Nice little stream

There is a small stream that flows into a local stream that I frequently visit when I don't want to drive far.  I recently got permission to fish some stretches of it and have now tested the water a few times (with and without Alan).  I've caught a few nice brookies there and interestingly they have a slightly different coloration than their relatives in the main stream.  Although the pictures don't really show it, their bodies have more of a shiny blue/grey tint (at least to my eyes).  Although I've never caught many fish there, it's a beautiful stream.  I hope that there are many more fish in residence than I've been able to entice.

Father's Day fish

I am a fishing addict, I confess.  I weaseled a couple hours today and fished a two spots that I've been meaning to visit.  Both were very sandy-bottomed, but still had some nice brookies in residence.  The first four pictures are from a downstream stretch of the stream I just posted about.  The last four are from a stream that I scouted last winter and have visited a couple of times.  A reasonable number of fish struck at my flies, but only a few came to hand.  It has never been as productive as I would have predicted, based on its structure.  Unfortunately I lost the largest fish of the day there, but I know where it lives.

Father's Day eve

A few pictures from yesterday's fishing with Alan (Small Stream Reflections) and Mark (Fishing Small Streams).  The stream was in great shape, not roaring excessively after the recent rain.  Like Mark, I also caught a wild brown.  I'm fairly certain it was the same fish that I caught a few weeks ago, lurking in the depths of one of the deepest pools in the stream.  It fell for the "Black Fly" that Alan had written about earlier this week.  The brookie also succumbed to the pattern.

A few more from today

I returned to the stream today to fish the upper stretch one more time.  As in the past, the fish again appreciated the Usual, Bomber and ant.  The second fish below struck twice at a Usual and then, after switching to an ant, I finally got it hooked and photographed.  In one pool further downstream the largest brookie I've seen in this stream attacked the Usual twice, but unfortunately (for me) it shook the hook each time and went into hiding.  The last brookie grabbed the Usual just as I was about to lift it from the stream.  It proved to be the largest (maybe similar in size to the lost one) and most impressive fish of the day.  This is a very special stream.

And there is

As I mentioned in my last post, I felt that there may still be more worthwhile water to fish upstream of where I previously stopped.  Rather than wait for this round of rain to end, I returned to the stream this afternoon and continued to explore it.  As I suspected, there were many more pools and runs to fish until the stream became small and spread out.  While the fish were not quite as active this time, a good number fell for the cream Bomber and sulphur emerger (which was struck with authority by the last fish pictured below).  Now I hope it doesn't rain too much, delaying my return.

Thank you rain!

The rain on Thursday and Friday had a very positive effect on this little stream and its wild residents.  Cream-colored Usuals and Bombers, as well as a parachute ant pattern, elicited numerous strikes and hookups this morning.  The relatively high flow seemed to invigorate the fish, even bringing out some of the larger inhabitants (in relative terms).  Although I ventured farther upstream than I have in the past, my sense is that there is still more good water to explore.  Now I hope we get rain two days a week every week for the rest of the month.

The last few days

I've been to a number of streams in the last few days and have found the water levels to be ok and the fish reasonably active.  We could still use more rain, but at least we haven't already reached mid-summer conditions.  Lately cream-colored dry flies have been producing, patterns like the parachute sulphur, Usual and Bomber.  Emergers have also been productive, such as Matt's sulphur emerger.  When these patterns have failed, the good old Picket Pin has provided some success.  The only negative has been the temperature and humidity.  I am really not a summer person and struggle with hot weather.