On The Search...

So I just couldn't wait any longer.. Decided I was in search of a stream that was relatively fishable.. I knew this would more than likely require smaller water.. which means water I probably haven't fished yet.. Which in turn is what it meant..

Decided upon fishing unfamiliar water.. by unfamiliar I mean unfished.. I have seen it.. and knew it was relatively small overall... but small creeks usually clear relatively fast.. and when they don't.. it at least makes fishing a smaller stream easier.. as it means more water and more holes... I was very happy with my stream selection when I got there.. tons of riffles and pools.. with a tiny bit of slack water here and there.. Unfortunately what looked like amazing water only landed me 1 tiny trout to hand on a nymph..

While heading back towards the car I came upon trout rising..At first I couldn't tell what they were feeding on.. So I tied on a #18 Griffin's Gnat.. had a couple takers.. but I just could not get the hook set in time... Time and time again stike and miss.. I probably had 10 chances and struck out on every single one of them.. What a shame..

CaddiShack

Another day off of work means another day of fishing.. Headed out to Trout Run as I had not made it out there yet this year... Would today prove to be a successful day of fishing?  Success would be an understatement.. today was probably one of the craziest days of trout fishing I have ever witnessed... got to my first spot around noon... step out of my car and notice that the trout are already leaping out of the water.  It's sunny.. probably in the high 60s... fished the first couple holes with little success.. water is crystal.. i'm spooking more of the trout than anything.. the rest are sitting down low.. with no interest in whats happening above the water... turn the bend and come to my next hole.. literally spent an hour here.. caddis were coming off the water... and the fish were in a feeding frenzy.. cast my elk hair up and watch the trout come up and pick off my fly.... all was done by sight the streams were so clear.. i could cast my fly right on to their nose and they took it without a second though.. i don't even remember how many fish i caught in this hole as every 3-4 i would inch up on my knees another couple feet.. soon after hitting the holes with the elk hair i got bored with the ease of picking off these guys off on top of the water.. so i switched up to a tandem with a #14 Pheasant tail.. trailed by a #10 Danger Baby... haven't tried these Danger Babys out yet.. but it seems to have this cased caddis look to it.. so i figured it would produce.. and produce it did.. as soon as i went below the water the trout got bigger.. nothing huge.. but definitely bigger.. i noticed a lot of the bigger trout sitting at the bottom.. so that was one reason for switching to nymphing... as the day progressed the caddis got thicker.. and thicker.. and thicker.. at one point it was just a sheet of caddis.. almost enough to gross me out..  4 hours and too many trout to count later i decided to head back to the car.. a car covered in caddis

     Spot #2... decided to head up to some more familiar territory and stop at Bucksnort.  There were a couple cars.. nothing too bad.. and from talking to the other anglers it was worse upstream... started out rather frustrating.. fish are jumping everywhere but refuse to hit anything i throw at them.. nymphs.. more elk hairs.. just not happening.. same followed suit for the other angler i was talking to.. just weren't interested.. maybe the amount of caddis was just too much for the fish to key in on my particular fly.. 100s of caddis... 1 fly.. odds are not on my side.. so i decided i would hike downstream a ways and work my way back up to the bridge.. put the elk hair away and tied on a #12 pheasant tail and  #12 Hot Wire Copper John(red/copper)... this tandem seemed to work it.. kept trout on my line as i worked my way back upstream.. later due to snag.. I switched to a HWCJ and Brassie... which continued to pound the fish..

    I don't think I could have asked for better fishing conditions than what I got today.. Warm.. Sunny.. Breezy.. 7 hours of non-stop caddis hatching.. a couple trout for the kitchen and too many to count beyond that..  yeah.. it was a good day

Treading New Waters...

o after going to work today and finding out I didn't have to work I decided to do what any avid fisherman would do on a day off... go fishing.. and I decided that fishing a new stream was in order.. so after some thankful pointers from Mark Dahlquist.. I decided to hit up a stream in the Caledonia area.. as I have had interest in this stream before yet have never fished it..
1pm I arrive at the destination suggested by Mark.. very windy.. warm.. temps in the mid 70s.. storms have been in the area for the past couple days.. looks like rain fall has been close to nil as the stream is running crystal clear.. I first start out my day rigging up a prince/hwcj.. first decided to walk down stream and see what was provided.. plenty of deep holes with minimal riffles seemed to be the name of the game on this stretch.. as i was going to make my first cast.. trout started rising...such a bi-polar day made well for a caddis hatch.. sunny... then cloudy.. rain tease.. more sun.. more clouds.. repeat..  caddis hatch.. in full swing..   so i immediately switch up my rig before even making a cast.. no nymphing today.. tie on an elk hair and start pulling in the fish.. nothing too big.. all were under 10".. all were browns..(on a side note.. the trout in this stream fend for their lives.. as probably half the trout i caught had some sort of scarring on their sides.. as seen in the picture above.. probably from close calls with eagles and hawks..) as the day went on and the flies got lost due to less than pleasurable wind conditions.. frustration ensued.. and finally i was spent.. day over... don't want to fish anymore.. sometimes frustration wins.. mother nature *shakes fist* you win this time!.. on a positive note i think i finally got the double haul cast down.. had to.. there was no choice when the winds were easily gusting over 15mph.. so in the end.. i guess it was at least a day to practice casting technique and catch a couple fish in the process... and i learned new water

Mmm.. Caddis

Woke up late.. was busy partying it up the night before.. decided i would drive on down to one of my favorite stream sections on Rush Creek.. didn't get on the water until 1pm.. had to be at work at 5pm.. so it was definitely crunch time.. the day before i fished a section of Garvin Brook and didn't even get a hit.

Conditions:
Sunny/Breezy/Windy
Air Temp: 54F(1pm) 61F(4pm)
Water Temp: 56F(1pm) 58F(4pm)
Clarity: Crystal




The rush looks to finally be settled in and not a bit high anymore.. last week it was still a couple inches up.. i hooked up a rig of a Hot Wire Copper John and a 20 incher.. expecting trout to hit on the same flies i was throwing last time i was on Rush... walked down stream a ways before deciding to start making some casts.. While walking to where i wanted to start i spotted Grey Caddis in the bushes along the stream.. and then started noticing them everywhere.. quick to get on the rising fish i immediately switched to an #12 Elk Hair Caddis... and within a couple of casts i was hooking into the feeding frenzy fish.. as the day progressed i noticed some mayflies.. maybe Dark Hendricksons.. March Browns? and i also saw some small stoneflies flying around the area.. the trout literally had an all you can eat buffet of bugs to eat this afternoon.. i threw Elk Hairs.. Sparkle Duns and Dark Hendricksons.. all of which produced fish. Overall.. great day to get out.. and in the end.. i guess it was a good thing i woke up late.. too bad i had to go to work.. would have much preferred to forget about that place and just fish all day.