Blueline Slam!

Headed out to another blueline today with Adicus, I've been eyeing this stream on the map for a while. I hadn't really planned on fishing this stream today, but I just happened to be in the area to do something else, and hey, what the hell! Drove down a bumpy dirt road for awhile before making to where it crosses this particular piece of water. Ran into a guy that was mnt biking in the area doing overnight trips. Cool! Talked with him for a bit and then got on to more important things. Armed with the trusty 2wt., Adicus and I plunged into the woods. Luckily, we came across a seldom used horse trail that made the goin easier. After three water crossings, I felt I had gone far enough. I sat down on a long to begin tying up, and immediately brushed my arm over some stinging nettle. Ouch! Become familiar with this plant if your not already, it's not your friend! I was able to find some jewel weed to rub on it to take the burn out. Jewel weed is your friend!

After that little drama, I started to fish. I was using one of my usual combos, a yellow caddis and a harey moose, both 16's. The fishing started out a little on the slow side, but began to pick up as the day wore on, and the elevation of the stream increased, causing more deep plunge pools. Small 5"-7" bows were the rule of the day. I missed alot of fish, either short strikes, or just plain misses on my part. A bit frustrating! One trout actually came up and nibbled on one of the elk hair pieces before deciding something was up. Adicus and I continued up the stream, looking and hoping for something bigger than 7".

This stream was absolutely beautiful. Not as clear as streams in the Park, but covered in emerald green moss and shaded by large hemlocks and rhododendron, so it had that feel. The lower end was shallower and did not have as many deep holes as the upper area did. The quality if fish increased markedly as we traveled upstream. The best fish that I brought to hand was before I got back to the truck, a super chunky rainbow. I mean this fish was fat! I don't know what he had been eating, but whatever it was, he was eating plenty of it. Continued to get into good fish around the 8" range. All of a sudden, I started catching browns. They weren't big, mostly 7"-8", but what a nice surprise. I had caught only bows for the past 2-3 hours, so I was shocked to say the least.

We continued past the truck, Adicus scared the crap out of the the guy we met earlier who was wandering down the road not paying attention. I guess it got his attention when Adicus put wet nose against his thigh! Looked like it did, seeing as he jumped about 3 feet!

We continued to follow a road that eventually turned into a rough trail. Before coming to the trail, we came across an old dam that had a large pool at its base. I climbed down a near vertical face and made a cast. Almost as soon as the flies hit the water, a 12"+ rainbow smashed the caddis. It was on, unfortunately not for long, as this jumping beast quickly threw the hook. Damn! That seems to be happening alot this year. We walked up the trail a bit and started fishing again. Low and behold, I started to catch specks. I wasn't all that surprised, it looked like brookie water. But it was nice all the some. Two slams in as many days, one in the park and one on a blueline. This is another nice stream that I look forward to fishing again in the future. I love going to places that don't get very much pressure, the fishing is usually pretty good, and the unmarred scenery is perfection.

On a side note, I hit another stream I fish occasionally that gets stocked, but has a good population of wild fish. Hooked some nice wild and stocked browns and a monster 17" stocked bow on the nymph. I must say, that bow didn't even come close to the fight on the 12" wild fish I fought for mere seconds. The stocked couldn't even engage the drag, compared to last weeks sweet brownie that ran out line. Further reason why I find myself less and less interested in stocked fish!