No day fishing is a waste. Having said that, trying to fish rivers and creeks overflowing with runoff rain and melted snow can be frustrating and slow. Weather reports predicted a beautiful warm sunny Arizona day and their forecast was correct. I had read different reports on this particular creek and had passed it several times on my way to Oak Creek. Knowing full well that everywhere else was going to be equally horrific, I chose to explore here for several hours. Wet Beaver Creek shows promise as it looks like most other small Arizona Creeks, and in my mind I can imagine big brown trout hunkered down behind each large rock, but today was not one of those memorable days of dragging in fish after fish. The creek was bloated with cloudy water and both banks were packed with sediment, logs, and whatever else the water picked up in the epic downpour. I fished extremely hard but did not even see a fish or feel a bump, but made use of my time practicing my roll casts and unsightly double-haul. In the future, I can see spending the time to hike in further and camp once the weather warms and the water recedes. I would like to think that I learned a valuable lesson today about not fishing saturated creeks, but rest assured I will be whipping the same horse next weekend. On a side note, I wrestled with actually posting this picture taken on my cell phone, and eventually decided to leave it as a reminder to myself that cell phones are for making phone calls and I really need to bite the bullet and buy a real camera.
