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For more, visit Dustin's Blog at: http://mystarryeyes.com/2011/
Submitted by: Dustin Wayman
Showing posts with label brown trout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brown trout. Show all posts
Fly Fishing Photos For Yampa River, CO
For more, visit Dustin's Blog at: http://mystarryeyes.com/2011/
Submitted by: Dustin Wayman
Fly Fishing Report From An Irish Angler
Salmon Tails and Trouty Evenings.
The power of that salmon and the vision of its tail are burned into my memory for life. Working my way down a run last evening on the Slaney, a nibbling sensation coupled with an increase in weight similar to when your hook becomes weeded transferred up the line. Lifting my rod, to free as I envisaged the hook from underwater weed, in unison I was hit by an arm wrenching tug and the vision of a silver scaled, black spotted wrist and large forked tail of a very angry salmon, who proceeded to swim at a rate of knots across the river. My reel screamed and I instinctively palmed the reel to control the run.
On reaching the far bank salmo salar now doubled back and positively fizzed back to its lie while I winded like billyo in tandem with walking backwards against the current. The fish then decided to swim up the channel to my right and sulk a rod length from me. A slight rest then like greased lightening the salmon tore downstream, rounded the gravel bar that I was fishing off before proceeding to run the shallower channel to my left where again it sulked. Gathering my wits I scanned for a slack out of the main current to guide the fish towards, fully aware that my six pound sea trout cast would have to play this fish very carefully.
Without warning my now fishy companion turned and swam purposefully towards Enniscorthy before turning and swimming upstream to again sulk a rod length to my right. I could feel the tail working in the current manifesting as a throb throb in my heavily curved 9' 6" weight six rod. Applying pressure on what was a serious fish, that as yet other than the tail I had not seen, even though attached by six pound gut I was confident that there could be a positive out come. Then in a second, four minutes after our interaction commenced, it was over. A slight nod, a millisecond of slack line, and the fly, a size 10 butcher fell out.
Gutted, no. Disappointed, yes. Due to catch and release rules the salmon was going to be returned, however to have graced the bank, calculated its approximate weight, and taken a photo for posterity would have been great. The half pound brownies tempted during a spectacular rise of sedges being no compensation for the loss of that great fish. A special moment none the less, one for the long evenings over a wee drop....
anirishanglersworld@gmail.com
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Fly Fishing Report From An Irish Angler
Sometimes it's not just about the fishing, being there is enough. After weeks of interminable wind Ireland's weather appears to be settling down and a day on the lake seemed like a good plan. Lough Dan looked fantastic in the early June sunshine, but talk about the sublime to the ridiculous. Last week the water was a maelstrom of wind and waves with even an eye witness report of a waterspout tracking its way up the lake, eventually collapsing "as described to me" in an explosion of water falling out of the sky. Today Lough Dan is mirror calm with just occasional zephyrs wafting down from the surrounding hills to ruffle the surface.
Meeting Dan and Gary on the beach we set out and crossed the lake to fish a drift along the boat house shore. On arrival we observed a hatch of sedges with trout rising everywhere. Happy days within five minutes three fish graced the boards, trout typical of the water heavily spotted, dark backed, and yellow bellied. Then whatever breeze was there died, the sun came out beating down from an almost cloudless sky and the trout retreated to shade or deeper water.
From then on the fishing was slow, trying different methods Gary found some success tying a buzzer three foot below a klinkhammer which he casted into shady spots along the shore. It was fun to see the dry fly suddenly disappear as a trout sucked in the nymph pattern below with occasionally a fish rising to the klinkhammer. Improvisation was the key as standard methods were ruled out by the mirror calm surface.
A crowning feature of the lake is a secluded beach created by deposition from the Inchavore River, made up of fine granite and quartz pebbles with mature birch trees providing shade it is a beautiful spot to haul up and have a picnic. Today we met and chatted with Sean Byrne of Lough Dan House B/B, and three of his patrons from Australia, Canada, and the USA respectively. Out walking and enjoying the scenery they headed off eventually following the river up the valley.
With lunch over and having said our goodbyes to Sean and his group we climbed aboard and headed to some more shady spots, the trout played hard ball for the afternoon but hey that's fishing, we were out on the water enjoying each others company in a beautiful unique location, heaven....
anirishanglersworld@gmail.com
Fly Fishing Report from An Irish Angler
Sporting early summer colours Lough Dan looked beautiful as we drifted along its eastern shore pushed by a stiff north/north west breeze. The unseasonal warm weather of recent weeks has morphed into a chilly showery pattern more akin with April than May. In between when the sun shines temperatures can reach 16 - 17 degrees, but boy when the wind blows and the grey clouds close in, it bites. Around lunchtime today a haymaker passed over bombarding Gary and I with hailstones, any wonder the trout dived for cover.
The lake has a personality that changes with the wind, fly fishing being totally at its whim. Last week we were drifting up the lake in front of a south east breeze, today a stiff wind from the north west pushed us in the opposite direction. Located high up in a steep sided glaciated Wicklow valley, Lough Dan, the largest natural lake in the county, is dog legged shaped and this feature allied to a number of conjoining valleys causes the wind to behave in mysterious ways. Respect is the key word on the water.
We had a great day, fishing a number of drifts all told we had a dozen trout to the boat supplemented with visual displays of every rise imaginable from boils and swirls to full on splashy rises to Polaris missile becomes flying fish. Now that was special, the trout clearing the water by at least six inches while arking over a metre through the air, missing the flies of course. I recast in the vicinity receiving an immediate savage take but failed to set the hook. Lough Dan trout are free rising and fight hard, give me this kind of lake fishing any day. You could drive to the west and flog away on more famous waters for one or two larger trout, or experience regular fireworks in a gorgeous lightly fished location less than an hour from home, for me it's a no brainer.
Fancy a days fly fishing on Lough Dan, contact Ashley Hayden on, +353 (0)86 869 7370 or email:anirishanglersworld@gmail.com.
Black River, AZ Fly Fishing Report
Spent the late morning fishing the Black River in East Central Arizona. With a below average snow pack and limited run off, the river was running just above base flow. The water was slightly stained, but offered good visibility. I caught three small brown's 8, 10, and 11, all in deep fast moving cuts. The fish hit a brown #16 VFG Nymph, dropped off a #12 Blue Winged Olive.
Casey J.
Tucson, AZ
Black River, AZ Fly Fishing Report
Darin W.
Tucson, AZ
Fly Fishing Report from An Irish Angler
A trip to a new stream proved very interesting in terms of a few fish landed and the discovery of fresh water pearl mussels, an indicator of pristine water quality. Parking up at a bridge around 10.30am, I proceeded to walk the bank downstream and fish likely runs. Although March the river was running clear and at summer levels, the water was cold and with a stiff north east breeze there was no fly life. Putting up a team of spiders with a leaded hares ear on the point I proceeded to fish a gut below a small island where two channels met. Running into a large pool there was sure to be trout along the seams.
Fishing downstream with a long line and keeping low, as the flies swept around I set the hook into a spirited 30cm trout. A good start which was quickly followed by a slightly smaller colleague, both nicely spotted they scooted away upstream on release. Casting along another couple of runs which bordered a water meadow, I encountered five more fish of which two in the 25 -30cm bracket were landed. With a midday sun now heating newly blossoming gorse so filling the air with a coconut scent, I walked back to the car and drove half a mile upstream.
Here the channel meandered through fields hard won from the surrounding moorland, looking down into the valley I knew that come late spring with a fresh running this section would come into its own. Long flats, riffles, and tumbling cascades there had to be fish here. Slipping in above a riffle I looked down to see an oval shape resting on the sand. A pearl mussel at least six inches long, its foot slowly retreating into the shell upon my touch. Probably 50+ years old and a positive indicator of water quality, a real find.
Spotting a few fish but no takers I decided to end the session early. In a few weeks time when there are leaves on the trees and some insects are moving, this stream will come alive for certain. With a mile of varying water to choose from a fly fisher could spend a day here and not see it going. Likewise the evening fishing could be very good too. Definitely worth another visit.
But she has a great personality...
We have all heard tales and legends of particularly elusive lunkers that seem to be smarter than the average angler. Now scientist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden believe that Brown Trout may posess individual personalities.
"My results show that it are not just humans and other mammals that exhibit personality. Also brown trout differ among each other in their level of aggression and react differently to changes in their surroundings", says Bart Adriaenssens. "The release of a novel object in the aquarium causes very different reactions. Some individuals will immediately explore this object, whereas others will rather hide in a corner and try to avoid every contact."
Although it might just be the meek that inherit the creek bed...
"But it are not always the bold and aggressive fish who are most successful. When we marked trout individually and released them back in the wild, it were shy trout who grew most rapidly."
An Irish Angler
The south lake is low, testament to the hot and dry summer Ireland has just experienced allied to Dublin's voracious demand for water. The boats at Knockatemple have followed the retreating tide line close on thirty metres and I would estimate 10-12 feet in depth from the winter high. Still a long way from showing its bones, of benefit to the angler is the exposure of trout holding features which can be explored the following season.
An early Sunday morning phone call from Kevin had us on the water by lunchtime. A light variable breeze from the southeast created barely a ripple. Mill pond calm conditions, a few sedges on the water, occasional lone fish announcing their presence only by the spreading rings left behind after their sipping rises, conditions were tough. That said, we were on the water most likely for the last time this season and what better place to be.
As expected fishing was slow with only two fish boated for the afternoon. Putting up a fast sinking line teamed with a wickhams, watsons, and a daddy, shortly into the first drift over the point at knockatemple a positive take resulted in a nice pound plus trout. Staying deep the brownie was netted after a lively fight, golden olive in colour with large black spots, a typical plump Roundwood fish lured by the watsons. Subsequently we tried hard covering various shores, the reward for our efforts just one smaller fish to Kevin. With a chill in the air at six bells we called it a day. 2010 has been a good season on the lake with some fine fish taken and many good memories to sustain us through the winter.
Arizona Fly Fishing Report **September 14, 2010**
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| Apache Trout |
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| Brownie |
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| Upper Log Rd section of the North Fork of the White River |
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| The shell of a trout's lunch! |
Location: North Fork of the White River, AZ White Mountain Apache Reservation
Details: Fished with Ed Nied for 3 days on the North Fork, near Hawley Lake turnoff and the Upper Log Road. We also fly-fished Earl Park Lake from float tubes. Excellent late summer fly-fishing for Arizona high country. Mostly used dry/droppers with the Pheasant Tail Frostbite size #18 being the HOT fly, once again.
Hat Creek, CA Fly Fishing Report **October 3, 2010**
Location: Hat Creek, CA
Details: Fished near the headwaters on October 2, 2010, with friend Christian Hill from Colorado. We spent about 3 hours fishing dries with nymph droppers and also used an indicator with two nymphs. I caught 9 fish: 6 browns, 2 brook trout and 1 rainbow. The weather was perfect: no wind, and 75 degrees. Hat Creek is a splendid fishery and just about as beautiful as a creek can possibly be.
East Carson River, CA Fly Fishing Report **September 5, 2010**
Sacramento, CA
Body of Water: E Carson River, Alpine County, CA
Date: Sunday, September 5, 2010
# of Fish Caught: 6
Species: 5 Rainbows & 1 Brown
Size: Biggest was 14"
Effective Flies: #16 Green BH Pulsating Caddis Nymph
Summary:Fished alone. Good weather and water flow.
Weber River, Park City, Utah
Fish caught: On 9-4 landed one 11" brown and lost two sizeable (15" +) browns after lengthy fights. The first two took a #18 red larva nymph and the third took a #14 EC Caddis dry fly. On 9-5, 8 to 11:30 AM, landed two browns, 13" and 15" later in the morning on #14 EC Caddis dry fly. Obviously this is a brown trout fishery, though I'm told there are rainbows; I didn't see any.
Comments: The Weber River flows south to north through two reservoirs, Rockport and Echo. I think the best fishing is between the reservoirs. I tried fishing below Echo but did not like the larger water size. Though most of the river is on private land many of the property owners (ranchers) have erected fence cross-over ladders for river access. I was so impressed by the quality of this river and the friendly residents that I'm looking forward to my next visit.
Dan Wallentine
Glacier Creek, CO Trout Grand Slam
"Grand Slam" is four trout species in one day. Today I caught cutthrout, rainbows, browns and brook trout plus one cut-bow and all from one creek. A great day fishing.
Glacier creek is in Rocky Mountain National Park. My guide for the day was Frank Drummond, out of Estes Park Anglers. Frank also hand-crafts bamboo rods, local unique flies and can be reached by email at frank@brushcreekcane.com and phone at 303-810-4538. Also visit Frank at his web site www.brushcreekcane.com.
Method and flies: Several Dry flies including Royal Trude #14, Parachute Adams #16, PMD #16 worked well. A couple fish were taken on a dropper described as a "Frank's Special" #16.
Comments: We fished the creek about two miles up from Glacier Basin Campground. The creek is small and mostly pocket water fishing. I used a 3 wt 8.5' rod, but should have used a 7'. The creek required near surgical casting techniques to very difficult locations of very small holding areas. Without Frank pointing out these little holding areas I would have passed them by. I learned several new techniques that will aid this seasoned fisherman. Everyday fishing is a good day, but four species and one sub-species in one day from one creek is indeed special. Thank you Frank!
Spring Creek near Rapid City, SD
Fished Spring Creek below Sheridan Lake in Pennington County near Hill City in the Black Hills from 7:30 AM to noon. Overcast all morning. There is easy access at several locations along the creek.
Flies: #16 green scud 18" below indicator produced four 12" rainbows and #14 Royal Stimulator hooked up and landed two at 10".
As a side note I must have caught 30 or more 2" to 6" small mouth bass, at least that's what they looked like. Obviously the National Forest service is not managing this nice creek for trout.
New Zealand Fly Fishing Report **August 7, 2010**
A trout fisher on the Tongariro River.
Recent rain has improved fishing on the river.
Photo / NZ HERALD.
Click on the link New Zealand Herald for the latest New Zealand fly fishing report.
