
Let us know how you did in Montana.
Ethan,
6:30am and only one car in the Y Pool lot!!!! I guess the early bird catches the San Juan worm!!
Ken
Post a Comment