As I turned off the truck, I looked at the outside temperature display to read a brisk 35 degrees. My friend Jake and I had left early from the valley and were the first on the water. We had seen multiple trucks on our the dirt roads into this particular Rim stream, but the drivers and passengers of those other vehicles were decked out in their camouflage for elk season. By 7:30 we were coffeed and geared up and stepped foot in the crystal clear waters to begin our day, but were dismayed as the catching of fish started extremely slowly. By 9:30 the fish became eager to take the dry fly and many different insects began filling the air. Small mayflies, caddis, crickets, grasshoppers, and butterflies were in ample supply on the banks and rocks lining the creek.
Most of the fish brought quickly to the net and released were brown trout who put on marvelous displays of acrobatics after taking the flies we offered. We changed flies often from parachute adams to small caddis flies but were rewarded on most well presented drifts. We fished up the stream about a mile or more until the sun was high in the sky and headed back to the truck. After some deliberating, we decided to hike down from our present location and fish back up to the truck and try and tempt some of the creeks bigger fish during the evening feeding time. The decision was crucial and the evening bite made the entire day a complete success. Each pocket of water held hungry browns and the larger pools produced multiple fish each time.
One particular pool stretched around 60-70 yards long and Jake had the honors of fishing the banks while I watched from a distance. He was throwing a brown balloon caddis to match the caddis flies that were being attacked throughout the evening. As he worked his way slowly up stream, a fish attacked his fly and took off up stream. The bend in his fly rod told us this was not the ordinary 10-12 inch fish we had been catching all day. After a short fight, the fish was netted, quickly photographed and then released. The brown measured somewhere between14-15 inches and was Jake’s best fish to date. Smiles were all around and we continued working the rest of the pool with several other good fish brought to hand.
The day ended as the sun dipped and the canyon light began to fade. Many fish had been brought to hand and seeing a larger fish landed by a friend is always worthwhile. As stated before, most of the fish caught were around 10-12 inches with several beefier ones pushing 15, all browns save a few rainbows. Our fly selection consisted of parachutes, caddis, and hoppers, although it seemed that the evening bite was focused on those dark brown caddis flies. It was a great day to be out in God’s creation with a friend and I look forward to pulling on my boots and stringing up my fly rod again soon.
Beautiful picture of that sunset. Sounds like a great day to be out fishing.
TR, I could not have asked for a better day out. Thanks again.
Ben
It sure does sound like a great day! Beautiful fish and pictures as always!
Thank you Bill. It was a great day and the weather was perfect. Congrats again on your fish. That beast was a monster.
Ben
Wow! Look at all that back-cast room! Must be nice.
Looks and sounds like a very successful day on the stream.
I have to ask, I notice some of the fish(1st 2) look like they have some scale damage… are you seeing spawning activity already? Are they stocked fish?
The last fish is VERY nice looking.
Ray, Thanks for the comments. This is one stream in Arizona that affords a little bit more room. Having said that, this is the same stream that is so overgrown in spots that even a bow and arrow cast is impossible. It has a little bit of everything. From my limited knowledge, this creek has not been stocked with browns for some time. Rainbows are stocked in an upper section for put and take. The section of creek that I fished is catch and release only and all the fish caught were browns save three rainbows. I did not see any signs of spawning activity and focused on rising fish throughout the day. It was a very productive day with many many fish coming in the evening. My friend landed that last fish although I think I lost an equally nice fish in the next pool. It was a great day all said and done with fish feeding aggressively on the surface. Let me know when you make it out my way and we’ll fish it together.
Ben
Thanks for the offer Ben, hopefully life will bring me out that way some time.
I only asked about spawning because it should be happening soon, and sometimes the fish get a bit of abuse in the process (which would explain the few missing scales). Fishing pressure can also do it, and some streams just seem to be a bit harder on fish than others.
Reverse offer stands if life brings you out to somewhere between LA and San Diego.
PS – I’m not seeing signs of spawning yet here either (Paired fish, ragged anal and pectoral fins, obvious redds, etc…) I would expect it soon.