When I got out of the Troutmobile, I found myself longing for the fleece that I had left at home. My raincoat would have to suffice both to block the impending rain (or would it be snow?) and cold. The old workhorse 9' 4 weight St. Croix Legend Ultra was put together, and I tied on a Bellyache Minnow. This is one of my favorite streamers for short line streamer fishing with floating lines. The weight is distributed perfectly so it rides correctly in the water column.
On the very first cast, a really nice brown swirled but missed the hook. I got excited because I had the whole stream to myself and the fish were hungry! Continuing downstream and pounding the banks, I had fish regularly chasing the streamer. The sky warned me that rain was imminent, but I kept working steadily.
Just as the first drops were starting to fall, I finally felt a solid tug on the line. I quickly got the camera out and snapped a couple of pictures before the rain became too heavy. The camera was soon back safely in the bag and stayed there until things dried out a bit.
Throughout stream, fish started rising as a hatch got underway. The fish were taking what appeared to be BWOs although I never caught any and they could have been large midges. My hands were so cold that changing my rig was not an option so I stuck with the streamer. Besides, I wanted to catch a big fish!
Slowly the rain grew less and less and then finally just stopped as though the clouds had gotten tired. The gloom started to lift as the sun showed itself vaguely through the clouds in the west above the mountains.
My fingers were freezing and after stepping in a puddle (hey its hard to cast, properly swim the fly, and walk all at the same time!) my foot was cold too. Tempted to give up, I realized that I was almost through the section of stream and kept going. Fish were still hitting the streamer when I came to Dead Elk Bend. Well, that's what I call it. Probably the locals have another name for it. My name was spontaneous due to the rather fresh but stripped remains of an elk nearby.
The bend pool nearby had a perfect ambush spot for a nice brown. My cast lobbed the streamer towards the slack water. As soon as it splashed down, I was swimming the fly out towards the current. A dark shape rocketed out from under the bank and inhaled the streamer. The heavy tippet allowed me to land the fish quickly. I set my camera down on top of my gear bag and snapped a quick picture.
After releasing the fish, my day was completed when I was treated to a beautiful sunset over the mountains.
I strolled back through the fields to my car, satisfied with another great outing!
