Yesterday was dry fly time on my home water. I caught probably 30 fish, some very nice wild browns, and not a one on a subsurface fly. A lot of the rises were the vicious splashy kind I associate with travelling sedges. Unfortunately the biggest fish I hooked popped off on the second jump, he was a goof 15 inches. Probably would have been the biggest out of this stream in the last two years had I landed him, wild that it. But all the rest were peppy and gorgeous, they are just getting that dark summer coloration that comes from living in continual shade. Lovin it! I caught quite a few brookies, and although clean and pretty, I'm not calling them wild. They have the same sized spots and color of a stocked fish.
It's good to see your home water pushing that volume.
ReplyDeleteI love the clarity.
It is. Thanks.
DeleteRM
ReplyDeleteAbsolute gorgeous stream; you call this stream home waters, how far do you live from this place? True the native trout are always more colorful compared to the stock trout. Very seldom do I land a trout on our tailrace here with much color, but "ha" I get to fish for trout in Alabama, very unusual. Thanks for sharing
I walked there on this day. It's close.
DeleteHey, you're lucky to have that.
"Now that was a good day on home waters!" They all look good, native or not. Thanks for the trip!
ReplyDeleteTie, fish, write and photo on...
It just annoys me that they stock trout over wild populations.
DeleteNice day out there! Dries have certainly been the ticket lately...I caught all mine yesterday on dries as well. A couple of those browns were pretty good size (10-12?) but too bad you lost the big guy. I'm sure he'll still be there next time...can't believe one that big came up for you! A little disappointing you didn't find any wild brookies...did those stockers make their way up from downstream? Suprising to see stocked brookies hold over like that because they usually don't live as long as stocked browns and bows.
ReplyDeleteThe browns in this stream are always very surface oriented. I have caught some one small BWO's in December. Those brookies came up from the stocked spot as they typically do when the water level starts to drop in the summer.
DeleteRM, that stream is absolutely perfect-looking. Slightly jealous that you call that home water and can walk to it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd wager a good amount that those are ALL wild trout... first off, the color on stocked brookies, at least in my limited experience, is MUCH more faded. That really dark one is especially amazing-looking. Probably an older fish.
The other reason I don't doubt the wild trout situation in that stream - they don't have an adipose fin when they come from the hatchery, FYI. These fish all seem to have an adipose fin.
Beautiful catches. I'd love to hit this stream with you some time.
I know they stock brookies in this stream, and these have the same color pattern as stocked brook trout in my area and lack colors I see in every wild one I catch there. Also I rarely catch wild brook trout that size in here, and it's pretty unlikely that all of a sudden they would just all be on the feed when none of their smaller brethren were.
DeleteLooking back at picture of stocked trout I have caught I can't find one without an adipose fin. I'm guessing the program is a bit different in your neck of the woods?
Aside from the stocked trout the state annoyingly insists on putting in that stream, it is remarkable in it's wild fish population.