Arizona Wanderings

Arizona Fly Fishing: Welsh Style

June 9th, 2011

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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.

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 (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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Fly Fishing Arizona: A stroll around the ponds

June 6th, 2011

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Met up with my good friend Jason early Friday morning to beat the heat of the day and ultimately target the warm-water fish in some of the local ponds. We met up with Mike and the three of us worked the ponds for a couple hours.

In short order I found a nice koi that was feeding ravenously on the reef and after a decent cast he sucked up my fly and took me for a ride. After about five or ten minutes with a nice bend in my BVK 6 weight, Mike swung buy and helped me put a net on this bruiser.

We continued the morning walk around several of the other ponds and picked up several largemouth bass and a couple of tilapia. All the fishing is great because it is still “spot and stalk” style fishing. Most everything is sight casting which makes for an exciting morning.

Mike, educating us on bamboo and largemouth bass...

Ultimately we ended up on one of the large ponds and as Mike and I worked one side, Jason drifted in the opposite direction. At some point I look over and noticed that his 5 weight rod is seriously bent.

Uncharacteristically for this stretch of water, this carp had attacked his fly and without much running decided he was going to sit on the bottom. After about 10 minutes, he played the fish to the side of the pond and I was able to put a net on him. Definitely the biggest fish I have seen pulled out of this water, although you can see the bigger ones cruising.

We have been lucky here in the Valley that things have not been to unreasonably hot. Normally we have solid triple digits for May and the month of June is usually when I want to crawl into a hole and forget I live in the desert. This year, we have only sporadically jumped over 100 which has been a nice way to start the summer. I fear that it is quickly going to get hot (by “hot” I mean over 110). These ponds have been a lifesaver and have offered me a great way to get out and expand my horizons by targeting these warm-water species. A good day all around.

Arizona Fly Fishing: Spring Backpacking (Day 3)

June 3rd, 2011

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Not much to say about a beautiful day on the water…

Arizona Fly Fishing: Spring Backpacking (Day 2)

June 1st, 2011

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Rattlesnake Pool (Aptly named for the rattlesnake I almost stepped on...)

The morning sun broke the brisk chill that hung in the canyon and we sat in the sun trying to get warm. After thawing out we headed to the water to see if we could bring some of those trout back out from the depths, I missed to fish after about an hour and a half of fishing and Jake had a monster break him off after taking his dry fly. Around that time as if someone had turned a switch the wind started picking up and within 15 minutes it was impossible to cast.

We made the hard decision and decided to pack up our gear and hike out of the canyon. Even though we had another day and a half planned to stay, there was no point if the wind was going to blow and possibility that we might run into other anglers was not especially appealing. The hike out was rugged and the truck never looked so good. We took the washboard road back to civilization and after a little bit of strategizing decided to hit some water that would be a little bit more sheltered than the canyon streams that are so typical in Arizona

As if to validate our decision to switch water, a beautifully colored brown took a parachute adams on my second cast to the dark side of the first pool. The upper portion of this creek is dominated by rainbows but the occasional brown does find his way into the swift plunge pools.

The foliage is nice as it breaks up the wind, but it can make for some casting issues. Roll casts and side loops are the name of the game.

If we played our cards right and dropped soft enough flies, wild rainbows would eagerly take parachutes out of the film. The creek was skinny but healthy and the mayflies, terrestrials, and midges were out in full force.

Jake and I both stuck with a parachute for the bottom part of the stream and had great success in fooling fish. We continued to hike and fish higher and the water kept getting smaller and smaller, but the rainbows kept getting hungrier and hungrier.

This creek started to get very shady the farther up we fished and I switched back to a bright orange mini-hopper in order to follow the fly in the fast plunge pools. Another brown showed up to play.

Brown Trout on a mini — Brown Trout on a Mini

Losing count of fish numbers is always a good thing. It seemed that each fish was unique in its colors and spots. A good day, all in all, out of the wind with not a soul in sight. Bushwhacking through brambles and over downed trees had us working hard to access the small upper reaches of this stream.

We wound up back at the truck with a little bit of daylight so opted to hit up one of the local places for dinner. Potato skins with bacon and onions always tastes better after a day or two with only Clif bars and Easy Mac. With a burger in my gullet and a couple of hard miles on my feet, I was out in no time and slept hard through the night. One more day in store chasing wild trout in the Arizona high country…

Fly Fishing Arizona: Spring Backpacking (Day 1)

May 30th, 2011

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Since the inception of the fly fishing virus in my life, I have always wanted to go farther and fish harder. My research and attentive listening continually came back to one particular creek that is said to be the place to go in Arizona for big browns. The creek is a little deeper in the Arizona backcountry and in order to hit some of the better water, should be done as an overnighter.

With school out, I had the time to invest in just such a trip and I called a couple of buddies to see who would be up to the challenge. My buddy Jake was free and so we planned a non-weekend trip in order to skip the crowds and have the water to ourselves. The goal was to get into this creek while the water was still up (water is already getting skinny here in AZ) and to fish it before Memorial Day weekend, a holiday in Arizona where ever stretch of water is occupied with bobbers and beer cans.

With anticipation running high, Jake and I bounced the truck in to the trailhead and once the packs were loaded on our backs, we started our decent. Our first indication of the tribulations to come was the tent and spinning gear at the bottom of the canyon. The couple we spoke to were nice enough, but stated they had been camping since the week before and the fishing they had experienced was marginal at best. So much for a pristine, angler free creek. We hiked up the creek a mile or so and set up camp. With hammocks hung and fly gear ready, we worked some of pocket water close to camp.

The creek is dominated by brown trout who work their way up from the lake in the fall to spawn in the moving water. Many of the fish stay and live long lives in the deep pools of the creek. The fish grow to enormous sizes as do the stories about this fishery. We pulled several meaty brown trout in the 10 to 12 inch range in some of the faster water before moving on to some of the bigger pools… and then the wind came.

We fished diligently and threw everything in our fly boxes, but the wind was unbearable. With a steady wind (not breeze) and strong gusts, the fishing was not happening and at times there were actually whitecaps on the water. We continued to fish were we were able and made a good attempt to fish some of the deeper pools with only a bump here or there. Jake and I were both baffled because we were fishing what looked to be really quality water but with nothing really to show for it. After fishing almost two miles up, we found the reason for our problem. The first angler was coming back downstream and after chatting with him for a bit we hoped our luck would change once we went further than he did. Then we met the second angler.

At that point with the sun starting to dip behind the canyon walls we decided to turn back around and head to camp. Once there, the wind died down and gave us a chance to fish some of the same pocket water we had fished earlier in the day and the water seemed to come alive.

Feisty brown trout started coming to the surface and fed ravenously on the mini-hopper. Most of the trout were again in the 10 to 12 inch range, and on such a slim section of the creek really fought and dove for cover like old, wise fish.

Fish were coming out in just about every likely spot and crevice.

Even though the mayflies were showing up pretty steady, I stuck with the mini-hopper as it seemed to be getting it done.

I did pull this really nice fish after a slow and almost lethargic rise. Once I lifted the rod, the pool exploded as the big brown realized he did not like sharp objects in his lips. He made a strong run for an underwater rock but with a little persuasion I convinced him to turn and ultimately brought him to the net. I love big fish and just the excitement of cradling life in your hands if only for a moment and appreciating all the colors that are painted on the side of the fish.

We finished up with the pocket water and as the canyon started to get dark, we cooked up some easy mac which always tastes a little better with the cold mountain air and the smell of pine. After a hard day of hiking and fishing, it was not too hard to fall right asleep with high hopes for the next day.

Fly Fishing Arizona: A Little Backpacking Adventure…

May 26th, 2011

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The past three days have been a whirlwind (partially thanks to this Six Flags promo) and there are photos of fish and the Arizona backcountry to weed through. I will have some trip reports coming out in the next few days, but until then, feast on a couple of my favorites…

Fly Fishing Arizona: Urban Trifecta

May 24th, 2011

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The tug of a carp was still fresh on my mind so I stole a few hours on Sunday morning to head back with Mike and Pete to see if I could redeem myself on some local Valley water. The water that had held carp the day before was not as active and so it took a little bit of time to find some fish who would cooperate.

I found an appaloosa koi tailing in the water and after a well placed cast about 10 inches in front of his face, he sucked up my fly. Once he figured out that there was something stuck in his face, the fish started taking line off the reel fairly quickly.

After a few minutes and a few more strong runs to deeper water, Pete was able to put a net under the fish. Always fun to feel that tug on a fly rod and seeing the colors on this neon fish up close was really something to behold.

After putting the fish back in the water, he rocketed into the green depths of the pond. I had several other strong looks and a couple of solid bumps from other carp, but nothing else in the roughfish department came to the net.

I was able to spot and stalk a couple of unsuspecting bass holding in some shallow water. The fight these fish have is pretty unbelievable. Arial acrobatics and fast runs to structures are not uncommon.

The past two days, I was noticing quite a few schools of tilapia scooting around the ponds. Typically, they have been extremely spooky, but we found some in a back cove that were fairly aggressive. I hooked a couple and was able to bring this really pretty fish to the net rounding out my urban trifecta.

The fly of choice for these ponds seems to be a green simi-seal bugger with a orange glass bead. The carp love it and the bass do not seem to care one way or the other. Mike challenged me to catch the “Urban Grand Slam” which would include the above three along with a bluegill and grass carp. (Am I missing any other pond inhabitants?) I think that would round out a pretty cool day, but it is definitely going to take some time and a lot of luck.

Arizona Urban Fly Fishing: School’s out for Summer…

May 21st, 2011

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Breakfast — Arguably one of the best breakfast burritos I've ever eaten...

In celebration of the school year ending, I woke up around the same time as usual and headed out to meet my buddy Mike for a little urban fly fishing. I found Mike in the kitchen doing what he loves to do.

After a breakfast burrito and a couple cups of coffee we started a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood ponds targeting the tailing carp and hungry bass. The carp were there and although both of us pricked a couple, no roughfish were brought to the net. Apparently my big fish fighting skills could use a little bit of work. I won’t bore you with details of lost fish (nor do want to relive it).

Even though the carp were not cooperating, the bass that occupy the area were ready and willing. With a full belly, no work (or students) for two months, and a bent fly rod, I was a happy camper. We fished until 10am and even though I could have flogged the water for another couple hours, I figured it was not worth the sunburn. Great day on the water testing out one of the new TFOs I recently received.

With school all finished up, I should be getting to some great looking water this summer. Arizona have some great backcountry waters that I am looking forward to bushwacking back into. Trips to Oregon, Alaska, and back to the Adirondacks will give me a great opportunity to test out some new gear. Stay tuned…