I had another great day today. My mate Rob who runs the local flyshop works six days a week at this time of year so we have precious little time to fish together 9-5 during business hours which is pretty much 8am-6pm for him. He gets most Monday’s off, but that’s it. So to be able to go out with him today, albeit on a Sunday in July, was a great opportunity. One that I was loathe to waste despite the likely crowds.
Knowing things would be hectic everywhere, Rob phoned a mate who is only in town every so often to inquire about accessing a private stretch of a canyon that runs beneath his home. It’s not private in the sense that you cannot walk the river, but for all intents and purposes it is because the only real access is via his place. Unless you want to waste an entire day just getting in.
The guy that owns the property is a mad surfer that has travelled the world surfing for many years and when Rob phoned him he was somewhere in the tropics sailing a yacht. Quite the life it would seem and if I ever get to meet him, the first thing I am going to do is ask him how he does it. Well that is after I thank him for allowing us access.
It was hot today, well into the 90’s and this was another reason why the canyon looked so attractive. We didn’t arrive until well after 1pm which I suppose doesn’t matter all that much when no one else can reach the water that you intend to fish. The view from the house atop the cliff was amazing although I will admit a sense of vertigo when standing on the deck and look down. The house is built on stilts on the side of the cliff. It is about 60 feet straight down before the cliff plummets a few hundred more just below where the foundations are planted. You feel as though you are on the abyss and I found it slightly disconcerting.
The walk down was quite easy due to the multiple switchbacks. The trail was well defined but not used often. A great sign for any fisherman heading to the water. Along the way there were multiple signs warning people to keep out. Even in the thickets of the scrub where you would hardly expect people to be wandering about. In fact I have seen more Private Property and No Tresspassing signs in the past week than in the previous 38 years I have been around.
About 300 feet above the river the trail opened a little and we could see it clearly. Fish were holding in the pools and Rob pointed out multiple fish to about 14” finning in the clear water. It’s amazing how quickly you can scramble down a near vertical trail when the incentive is good enough.
Once in the water we quickly found that hoppers were the go. As with yesterday on the other river. Every pool would offer up at least 4-8 fish. Mostly small but the odd good one that kept you on your toes. Going slow was the name of the game and getting good drifts was paramount to catching a lot of fish. The trout were rainbows, cutts and hybrids and they ate with a kind of reckless abandon. If you were careful you could extract numerous fish from any one pool. from the tail out to the run in, the trick was to immediately steer them the moment they were hooked out of the bottom of the pool into the run below. I lost count but in two hours I must have got close to 50 fish.
We actually didn’t even get down to the water until about 2.20pm. While rather late when compared with fishing the larger rivers on the plains where the PMD or Tricos are going from early in the morning, it is a perfect time to fish these ‘cricks’. The sun is high and floods the canyons with light. It also warms the water a little and triggers all sorts of wonderful bug activity.
Two hours went by very quickly and before too long we reached the end of the fishing. The river flows literally halved once we passed the springs that run into it out of the side of the hill over about a 250 metre area. This is pure spring water gushing out of the mountain, it was cool and clear and allowed us to replenish our water bottles. Just truly amazing for someone from Australia where water is a rare commodity.
The walk out was a little hard and there were times where I took my heart rate and it was up around 180 (near to max HR for me). A few breaks later and some cold spring water and all was good. On the way back while passing through thick scrub we ran head on into a huge male moose with a massive rack on him. Rob pushed it off by speaking to it calmly yet loudly which was an experience to say the least. I don't recall him being so heroic the last time we ran into some moose cows with their calves!
Finally we got back to the car and headed out. It was a great experience and maybe one I will never get the opportunity to do again. If you ever get out here you really need to see some of these places and meet the locals. They are as friendly a people as you will find anywhere.
Late tonight I hit the river (about 8.10pm) just near home and the hatch was unbelievable. The mosquitoes were out in force and nearly carried me away, but after lathering up with 30% DEET and tying on a dun, it was game on.
I fished for about an hour and simply headhunted. There were hundreds of rising fish and at times the river seemed to be covered in dimples. Wading the middle and watching for bigger heads I targeted individual fish. Most of the fish I got were between 16-18” and all took the PMD.
A beautiful sunset due to some cloud to the west and a full moon to the east over the Grand Tetons to end what was a very special day and one that I will not soon forget.
There will be much more to come asI still have 5 weeks of fishin here and I am set to fish with a heap of very cool people. A standing invite to stay and fish on Silver Creek will be taken up, a few days on the Missouri below Holter once the levels drop and at least a couple of interesting Watermaster floats including the fabled Teton Canyon.
Ciao for now.
Antony
PS- photos are in chronological order so as to give you all an idea of what the day was like and how it looked to me.....;-) FWIW....
PHOTOS BELOW ARE FROM EVENING RISE
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