Arizona Fly Fishing: Welsh Style

Shane on the creek
Shane on the creek

I left early Tuesday morning to meet some friends from across the pond for a little fly fishing jaunt on the Mogollon Rim. Shane Jones and his wife Collette live in Wales but were in Sedona for a week or so and looking to do a little fly fishing while they were here in Arizona. Both fly fish a healthy amount around the UK and are as passionate about fly fishing as I am. Shane has fly fished since an early age and Collette has since joined him in his ventures. This was Collettes first time on moving water, but after a pool or two she quickly figured out the drift and connected with the first fish of the day.

Collete's first fish on moving water..
Collete’s first fish on moving water..

The creek was kind to us and although it was running a little bit skinnier than I would have liked to seen it, the bugs were out in full force and the fish were hungry. Midges, mayflies, caddis, and a plethora of terrestrials could be found on the banks and in the water. We started by fishing mini-hoppers with a bunch of different droppers with the fish feeding on pretty much anything we threw at them.

Midges
Midges?

As we fished the morning away, Collette was working one of the deeper plunge pools. She had nailed a decent size brown on the dropper and had missed a large brown from under the bank. She threw one more perfect drift a few inches from the undercut and the brown reappeared for the mini-hopper. She neatly set the fly in the corner of his mouth and after a few acrobatic jumps, brought the largest fish of the day to the net. Not bad for her first time on a creek.

Brown Trout
Brown Trout (better pictures hopefully on Shane’s camera)

Tough for us boys to swallow that the lady in the group was out-fishing us. Ulitmately we all pulled quite a few fish from the creek and we all caught one fairly good size fish a piece.

Brown Trout
Shane’s Brown

As we fished our way back to the truck, I worked a pool that had some overhanging roots. After working the foam line, I drifted my mini/dropper setup near the roots and was pleased when a larger body darted out of the cover and sucked in my mini-hopper. My three weight bent pretty good as I tried to stop several runs to the tangle of roots that would surely have made a mess of my line. The heft brown trout that came to my net had me smiling for the next hour or so. It is always rewarding fooling one of the bigger resident browns that you know must have seen a hundred flies before mine.

Darker Brown
Darker Brown

Around 1 o’clock we found our way back to the truck for PB&Js and some rest in the shade. The wind had been picking up and making accurate casting difficult so we opted to head to something more sheltered. Both Shane and Collette were very interested in catching some of the wild rainbows found in the secluded reaches of some of the Rim creeks. After ranting and raving about how this second creek was going to have rainbows coming out of the wood work, wouldn’t you know we caught mostly browns.

Browns where I was expecting to see Rainbows
Browns where I was expecting to see Rainbows

We did find a few rainbows before they had to take off to get back to their family. It was a fantastic day on the water with good friends. Shane was a phenomenal fisherman and his casting made me want to go practice. Collette picked up the creek fishing a little too well and brought some great fish in for some pictures.

Yellow
Yellow

It is easy to lose track of time, when fish are coming to the net and you are sharing the experience with good friends. The weather made for a beautiful day and the wading was pleasant. It seemed that everywhere I looked there was beauty all around.  Summer in the mountains is my favorite time of year and intend to continue to take full advantage of the nice weather.

8 Responses to “Arizona Fly Fishing: Welsh Style”

  1. Royal Wulff aka Mike

    That’s some good stuff right there! I am right there with you RE: fishing those less than famous backcountry creeks. Can’t wait to get on out this weekend! mjh

    Reply
  2. mr blur

    so welsh style means getting out fished by the chick.
    purty feesh.

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Yeah…that’s how the Welsh roll. Good people, good fish, good time.

      Ben

      Reply
  3. David G

    Fantastic Ben! This drought thing is getting a bit out of hand. Hard to find big fish in the water that you used to, and people fishing the pressured parts of these systems are getting the big ones. Good to know that you got yourself and others into some great fish though!

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Thanks David. I know what you mean and am definitely worried myself about the fire and all the other dryness in AZ. Unless we get some rain soon, we could be in alot more trouble with this fire. Thanks for the kind words.

      Ben

      Reply
  4. Brandon

    A little late, but I wanted to let you know I really enjoyed the article and the pictures. It got me excited for next weekend. It’ll be my first time up to the rim with the tenkara rod since November. It’s been way too long.

    Reply
    • azwanderings

      Thanks Brandon. Good luck on the Rim. The water is skinny and clear and those fish are super spooky, but a well presented dry fly should do the trick. I would love to hear how you did. Shoot me an email or leave me a comment. Good luck and tight lines.

      Ben

      Reply

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