Wild Fish

I like catching fish the were born in their watershed, regardless of species. Today I went out with the intent of pursuing wild brown trout on a stream I had never fished before. First, I fished my way down a different stream. It did have wild trout not all that long ago, but a toxic material dumped in the watershed put an end to that and the stream is just starting to come back. I was pleased today to see white suckers out and preparing to spawn. Much like wild trout these fish need cool clean water. A good sign for the future. If there had been more fish around I probably would have had quite the sucker slam fest, but there weren't too many. I caught one colored up fish sight casting in the tail of a pool.

Wild, native fish. Look at those colors.

Places like this are where spawning suckers, and indeed spawning trout, are often found.

Eventually I made it to the stream I was hoping to scout out. I had barely made my first cast when a I bumped into a familiar face, another wild trout angler I'd met previously on a Class 1 wild trout stream. We chatted for a bit about that stream and others, and he confirmed that it did indeed have "a robust wild brown trout population". I was excited to begin with but the more I heard the more I was looking forward to the next few hours! We parted ways but would cross paths three more times before the day was done. (It was good to see you out there, and thanks for the ride!)

I decided to tie on a Walt's Worm. That fly tends to work... like, REALLY well. After a few brief hookups I finally got what I had come for, a drop dead stunning wild brown trout.

That was what I wanted to see! An incredible wild fish from a new stream. Not much farther upstream I came across a flat pool with rising fish. On went a black CDC caddis. A few casts later up came a fish. Another lovely wild trout.

Unfortunately that was the only pool where I saw rising fish, so after trying a few dries with no interest I tied the Walt's back on. In the pool you see below I found something crazy.

That deep pool with lots of woody debris was FULL of fish. Lots and lots of fish what were they? Mostly big fat common shiners, another wild fish, native actually. I love catching these buggers, especially when they are in this rather uncommon 5-7 inch range. The have such great colors too. 

After a bunch of awesome cookie cutter shiners, I hooked into something larger. Being that I was standing 5 feet from the pod of fish I was not expecting to catch a wild trout there, but not only did I get one, I got four! Two small, two good sized. The first was one of the prettiest fish I've seen in months, and it definitely had the best looking dorsal fin of any trout I've ever caught! 

Today was the first day that really felt like "trout season". Bugs were out, buds are popping, the air was arm, and the trout were active. This is the time of year when every night I can't wait to get up and go after it again in the morning.