Pursuit of Trout

My buddy, Steve, drove up from Tucson in the pursuit of trout this week. It's a vacay for Steve and Judy where they rented a nice house on the river to chill out, read, and watch the river flow by their chair on the bank. Well, that's Judy's itinerary. Steve's is fly fishing for wild trout. Yup, I'm joining in on some of the fun too. I decided this year to only fish in pairs since our stream sections are so small, and that way I can give out-of-state guest as good a fishing experience as the conditions will allow. I've really enjoyed Steve's visit to New Mexico and we have had much fun fishing this week! Plans for tomorrow is brunch with the girls (who put up with us) in a local restaurant that is unique and locally owned.

The first day of fishing was about as perfect as can be. The weather was perfect. The stream flows were perfect. The trout were making v-waves as they were streaking for cover. And, the clouds were building as the day went by, providing a bit of perceived security for the trout...perfect. With these fishy conditions, we stalked the trout while casting a dry fly in search of a fool. Umm...hmm, we fooled a few. What a great day in the pursuit of trout.

To my surprise, and something I've never seen in the big valley happened to Steve on two consecutive days of fly fishing. Some guy would arrive a few minutes after we had been fishing and walk into Steve's section of the stream...and, begin fishing not 30 yards from Steve. Amazing. That place has miles and miles of stream access and this guy low-holed him on the first day while Steve was fishing his way down stream. And, on the second day when Steve was working his way up the stream, the same guy arrived and jumped in and high-holed him. This guy must have thought Steve was a damn good angler (and he is) and wanted to be in the same place to ensure he caught some trout. He even parked his truck right next to mine.

What ever that angler's motivation was to barge in, it was rude and violated the most important ethic in fly fishing. Sorry, Steve! We checked it off the "I can't believe that happened" list and moved on to other areas. And the good news? We had plenty of trout hitting the dry fly, with exciting splashes, making our hearts jump with each take of the fake morsel.

Weather was much the same on the second day. The trout were about as active as the first day, and we put some pretty browns into the net. With rain threatening in the mid-afternoon, we relocated to a steam further down the mountain and found ourselves alone in a canyon stream with the air dead still and left with only the sounds of the water and the wild life. I can't think of anything that could instill an inner peace more than what this place provided us.

We took a fishing break on the third day. And then on our last fishing day, we drove to a remote location on the mountain for some freestone tranquility. Oh man, the drive alone was enough to call it a good day. However, we did bring our fly rods. Over the summit on a single lane mountain road we went, working our way up to a stream high in the wilderness area. This day, the conditions were not ideal, in fact, the weather made it a challenging day for catching trout. Bright, bright blue sky with no bugs over the surface of the stream. With gin clear water, it is tough to fool a trout on this mountain in those conditions. However, Steve did manage to catch a few. I got skunked. But, I did experience a "first" for me this week. As I was working my way up a stream, I looked up and a guy was sitting on a boulder panning for gold. I may have to buy a pan and go back to his spot on the stream. Maybe I'll strike rich???

Gear: Winston WT 7' 2wt and WT 8' 4wt TMF fly rods; Ross Colorado 2/3 and Hardy LRH fly reels; Simms sling pack; Fisknat carbon landing net; Mostly, a #12 Black Elk Hair Caddis.

Some random photos below:

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