Trout, Midges & Going Solo

Just recently I found myself with a whole bunch of spare time to do anything I wanted to do. And just like a hunk of prime meat dangling in front of a hungry bear....I took full advantage it!
And what did I do with my new found freedom? I went in pursuit of some trout.

I ended up at a Spring creek, which was the only real option I had after a good bit of rain, and tried my best to catch a few. The morning started off a little rough, but I was not about to throw away my new found freedom. I pulled into the parking lot to see 4 other cars already there, and to make it interesting, it started to rain. Then it poured - Hard! Good thing it only lasted 20 minutes. From that point on conditions improved. I caught fish, the rain stopped all together, and the sun started to poke through the clouds. And by late morning, the sun had pushed every last bit of ugly out of the sky.

A few nice fish came to hand in that time, along with a trophy sighting. It's funny how those sightings seem to happen. One minute your fishing to a pod of fish, and the next, a huge shape appears out of no where. It's almost like spotting big foot. You could tell all your friends, and they may nod their head in understanding, but you know in the back of their head they just moved you up on their list of crazies.

I caught some more trout after that and then packed it all in and headed East. I came to location number 2 and brought out the big rod for some streamer action. The water was high and stained - perfect conditions for throwing big ugly flies, to big ugly trout.

I walked upstream heaving a 4" lead eyed black rabbit strip streamer, covering every last bit of big ugly trout water I could find. I got some follows, but no commitments. And then at the tail out of a certain "honey hole" I got my first pull - but no hookup. Two more pulls later and I hooked up with my first streamer hungry trout. It wasn't big, but it fought great in high water. And when I got it to hand, I could see why this trout couldn't lay off the meat. It was 14" and thin - like a hammer handle.

That was that! I headed home fulfilled with a day of fishing - even if it had to be solo! And as one of my friends says "sometimes you just need a day to get your act together, refocus your fishing skills, and concentrate on catching fish." So that's what I did. I re-focused my skills and caught some fish - and it was great!