Spring Creek: January 31

This morning was an excercise in perseverance.

Cold temperatures that struggled to get up into the low teens were the order of the day. And to make matters even more interesting we chose to fish "Spring Creek". A creek that requires light rods, fine tippets and small flies. But hey, since when do freezing conditions and technical fishing stop dedicated fly fisherman from pursuing a worthy foe....NEVER!!!

The morning started off a little slow with a few fish here and there for the first half hour or so, with Jessie having the hot hand early. Then we changed flies(a time consuming process in freezing conditions.) Small pink scuds in #16 and #18 were tied on, and that made all the difference in the world. It was as though we triggered an internal switch in the trout that made them go nuts!

Fish were now being caught in a rapid manner, and on occasion, would take our flies on three or four drifts in a row. Fishing like this keeps you busy and warm! And we kept at it for a good while hoping that it would last until we had to go home.

Then Luke and Jessie headed downstream in search of some bigger trout. It was at this moment that I hooked a fish that turned out to be the biggest trout of the day, a beautifully colored male brown trout. I guessed it to be about 15" to 16" in length. I'm guessing becuase I didn't want to expose my hands any longer to the elements while trying to measure the fish. Jessie then came back upstream to see what I was yelling about, and took a few photos for me. He then stayed upstream and left Luke to his own madness of retying his rig in the frigid air. In fact I heard him yell something about it! I'm not sure what though....I think my hearing was being effected by the cold at this point(if that's at all possible.)

The fishing stayed hot untill the sun went behind some clouds to stay. The fish new what was up, and quickly turned as cold as the weather. But not before we caught close to 25 to 30 fish and lost many others.

We all manged a few photos and Luke even shot some nice video. It's just like him to pick the most challenging day to shoot video. Nice job guys!!! So I'll try and post the video if I can, but for now....just the photos.

Brian