I fished with a few good friends this week on a stunning small stream deep in the mountains. Despite the upper 90s heat wave we've had for the last couple of weeks, this stream, along with its numerous feeders, was flowing strong with water temps in the low 60s. We were blessed to find a place like this during the peak of summer where we could chase wild trout without fear of stressing them in hot skinny water.
Hardwood canopies, laurel overhangs, small plunge pools and pockets, along with a moderately strenuous hike must keep fishers away. We didn't see any others fishing nor did we see very much evidence of anyone being on this stretch of water in the recent past. Despite (or maybe thanks to) the casting challenges and the hike, we were rewarded with many many eager wild trout hitting dries throughout the entire day. Rainbows and brooks were the predominant species. However one lucky member of this forum (not me) ended up earning an eastern slam after his first fish turned out to be a brown. That was some serious Shiznit.
All of us fished C. Barclay rods ranging from the 64P up to a new 7.4 progressive. It's been said often before but these rods were just the ticket for the technical casting required. My 64P put casts into some perfect spots, almost as if it knew by itself how to make up for my casting deficiencies. My biggest fish came from a deep pool under a massive mountain laurel that almost touched the water. I doubt I could have made the cast with other rods I own. That fish slammed my fly, dove deep, then, being a rainbow, leapt from the water as they like to do and promptly tangled himself in the laurel. I've had plenty of fish wrap me up in subsurface roots and limbs but I'd never fought a fish in the canopy of a tree before. Wish I'd been wearing my GoPro to capture that.
We fished upstream for several miles enjoying the fishing the scenery and the wildlife, including great birds, several snakes (king snakes and a northern water snake), salamanders, crawdads and the numerous other critters that inhabit rocky streams. We also had a nice relaxing streamside lunch, though no one but me and the dog appreciated the smoked oysters in a can...
Some caddis and maybe a few other insects were hatching but the fish weren't particularly selective in terms of patterns. Smaller flies produced better than larger ones today but we caught fish on ants, hippy stompers, purple Adams and a Mr Rapidan. Trout seemed to be in every place they should be. It was really fun picking out tiny little pockets and hooking up in most of them. Obviously there are a lot of fish in this stream and they don't get pressured much. We were lucky to hit them just right on a beautiful day and I can't wait to make another trip to visit them again soon.
Cheers.