2023 Fish-Pic-O-Rama

[east or bust]

Seems to me things are farther behind than what most reports are stating for the upper Henry's. This time last year, well a week sooner to be exact, there were white mules ear wildflowers popping everywhere. Didn't see any out there yet.

Today seemed like the best chance for GDs but cloud cover was lingering just a touch to the west. Last night at least had a couple sporadic feeders to fish to but couldn't get an eat. Couldn't tell what was on the water, tried a variety of spinners and emergers. Bikes were a game changer though, was able to pack in fancy.

[swimmy]

Good call on the bike.

Saw a couple big bugs yesterday. Things seem late here as well.

[jpcm]

Drakes are late down south as well. Got a few eats on big green droppers, so hopefull for some cloud coverage next weekend they pop.

It’s been a weird water year. No real peak, just held moderately high for a few weeks. Now it feels like the bottom is dropping out quick



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[neckdeep]

Today seemed like the best chance for GDs but cloud cover was lingering just a touch to the west. Last night at least had a couple sporadic feeders to fish to but couldn't get an eat. Couldn't tell what was on the water, tried a variety of spinners and emergers.

The railroad ranch, where fly fishing and masochism intersect.

Awesome salmonfly action going off on the tribs if ya get tired of perfection.

[swimmy]

Another wave of showers this evening.

[Rasputin]

I think I finally got out the door around 2:30 today and headed for the river, after yesterday's mosquito swarms, I was less than entirely eager, but it hadn't rained, and was mostly sunny so I figured it probably had dried out a bit, and I also knew that being Monday there wouldn't be quite the plethora of sun-worshipping, water splashing, dog-stick-throwing masses. I also decided to go a different direction from the boat ramp, through a dense tangle toward the Bitterroot.

I had prepared myself by dowsing a long sleeved T-shirt with Ben's insect repellent, which I also applied to my neck and ears. The mosquitos were out, but not so bad as yesterday, so in spite of the heat I put on the extra shirt, and when I got to the Bitterroot started by throwing an orange chubby with a golden stone dropper. It wasn't long before I got a fish on, and lost it. I got a couple more bites on each of the flies, but didn't hook up. I worked my way to the point, at the upper confluence of the Clark Fork and the Bitterroot.



I switched rigs after the golden rig proved fruitless, the fishing were rising so I tried my big ass renegade with a CDC emerger trailer and caught a five inch rainbow. There were plenty of small fish rising, but when it went full sunshine it died down, I put on another high floating dry with an olive flashback midge nymph, and caught a little cutty. Then later a somewhat bigger rainbow.





The mosquitos got really bad as the sun went behind the clouds, it made fishing drys hard because the skeeters wanted to fly right in my face, I applied more Ben's, and changed rigs again, missing a few times with a yellow sally, but hooking the smallest fish of the day (and launching him in an arc over my head as I set the hook) on a griffith's gnat.

A storm was coming in, and I watched the lightning strikes as it approached, thinking it would probably be smart to leave, however, I also thought, if I get struck by lightning it'll be God's doing, and I'll either get to leave this mess of a world, or I'll be one of those folks who survives and has a great story to tell (I met a guy that got struck, and afterward he didn't need glasses anymore). Maybe my hair would all turn white and I'd look like Moses coming down off of Mount Sinai. I was sure that it would be transformative, so I wasn't afraid. I just kept fishing, but missed on subsequent yellow sally strikes.

Well, the wind got so strong that it would blow my line and sink my flies, so I decided I'd tie on something heavy, one of those new streamers I just got gifted. It was starting to rain, so after I swapped out leaders and tied on a Sculpzilla, and scolded the streamer saying "I hope you are as good at hooking fish as you are at hooking my fingers!" I put on my rain shell (it had started pouring) and started hucking the streamer. The moral of this story is to not fear death, and be glad for the moment you're living in, because I was really content to get struck down if need be, but I wasn't ready to leave, and though I didn't expect anything to come of it, I just kept casting. After about a dozen casts or so, just as I was about to lift it out of the water, a big fish came outta nowhere and took it.

Fortunately I didn't have much line out, and it took several minutes to wear him out enough to net, also fortunately, the hook, which had snagged him in the shoulder, held on. I was pleased to find that it was the biggest trout fish I've caught so far, a 19" cutbow. I rode my bike home happily in the rain, still wearing my hip boots.

[plugboots]

I love that access point.

[plugboots]

I love that access spot.

[shroom]

hell yeah

[swimmy]

Fun read Rasputin. Well done.

And yeah, skeeters are horrible this year.

[Talisman]

Nice that Rasputin connected!

A long sleeve shirt and hat sprayed with permethrin works really well for keeping biting insects away.

Fun read Rasputin. Well done.

And yeah, skeeters are horrible this year.

[Rasputin]

Today I returned to the same spot, I mean after yesterday, how could I not? Though I hemmed and hawed and didn't leave until after three in the afternoon.

I went out to look at the sky, as T-storms were forecast, and it was thundering and windy, with some ominous looking clouds. My neighbor from across the street waved, so i went over to talk to him. He was waiting for a guy who was coming to swap cars, my neighbor had a pale metallic green Mustang convertible with some issues that he has no money to fix, so he swapped it for a this guy's Toyota Celica (I think) convertible, straight across. Anyway, the guy shows up with his Toyota while I was there. I'm looking at the sky and feeling the wind picking up and muse out loud whether I should go fishing, and the guy I just met, very quickly and assuredly smiles and says "YES!" Well, being as I am always looking for confirmation to my preferences, I took it as a sign from God Almighty., that he wanted me to go fishing.

I went back inside to get my stuff, and was about to ride my bike out there, and decided to pray first, as it tends to make me feel more confident, and what'dya know, God told me to get my ass out the door, to take the truck, and quit wasting the day. So, I drove the 3.8 miles down to the fishing access spot.

I made my way directly to the point, though there was some good looking water along the way, the skeeters were just too thick in the brushy areas. Once there, there were no fish rising, even though it was suitably cloudy, so I started out throwing a prince nymph under an indicator, after an unproductive while, I managed to pull it outta the mouth of a foot long trout when I started stripping it back. Eventually I managed to hook a five inch rainbow, yanking it clean outta the water, but not so spectacularly as the one yesterday.

Some fish started sporadically rising, so I switched to a dry/dropper with a red brassie hanging from a large orange stimulator, eventually I caught another five inch rainbow, but the stimulator was getting no love and was sinking too easily for my liking, I was getting annoyed and not getting bites, so i sat down and had a snack.

The fish off the point have been consistently envious of my fishing snack of cheese in a tortilla, this time with smoked gouda, smoked cheddar, and seriously sharp cheddar, perfectly accented by smoked porter mustard. I guess I can't blame them, as they just eat bugs, and have no smoked porter mustard to augment their diet. After eating, and praying a bit, I swapped the stimulator (which I was thinking was more of a sink-ulator) for an orange chubby, but kept with the red brassie. An obviously snack envious cutthroat attacked my brassie, and fought me over possession of it for a couple thrilling minutes, before throwing it outta his mouth, obviously disappointed that it had no smoked porter mustard on it. I was quite disappointed, however the weather had turned absolutely pleasant, sunny with a slight breeze and not too hot, so there was that at least.

A while later, about the time I was painfully lamenting the loss of that feisty snack envying fish, another cutty grabbed my brassie, and put up a valiant fight before succumbing to my snack strengthened might. Not huge, but what a beauty!







Later on it got ridiculous, fish were hitting the surface in a symphony of micro splashes, a small one got two feet outta the water trying to snatch a mayfly in orbit somewhere; a good sized fish surfaced and head butted my orange chubby, then on the next cast another flashed and turned away, insulted that I was still throwing that thing. I had a nagging voice tempting me to tie on a streamer, but before I listened to it, I tried a different colored foam indicator bug with a size 16 rusty sparkle dun in tow. A fifteen inch cutthroat grabbed that trailer and fought me over it for several minutes before posing for a picture with me. I had no luck throwing a streamer subsequently, but I can't complain, just look at the one that didn't get away!






Another great day on the river!

[Harry]

Can’t decide which I like better:

Swimmy’s beautiful photographs

Or

Rasputin’s beautiful stories.

[swimmy]

Found a salmon fly eater today at the end of the rainbow

[Rasputin]

Can’t decide which I like better:

Swimmy’s beautiful photographs

Or

Rasputin’s beautiful stories.

You're too kind Harry! And DANG swimmy!

I'd gladly forego a story if I could land one of swimmy's spotted yellow submarines.......NO, that would be unpossible to not spin a yarn if I caught one of those.

Today after finishing my fishing day, I realized that I not only caught fish three days in a row, but I didn't even lose one fly! I may be getting better at this.

Having had my fill of the mosquitos, knowing they'd be out in force today, as it rained heavily this morning before the sun came out, and having run out of insect repellent, I decided to go back to the super secret spot around 4:30pm. The fish were not rising, and the water was much lower than previous trip there, but after a while I managed to tease up a 14" rainbow who jumped out of the water twice, it was really cool, and earned me applause from a pretty lady on an overlooking balcony of the hotel. There was an old grumpy man with her, he did not applaud.

Actually it was the biggest rainbow I've ever caught, which is not saying much, but it sure pleased me. (darn camera focused on the back ground in all the shots I took of it, sigh)



Later I caught a small cuttbow, and that was it for the catching of fish today, but I'm glad to have caught fish without getting eaten by skeeters.





Well, after I'd caught the second fish I tried like the dickens to get another, missing on a few, at one point compettion for the fish's attention plopped down in the water right in front of me, so I helped him get outta the water. I tried a yellow stimulator to copy it, but no luck, oh well.

[swimmy]

Hands down the weirdest hatch I've seen. Should be right in the middle of salmon flies right now but only seen a few fliers and even fewer shucks. Fished lower in the river again this morning. No bugs...no shucks. Decided to head up river in the afternoon...out of nowhere saw one adult. She was full of eggs.



Friends are texting me "hey, where are the bugs." I'm like, fuck if I know. Maybe we are just a week late?

Fishing has been slow as well...but tomorrow is a new day.

[teleee]

Slow as fuck here too. Water is still cold and the flows are up and down every day. We have to work hard for every fish. I keep saying next week…



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[tgapp]

Slow as fuck here too. Water is still cold and the flows are up and down every day. We have to work hard for every fish. I keep saying next week…



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Omg what a fantastic picture, absolutely amazing.

Like everywhere else, things have been slow to start here, too. Local waters are mostly blown out, but MarsB has been showing me some cool spots that are still super fishable. The past few days have marked a shift towards Caddis and terrestrial season, which is a welcome change of pace.

On MarsB's first cast he hooked a branch, but on cast two he pulled out a great brown and then on cast three he got a beautiful rainbow. All in all, a .667 batting average isn't bad at all.

Got a few in the net myself, even if they are smaller, it's been amazing to get surface eats.

Here's hoping that things are just moving slower this year and that more great fishing is yet to come.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Glued my rod back together (see previous page in this thread) and went fishing with my mom, who turns 75 in few weeks. It was a good day. 30-something fish in the net and many more that I failed to net. Mom caught a dozen or so. Non-stop action. I rarely cast into a pocket without a fish showing some genuine interest in my flies. I had to retire 4-5 because they were shredded by fish mouths. Caught some big-for-this river rainbows that had me splashing around like an idiot as I chased them downstream (almost fell in twice) after they made it into the hefty current, which was often inevitable.




Mom with a fat one:


PMDs were hatching on and off all day and I caught a lot of fish in shallow water but we never saw a fish rise. A couple swiped at the chubby mom was using as an indicator but every fish she caught was a on a dropper. I just stuck with the euro rig because it was so damn effective. I can enjoy the tricky days, like last Friday when I caught two 8" brown trout in 4 hours. But days like today certainly help sustain me through bare patches.

That said, I'm ready for some dry fly action. It has been hard to come by around here. I had one decent day fishing dries in May. Otherwise, I've been slinging heavy stuff around.

Edit to add: that dog pic is perfect

[MarsB]

Mom killing it! Super rad, BD.

[stapes]

Looks like a great day w/ mom! I think I know that little cliff wall in the background.

[Rasputin]

I'm going fishing today, but though I will wet a line, what I'm really hoping to catch is my multi tool that I lost yesterday, during an ordeal of misery which included only a couple bites amid swarming mosquitos, and fish rising out of the Bitterroot river, which was blown out and colored like chocolate milk. As I was thrashing at mosquitos, I heard a clank of something hitting my aquaflask that dangled from my belt. At that moment, I figured it was one of the small fish which periodically flew out of the water (I was feeling a victim of a cruel taunt), but once I noticed, on my way home, that the tool was not in its sheath, I was sure it was the clanger that rang that bell. I have a pretty good idea of where it is, and though the water is still likely muddy, I'm arming myself with a telescoping mechanic's magnet.

[Percy Rideout]

I'm going fishing today, but though I will wet a line, what I'm really hoping to catch is my multi tool that I lost yesterday, during an ordeal of misery which included only a couple bites amid swarming mosquitos, and fish rising out of the Bitterroot river, which was blown out and colored like chocolate milk. As I was thrashing at mosquitos, I heard a clank of something hitting my aquaflask that dangled from my belt. At that moment, I figured it was one of the small fish which periodically flew out of the water (I was feeling a victim of a cruel taunt), but once I noticed, on my way home, that the tool was not in its sheath, I was sure it was the clanger that rang that bell. I have a pretty good idea of where it is, and though the water is still likely muddy, I'm arming myself with a telescoping mechanic's magnet.

Good luck! I cut my foot wading the shallow water at a campsite on the grand canyon. Looked down to see why it hurt and some idiots from another group left a pocket knife and two forks in the eddy from what i can only assume was drunken dish duty done wrong. Be safe out there. Never know what's under the water.

[::: :::]

That’s shitty; sorry to hear that PR. Heal up clean

Nice fish pics up in here people
I put a couple evenings earlier this week into the Metolius here in central OR & came away blank…not the first time, but I’ll go back . I always do [emoji57]

[swimmy]

Stuck a pig first thing this morning on the dry. Just a perfect trout.





After a week of sticking with the big dry, feel like I've earned that fish. Got a few more days left and now I'm playing with house money.