A bittersweet day in the field found me scoping out my hunting stand for the upcoming turkey/deer archery season. The day was bittersweet because I know that with archery season comes the new school year. So while this week I am setting up a ground blind thinking about water and food sources for my quarry, next week will have me sitting in meetings and writing lesson plans.
Although I saw a good amount of fresh sign and even spooked a small flock of turkey, I still have misgivings about the upcoming season. Bowhunting in Arizona requires a good amount of time and an even more substantial amount of luck (in my opinion), and with my favorite creeks within a short driving distance from my hunting stand, my time is usually devoted to the wild trout who boost my confidence when taking a dry fly.
Although the pictures above look nice and sunny, I was caught in an epic thunderstorm that left me wet and cold as the temperature began to drop. Of course I could have turned the truck back down the mountain for the 100+ degrees in Phoenix, but why drive all this way with a fly rod in the backseat if I am not going to use it.
I chose to fish the top of one of my favorite creeks hoping to find the water relatively clear despite the rain. The water was a little bit high and off color which was perfect for the dry dropper setup. Usually this creek is choked with small rainbows in the 4-6 inch range with the occasional brown about the same size, but this day I got into the bigger boys and pulled 3 browns at 12 inches or more. This may not seem that great, but for a stream that trickles and can be stepped across most of the way up, I was ecstatic.
After an hour or two, with the rain still falling, the temperature finally forced me to turn around and head back to the truck for a fresh (well…dry) t shirt I found wadded up in the back seat and heat pumping from the vents. Satisfied that my hunting stand is up and that I found some bigger fish in the little creek, I called it a day and headed back down the mountain. I don’t really want to go back to work…
now you’re gonna make me all melancholy RE: end of summer. My last opportunity to get the kids out comes up this weekend, gonna make the best of it. mike
Sorry to hear you are headed back to school soon, but from reading your posts all summer it seems like you had a great summer vacation. OH and the AZ shop looks great.
Yeah I know I’ve had a great summer. It’s just sad to see it all coming to an end. Thanks for the kind words on the shop. Nice to have a classier looking site than the page I was using. Thanks again.
Ben
Damn! I guess it’s a bummer your summer is coming to an end but you have had a good one! Alaska? Awesome. Nice fish here, hope your hunting season goes well and you find some of that luck your looking for.
Thanks man. I have had a good summer and I’ll be riding high on these memories for quite a while. Thanks for the luck…
Ben
enjoy the school year.
hahaha.
Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up…
Ben how to you rig your hopper dropper set-up? Tied off the shank or the eyelet? Thanks.
I tie my my hopper dropper a little bit different. I tie the hopper with a really long tag, about 12-18 inches depending on the water I’m fishing. Off of this long tag end I tie the dropper. This cuts down on the amount of knots I have to tie and I feel that it helps my mini-hopper float the most natural. Hope that makes sense. Let me know if I can clarify any further.
Ben
Yep got it! Ill give this a go in the next few days hopefully. Thanks.
Logan
Very cool. Good luck to you. Let me know how it fishes for you.
Ben