It was about 7:30 at around 5,000 feet of elevation when I started second guessing my decision to go fishing. All the trees were topped with a fresh coating of snow and even though the heater was cranking in my truck, the thought of having to tie on a fly in freezing weather sent a cold chill down my spine. The plan was to fish for the day and keep an eye and ear open for any sign of turkey for a friend who was coming up to hunt the next day.
I saw no sign of turkey but the crystal clear creek gave up plenty of fish. I fished from about 9 am to 4 pm and lost track of how many fish I had landed. Most of the fish that came to hand were rainbows but a few browns were in the mix. From what little I understand about this particular creek, Game and Fish stocks at a bridge a mile or two down stream. The rainbows that were nipping at my line were full of fight and color, and did not appear to be recent stocked trout.Whether stream born or holdovers, they were extremely colorful and no two were the same in their shadings and spots. The average size was around 6-8 inches with a few pushing 10-11 and every fish I landed day came on a parachute adams. I attempted several times to switch up my rig to tempt any of the bigger browns in the deep pools but had no luck.
The creek was the best I had ever seen it and I walked farther than I ever had before. At the end of my hiking, I was greeted by 25 foot falls that cascaded into a beautiful green pool. I worked my way to the top of the falls and fished farther on only to find the creek thinning out very quickly with no fish present from what I could tell. The trudge back and out of this particular creek is a real bruiser at the end of a long day, but I
made it to the truck in good time and found a decent spot to camp for the evening. As the sun went down and the fire started to warm my hands and feet, I made plans for the the following day to check out a creek that I had only heard rumors about.
