Saturday, July 2, 2011

OH THIEVING MISTRESS OF THE STREAM - WHY!


Today was one of those days where I had a hard time deciding whether or not  to head out fishing early morning.  I decided to go for it since I woke up early and had fishing on the brain.  I ended up going to a stream about 45 minutes from my home.  I really hoped the fish would be biting since I was making such a long hull to get there.  I was hoping to catch a big brown out of this stream.  There have been some huge fish caught out of this stream, so my hopes were high.  So after making my decision I set off.  The fog on the way was so thick that I was forced to drive extra slow.  Just what you would expect on an early morning adventure in the Driftless.

 When I arrived I noticed a few campers at the camping area.  Oh well hopefully no one went downstream fishing yet.  I scanned the area and only saw heads poking out upstream from my location.  With my gear on and the sun starting to really come out, I booked it to the stream.  I headed downstream and soon discovered the grass was extra tall here as well as a lot of others streams lately.  Followed the deer trail to avoid getting sopping wet right away.  Didn't work really well.  My pants were soaked instantly and my new water shoes I bought that same morning were wet as well.  It is a good thing they are water shoes.  :)















While I was walking along the bank I noticed this Mother duck go squawking up ahead of her youngsters pretending to be hurt.  Then all of the sudden the little youngsters came swimming out from the tall grass in a hurry.  In the picture you can see the Mother duck really raising a ruckus.  Great motherly protection instincts.   Quite the show.





  




  






    

  I noticed that the water was running high, fast and cloudy.  The water was kind of like a grayish green chalk color.  I could see leaves and debris floating in and on top of the water.  After fishing for about 20 minutes without a single bite, I was starting to wonder if the fish were to full of floating by food to get rowdy about any of my flies.  





  

 I kept fishing and hoping that a change of fly was in order.  Changed the fly, still no bites.  Now this is quite unusual for this stream.  By now you would at least have had a bite by now.  Whatever.  I tried not to get discouraged.  My chances of catching a big trout were starting to fade the faster the sun came up.  It was starting to get hot and if they weren't active yet, I wasn't sure when they would be.  I hadn't even seen so much as a rise up to this point.  Alright that's it, time to change to the trusty ole Castle Rock Killer with trailer fly.  First cast in and a fish finally attacked it.  Then a couple more decided to follow suit.











  





   I continued to fish for a couple more hours with only a little luck and a lot of sweat.  It was really getting warm and I was getting really tired.  Lack of sleep as usual was starting to make me regret my hour long drive.  Its not because the fish weren't being very cooperative, but more because of the fact that the water just seemed off.  To fast and full of snags that I couldn't see was definitely getting old.  So I decided to just sit down and take a load off my feet.  Maybe some time is all the fish needed.  Here is a picture of some water shoes I scored from Wal-Mart because I forgot my footwear at home.  I really liked the way they felt and was pretty excited about my $7.oo purchase.  Excited until I noticed all the gaping holes that had opened up since I started hiking along the stream.  It's a good thing the except returns. 






    







  I finally reached the end of the public land and decided to head to another stream instead of going after any more fish in this particular creek.  I knew of another creek over the hill that I have been wanting to check out.  It is a beautiful area full of rock croppings that make you fell like your in small mountain country.  When I arrived the hawk was high in the sky.  This could be a good sign.  Right?:)







   
  This creek was a little smaller but it to had some weird gray look to the water.  Usually these creeks are crystal clear and perfect water level.  Maybe it had been raining over in this area and I just didn't know about it.  I decided to just check out how the holes were and went for a hike along the stream.  I look forward to coming back to this last creek when the conditions are more suitable.  I hiked and fished for about an hour before I decided to call it quits.  I made it back to the Subaru and quickly realized something was missing.  Crap.  Lost my Joby tripod.  Went back and looked for it until the heat was to much.  Damn you thieving mistress of the stream.  Damn YOu!! 













    









  

Well thats a quick summary of my day.  The fish were few, but the beauty was everywhere.  I hopped into my ride feeling sort of defeated by the stream today.  It might not have seemed so bad if I would have found my tripod, but that wasn't meant to be.  Maybe I will find it next time I head over to that stream.


Until Next Time..............Tight Lines to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

31 comments:

  1. Summertime trout fishing in the driftless...Oh the damn grass. Gets too tall too quick! I have been spending my time fishing for smallies because of the overgrowth on the trickles of trout water here in NE Iowa. But those browns are sure making me want to get out early one morning this weekend -

    Thanks for sharing -

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  2. I love your photographs. I hope you find your tripod.

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  3. If I told you what I did today instead of fishing you'd think your trip today was epic. As it is, your trip was merely wonderful.

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  4. Nice post. Took a bit to load up on my slow connection tonight but well worth the wait. Beautiful work!!

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  5. You capture it all beautifully...

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  6. Cofisher, what did you do today? ;)

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  7. Even if the water was a bit off color, it is still a beautiful area to fish. I sure could see fishing in some of those holes. Sorry to hear about the tripod. The stream giveth and taketh away, I reckon!

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  8. Wonderful post TM.
    Great photos.

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  9. Nice Report. Your blog theme is very Tim Burton'ish.

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  10. De nuevo, vuelves a sorprender con preciosas fotografias, bonito blog !
    Un saludo desde españa.

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  11. After I pulled up weeds and ground cover for hours, I played with my dollies. You'll have to check the FB page...and that's all I have to say about that!

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  12. Oh yes, the dollies. Do they have names? I believe I commented on that and called you an old man. ;)

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  13. Killer pics as always, Trout...

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  14. Sweet pictures. Sorry about the loss of the pod. A great piece of equipment.

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  15. Great Photos bud. Nice Work,

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  16. Casey,

    Nothing better,nothing more frustrating at times than flyfishing for Browns deep into the tall summer grass. Always worth the bug bites and back cast snags. Good luck on you ventures. Tigth Lines.

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  17. Regular Rod,

    Thanks much. Glad you like the photos. Hopefully I stumble upon it next time I am there. Tight Lines.

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  18. Cofisher,
    Thank you. I hope your day wasn't to bad. Any day on the water is always an epic adventure:) Tight Lines.

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  19. Troutrageous,
    It always stings when she rears her ugly head. I will get her back some day hopefully. Tight Lines.

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  20. AYearonTheFly,

    Thanks a lot. I feel your pain. I am forced to do these posts with Dial Up and it is so painful I want to give up sometimes. It always takes me forever to load pages and comment. Brutal but worth it. Tight Lines.

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  21. e.m.b.,
    Thank you very much. Its been so pretty out lately that it makes it a lot easier:) Tight Lines.

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  22. Mel,
    Thank you much. The stream giveth and taketh away, couldn't have said it better myself. This is area is a beautiful place to hike as well as fish. Tight Lines.

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  23. Brk Trt,
    Thank you very much. Glad to hear you liked the photos. Tight Lines.

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  24. Kev,
    Thanks man. I thought the new font reminded me of something. That just might be it. Tight Lines.

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  25. Los frikis del Carp,
    Muchas gracias. Me alegro de que le gustan las fotos. Las líneas apretadas.

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  26. Jeff,
    Thanks a lot. Always glad to hear that you enjoyed the pictures. One of these days hopefully I will be catching some bass. Tight Lines.

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  27. Steve Z,
    Thanks much. It wouldn't be the first time I lost something on the stream. This was a gift so it stung a little more than usual. Tight Lines.

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  28. Art,
    Thanks you very much. Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Tight Lines.

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  29. I think I need to learn more about this "Castle Rock Killer"...sounds like a nice little day in the driftless (minus the shoes, tripod, etc...) A small donation to the fishing gods...ha!

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  30. Sanders,
    Yes it was a fine day in the Driftless for sure. As Mel says , "The Stream giveth, The Stream taketh away". OH well next time I suppose. Shoot me an email and I will send you a couple of "Castle Rock Killers" to test out in the Poudre. "Poudre Killer" has a good ring to it :)Tight Lines.

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Cast your line here...Thanks!

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I am an easygoing person who likes to fish and just enjoy life. I have a family, a beautiful wife and two(soon to be three), awesome children that make my world go round. I enjoy fishing,photography and being out in nature.

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