Got out for a few hours today.  My home river for chasing cutthroat is blown with snowmelt runoff so I headed back down to the same lowland stream that I explored last week.  Lots of mayflies coming off around 2-3PM – the expected Blue-winged Olives as well as a fair number of March Browns and even a couple very yellow Pale Morning Duns.  There were also some flying ants hitting the water and about a jillion midges.  I picked up two small cutts and one very nice 15-16″ beauty.  I watched it feed for 10-15 minutes before casting, sometimes jumping completely out of the water so I knew I had a player.  This spot in the stream is tough, a very spring creek-like slick with steep brushy banks that eat back casts.  I managed to hit the target and got nada.  Tried again and borked the cast failing to roll out the leader.  I was just about to pick up the fly and a big cutthroat head rose up and gulped the fly from between the coils of leader…  All three fish on an olive bodied parachute dun.

A few weeks back, I purchased a very lightly used reel, a Ted Godfrey Classic 275.  I had previously been working on converting all my trout reels over to Hardy Perfects but when this reel came on the market, I snapped it up.  Ted’s reels are handmade works of art.  I dig the classic Vom Hofe design, the adjustable gear/pawl drag works great and sounds fantastic.   I contacted Ted with a question about the reel after I purchased it and he suggested I send it back to him for a lookover.  He checked it out, tightened everything that needed tightening, adjusted everything that needed adjusting and had it back to me within the week!  When you buy a hand made reel from a reelsmith like Ted, you get more than the reel, you get a few decades work of experience and great customer service.   I’m not going to put put my Perfects up on eBay to pay for another Godfrey, I’ll sell the Islanders and Abels instead…   Mostly joking but I do think one of those “Brown Trout” models would be very fine holding my line.

http://www.tedgodfreys.com/index.shtml

Or not…  It was a nice day to explore so we hiked into a small stream neither of us had fished before.  Fish were rising and there were a few bugs in the air but no real hatches coming off.  Neither of us could crack the cutthroat code and consistently move fish.  We each caught three small Coastal Cutthroats on three different pattern – six fish on six different flies…  These were also my first fish on bamboo.  Plenty of feel for these little trouts but enough weight to put the wood grass to some bigger fish someday when I learn to properly present a fly.

The river was a bit high for easy wading and the color was off, probably due to recent rains but it was a great day to get out on a beautiful small stream.  Definitely have to hit this one again when the flows are a bit lower.

Headed over the the dry side of the state to float the Yakima with a frequent partner in crime.  It was my first time floating that river although I’ve been there for a few unsuccessful wading trips.  Floating the Yakima cemented in my mind that you really need a boat to fish the river.  The cataraft performed like a champ, easily dodging snags and not minding the grabby low water sections.

We both picked up our first freshwater trout of the year. I got my first dry fly fish as well, a chunky girl who liked a Skwala colored stimulator(ish) pattern.  My camera skillz were in full force as I managed to get a pic of my partner’s empty hands and stunned expression as a nice trout gave us the finger and swam away.

Looking forward to getting back over there soon for the March Browns…