It got cold that night! We woke up to a thick fog and a layer of frost. We were in a campsite that wasn't going to see the sun until about 10 because of the ridge behind us. We NEEDED that sun though. We put the tent away wet again because of the frost. We did however have time enough to set our wading boots in the sun to thaw out. After a breakfast of shredded wheat, I snapped some pictures of the fog burning off and of the sun shining through the golden trees. It was a beautiful morning.
There was a hole in the fog as it floated across the river. It was neat to see through the fog and see blue sky in the distance. A boat floated by as we were packing up. I noticed that they were using dry flies. I thought it was awfully cold to be using dries. As they passed by they said "Go back to sleep because the fish were still sleeping too."
This campsite was actually on a large island. The large trees were gorgeous in the morning sun.
I thought the sight of our boots thawing out in the sun in front of the boat was also neat. Once we were set, I decided to try the same spot I had such luck in the night before. Again, I caught a few white fish on the same nymphs as before. No luck with trout though.
Further down the stream, we stopped at a gravel bar to fish the water around it. Howard caught the first Cutthroat here. These are the fish the river is famous for. He caught it on a stone fly nymph also. I caught a white fish. We were both a little disappointed because the water looked perfect. I couldn't help but wonder if our tactics were the best ones. Nymphing was usually the best tactic. Fish eat on the surface less than 10% of the time. It HAD worked so well the previous year BUT it also was a few weeks earlier in the season.
We got in the boat again, this time Howard rowed. Just at the far end of the island, my indicator dove downward. I could feel that this fish was fighting differently from previous whitefish. Then I saw the color and the red slash on the throat. I said aloud, "It's a cutthroat, a gorgeous cutthroat!" I think Howard chucked. I still value every trout I catch, I don't get out much and cutthroats are my favorite fish anyway. Howard pulled the boat aside to take some pictures of it. I appreciated this. I needed more trout pictures.
We floated to the next gravel bar. This spot looked absolutely perfect. I nice run emptied into a pool with a huge drop off. I decided I wanted to streamer fish this hole. Right away I pulled a large cutty up from the deep, chasing a black streamer. It turned its head on it right at the last moment. I was disappointed and excited both. Unfortunately I caught nothing here and saw nothing else. As Howard came down from fishing the run, I told him I hadn't nymphed this hole so go ahead and give it a try. He caught a real nice rainbow then. The biggest rainbow of the trip. So much for streamers taking big fish.
I decided I wanted to use my new rod and reel so I converted it from streamers to a nymphing system with two stone flies because that is what took the rainbow. At the next stop, I got yet another couple white fish. This is the first of many pictures with my new rod. I like how it handled the fish. It's a seven weight so it put the fish on the defensive and the large arbor reel easily handles the line. I knew I made a great decision in getting this rod. We continued with nymphs the remainder of the float that day. We stopped to set up camp around 4 so the tent could dry out and we could fish the water around the camp. I had seen I fisherman stepping slowly around a grassy bank throwing a dry fly right along the bank. I decided I wanted to try this trout stalking. I picked up the rod Howard had lent me that I had rigged with a BWO that I had tied. I then tip-toed along the bank working up river. I caught this small brown trout, the first brown trout. I was excited because I had always wanted to stalk around small creek (I worked up a creek that ran into the main river). Dry fly fishing is always the most fun way to fish. I walked the bank back to the camp.
When I arrived to the camp, Howard was calling it a day also. He had tried using a streamer where the water got deeper. He said he had caught a small brown also. This fish will be a formidable trout one day if it keeps after bait fish almost as big as itself. He mentioned that he had caught one of every fish in the river that day. I had caught all too including the rainbow from the night before. Not a bad day at all.
We decided beef stew was sufficient for dinner. Afterwards we shared some more butterfingers. I tossed a life jacket next to a tree and sat down to call Sara. Reception was not good in this spot so we settled for texts goodnight. It was going to be another cold night and stomping around in waders all day wears a person out so we went to bed by 8. We both fell right to sleep. Another great day on the Snake.
