You'd think
someone other than 2 Richmond boys would take off the Monday after July 4th weekend to fish a pretty little spring creek. We thought so anyway but ended up with this Valley stream to ourselves until we left late in the afternoon.
Water temps in the high 50s and the beginning of terrestrial season means hard-charging rainbows taking flies with authority. Fishing dry/dropper rigs all day gave steady action even with midday sun beating down. Most ate nymphs but we did get a good number on bushy dries like stimis, hoppers and ants.
First of the day also came on my first cast - took a green flashback copper john:
Between the two of us we picked up a number of strong, thick bows some of which jumped 4 vertical feet through the air or clear across the creek after being hooked - of course, most of the acrobatic fish won those battles.
Some photos of our victories - - - -
A few real nice wild fish were mixed in, typically running about 17 inches each. We hooked at least one fish that was WELL over 20 inches - broke off on his first few head shakes. My flimsy 2wt would have been no match anyway but I was crestfallen for a few minutes after that...
Dan - please feel free to add pics and your take on the crick! It was a great time - followed by the traditional hook-one-miss-a-few on the other spring crick nearby. This trip will definitely happen more often as summer gets into full swing!
Marty
Hybrid Mode
