Big and Bright

February 21, 2023

Flows: 139 cfs. (Below the hatchery)

Water Temp: 39F @ 10:30a.

Water clarity: Very clear – visibility ~4’.

Air Temp: Low 41F @ 9:30a – high 64F @ 4p.

Hatches: Midge: Throughout of the day. Larger during the PM hatch.

Flies: #22 Black Midge Emerger, #22 Top Secret Midge, #10 Egg Sucking Leech, #18 Hare’s Ear, #22 Stalcup Baetis, #22 Chocolate Thunder, #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail, #18 Parachute Adams, #22 Black Rojo Midge, #20 BH Pheasant Tail, #22 Flashback Black Beauty.

Top producers: Hare’s Ear, Egg Sucking Leech, Mercury Pheasant Tail.

20" male - bright and beautiful!

We didn’t catch a lot of them.

The ones we did catch though were big, brightly colored rainbows. Twenty plus inches. Their jaws and sides splashed with iridescent reds and oranges. Their white mouths sticking out in sharp contrast as they ate in the shallow water.

That’s how I spotted my second fish of the day.

He was sitting in front of a boulder in Tom’s Run. I could see his bright red side and the white of his mouth as he sipped flies floating in the soft water in front of the boulder.

After a few casts to him – he moved out. He didn’t bolt, but there was something he didn’t like and he moved laterally across the river to a shallow trough near the opposite bank. I followed him. Then I spotted a couple more in the same area.

I stopped and watched for a bit. What were these fish up to?

20 incher in the net.

There were a couple of redds near the bank and some of the fish were moving toward it and stayed near it. Waiting their turn. I left them alone. The one I spotted in front of the boulder didn’t go toward the redd. He just stayed in the trough obviously eating.

He was fair game.

My drifts were on point but I wasn’t getting a strike. My guess was that my flies were floating under him. This even after I took off all but a .1g split shot. I was using my nymph rig with a #18 Hare’s Ear followed by a #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail and a #22 Black Midge Emerger.

After a few times, I decided to change tactics and moved upstream a bit. I wanted my drift to end right in front of the fish and have my flies float up in front of him. I added a little lift to my rod to help.

Releasing the rainbow back into Tom's Run.

On the first one, the fish hit – but I missed him. I was thinking I may not get another chance at that one. Then a couple of drift later I saw the fish move – bend his head toward where my flies were – and the white of his mouth.

I set the hook.

Bang!

He took me all over the run – up and back. Then again. He was a strong swimmer, taking line out it seemed at will. After a bit I tightened my drag – just slightly. I hate doing that in the middle of fighting a fish, but he was getting too close to overhanging branches and other stuff he could get tangled up in.

I didn’t want to lose this guy. It was after noon and I only had one other fish in the net so far – it was another big one.

My arms were tired as I guided this big, brightly colored fish to my net. He measured 20” and besides his bright coloration – he was thickly built. Heavy in the net. He had taken my Hare’s Ear.

This guy was spent. Just sitting next to my net after I released him.

Earlier, Brian had chatted up a guy and the guy said he was getting fish on a small Hare’s Ear. He told me that as we were eating lunch. After I finished the first thing I did was change up my rig – tying on one of my Hare’s Ear as the lead fly. I’ve found it’s a good thing to copy success!

Back to the big, brightly colored rainbow. He was as worn out as me from the fight. and after I released him he just sat there beside my net. I was kneeling in the water next to it. I watched him for a bit then reached into the water and move him so that his head was facing upstream. He didn’t need revived but it was obvious that the fight had taken a lot out of him. I grabbed his tail attempting to move him back and forth – give him some help. He gave a few quick swishes with his tail and was gone.

Our day started there at Tom’s Run. We arrived about fifteen minutes later than we normally do – but in that fifteen minutes a few other guys took the Double Tree Hole. And there were fishermen all over the place. I was still getting my stuff together when Brian set out. We agreed to meet at Tom’s or the Double Tree.

I got this picture of my 2nd rainbow before he swam away.

Luckily, Brian was able to get into Tom’s before anyone else took it. He was fishing it when I walked up to the river. In order to get to Tom’s from where I was – I had to cross the river in front of the Small Pool. It was open too. It usually is. Most fishermen overlook it.

With the Small Pool open I decided to give it a shot before heading over to meet Brian. My nymph rig was as I left it last week. A very used Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear leading, followed by a #22 Stalcup’s Baetis and a #22 Chocolate Thunder. I decided to leave it as is and began to fish the pool. There was no one home though, and I waded across the river.

Brian was in Tom’s and the three guys were in the Double Tree below. The weir in-between was open. I like that spot a lot. I’ve netted some really nice fish in it. Before going into it, I changed up my rig. I wanted to try an Egg Sucking Leech and tied it on as my lead fly. I followed it with a #22 Flashback Black Beauty and a #22 Black Midge Emerger. There were already a bunch of midges flying around.

My 1st one of the day. Big and bright!

Once set, I fished the pool below the weir. No one home and I moved down to the second pool. There is a car size boulder in the front of it and a few slightly smaller ones behind it and a downed tree lining the near side of it. I let my flies float directly into the first boulder. I had a decent amount of weight on and I was thinking that the current would take my flies down and around the boulder. There may be a fish laying in there.

Brian was just below me as I drifted my flies into the boulder the second or third time. My indicator just paused. It was hard to detect because it had floated past the boulder and was now in slow water. I set the hook – more out of instinct.

I felt the line go tight – my rod bending heavily. It was a big fish and he was in control. I was just hanging on. He took me on a tour of the pool, then swam upstream into the pool below the weir. Then he swam over the weir. I knew he was going to do it but I never saw him as he did. How they do that – I don’t know. We were now in Tom’s Run – where I got another tour. Yes, I was tightening my drag. Didn’t want to – but had to. (As I explained earlier, I would have to tighten it even more later in the day to get that 20 incher).

This guy was hard to handle.

Brian Kenney.

I finally netted this bad boy back down at the weir. He filled my net. I was thinking he might be my biggest fish of the year. Brian came over to help and we measured him. Twenty-one inches, tying my record for the year. He took the Egg Sucking Leech.

As Brian set up to take a picture the fish got loose as I was trying to hold him, eventually jumping out of my hands. But I caught him and tried again. He kept wiggling and was very strong. It was like a juggling act. I kept losing my grip on him – then somehow catching him again in midair. Finally, I was able to hold him for a picture. That was almost as hard as fighting him to net!

We then started to work our way downstream – leapfrogging each other as we went. It was about 11a when we met up at the Bridge Hole where we both fished it from opposite sides. No dice, but I did take notice of two other fishermen who fished it from the south side of the river. One under the bridge and the other just downstream of him. They were hitting a nice little foam seam and both netted a fish while we were there. I plan to try that spot next time I fish this hole.

He was all I could handle!

Brian Kenney.

Again moving downstream, we ended up just upstream from the Doubletree Hole. There is a long run with riffles, small pools, tailouts, and pocket water. As I walked up Brian was fishing the end of it and there was a guy in the middle of it. We’ve seen this guy before. Or rather heard him before. He has a dog with him and all he seems to do is cuss at his dog – very loudly! He wears a hooded sweatshirt and resembles the Grim Reaper. I so named it The Grim Reaper Run.

I ate my lunch while the Grim Reaper amused me by yelling and cussing at his dog. At first I thought he had a bad tangle and was yelling about that. But no, it was his dog that he was yelling at. We were planning to move back upstream after lunch – but by the time we finished the Grim Reaper had left and I wanted to give the run a shot.

I moved to the top of the run while Brian fished the middle of it. I worked my way down and met him at one of those small pools. It was pretty deep and looked fishy. Brian was fishing the middle of the pool and just as I got there he had a hook up. The bend of his rod indicated a nice size fish that quickly swam downstream. He was so quick that Brian wasn’t able to move that way and he broke off.

Finally - under control.

Brian Kenney.

I was at the top of the pool as I watched. Before fishing the top of the pool I asked Brian if I was crowding him. Yes – as a courtesy you do ask your partner if you want to fish close by. He didn’t mind and I casted into the pool. As I lifted my rod to recast a fish hit. He came up and hit one of my flies on the lift and I got a look at him before he broke off. A nice looking rainbow in the 17” range.

Dang it! We both had a chance at nice fish and missed them.

Our plan was to head directly to the Valco Ponds Run but on the way Brian stopped at the Doubletree Hole. He was at the tail end of it and another guy was in the deep pool. There was no room for me, so I fished a run below. There is a channel – a deep trough – that runs along the bank. Brian caught a nice brownie in it a while back and it seems like a popular spot as I see other fishermen in it often. I decided to fish it.

Another fish on ---- and another fish off! What the heck? I had this guy hooked up solid, tight line and in a manageable spot - but somehow he was able to get off. Fish have a way of doing that.

It was then that I moved up into Tom’s Run and netted my second fish of the day. The one I describe at the beggining of this article - that big, bright twenty-incher. After I released that fish, I waded into the river to see if I could spot another one. While I was doing that, Brian had come up and was casting into the deep pool behind the boulders and got hooked up. Another nice fish.

A look at what is suspected to be a termite.

Brian Kenney.

I watched as he reeled the fish in. Another big, bright rainbow! He netted it and looked up at me saying he thought it was the same fish I had caught in the morning – the 21 incher. I was watching him – and I still can’t explain exactly what happened – but somehow the fish jumped out of his net! Brian was in ankle deep water at the time and as he tried to re-net the fish, his line broke. Fish gone.

Holy Moly.

Brian was pissed – especially because the fish broke off with all his flies! I was amused and still get a chuckle when thinking about it.

As far as the fish goes, I think it was the 20” rainbow that I had just released. Reason being - the fish didn’t give Brian much of a fight. The two I had caught put up a hell of a fight, and this one should have given Brian one too. But it didn’t. And if you remember, the fish I had just released was spent when I got him to net. So much so that he laid in the river beside my net for a while.

We’ll never know though.

After that we picked up and headed to the Valco Ponds Run. Walking along the path that overlooks the river we ran into a guy who got his line tangled up in a tree. He was almost climbing it to get to where his line was stuck. It was quite a site. There was no way we could help so we kept going.

A view of the Grim Reaper Run.

Just past where the guy was in the tree we noticed some redds. There were fish on the redds and beyond the redds – in the middle of the river we could see a few other rainbows. Nice size rainbows. Since they were not on the redd, below it or beside it – I would consider them fair game. We thought about going after them – but sooner or later the guy in the tree would get his line untangled and he was close to that spot – so we decided to keep going.

Arriving at the Valco Ponds Run – I could see fish in a shallow trough near the bank. A spot where I typically see them – below the sunken log. Game on! I went after them while Brian went upstream and fished above the sunken log.

Multiple fish in the net. That’s what I expected to take place ---- but it didn’t. These fish were selective and very easily spooked. I was fishing with my nymph rig, and they would run at the sight of my indicator and on occasion, even my leader. A sign of pressured fish.

I made all kinds of adjustments to my depth. Changing weight and indicator length with no results. I then tried a Dry/Dropper rig to overcome their spookiness and because they seemed to be feeding in the upper column. The Dry/Dropper rig would eliminate my indicator and keep my flies up in the film. I did have one fish come up and hit my Dry – but he broke off right at the end. A false take. Other than that – nothing.

My last fish of the day. A 17" female - not as bright and big as the others, but still fun to catch!

I switched back to my nymph rig and was finally able to land a 17” rainbow - female who took the #20 Mercury Pheasant Tail. Meanwhile, Brian got a hook up from the opposite bank – river left – while fishing in the deep water behind the boulders. But it broke off.

As we fished the run, we noticed some flies that looked like caddis by the way they were flying. Brian caught one and it looked like a termite which is a terrestrial insect. Not an aquatic one. What would it be doing on the water? My thought is because there is a lot of downed trees in the area, termites are resident. During their hatch, they are being blown onto the water and getting stuck there, eventually drowning. This is just a hunch though - requiring some research.

Even though it was somewhat of a frustrating end of the day - at least for me - it was a good day on the river.

Besides the comic relief provided by the Grim Reaper and the fisherman in the tree – we landed some of those big, bright rainbows.

Big and Bright!