After the snow melts away, and the flows start to drop, the streams in the mountains become my main focus for a few weeks of the year. These high elevation tributaries offer a new challenge, and some variety in scenery.
Late in the month of May I set out for a day in the mountains. My goal was to explore a few creeks that I hadn’t fished yet. Getting an early start, I hit the first creek as the sun was starting to peek over the mountains and through the trees.
I walked along the trail and climbed down the rocky embankment to make a few casts into the first pool. A few splashes but no takers. I worked my way up a little bit, casting into different spots along the banks until I hooked into my first fish of the day. A small rainbow brought to hand, fooled by a size 18 Ishigaki kebari. After releasing the fish back into the water I continued along the bank, weaving my way through bushes and shallow pools, all the while enjoying my time on the water.
My luck was changing after a little while. I had reached a patch with quite a few wildflowers blooming in the grass that lined the rocky banks. The only bites I seemed to be getting were from mosquitoes at this point. Maybe it was because my fly couldn’t drift properly with all the swatting I was doing to deter the pesky insects. While the little spot was beautiful, I decided to leave the creek and work my way back to the car.
After getting back to my car, I was worried that maybe the bite was dying off and that I would have to call it a day. But without wanting to go home just yet I decided to make a drive to the creek where I had caught my first brook trout. If you would like to read more about that experience, check out the blog post about "The Fish That Started It All."
I made the short drive to the dirt road, parked the car and set out once again into the meadow. I knew how to fish this creek now. Or, at least I was more confident in how to fish it.
I made my way up to the water and started casting, hitting little pockets in the stretches of riffles. I didn’t have any luck in those spots the first time I was here, but maybe with the difference in time of season I could find a brookie hanging in those eddies. Unfortunately, I was wrong. But no matter, I continued on to find slower moving pools in my search for more brook trout.
I came to a stretch of water lined by elodea. Water flowed under a log and tumbled over some rocks into the stretch bringing plenty of food through the section. I was able to observe a fish for a moment, watching its movements as I planned my approach. It took a few drifts to get it to commit to taking the fly, but when it did it was game on!
I struggled to keep the fish out of the plants and obstacles as I attempted to move into a spot where I could net my catch. After a slight tangle and some problem solving I was finally able to land what would be my biggest brookie! A quick picture and back in the water it went. I felt the same sense of pride I had felt on my previous visit to this stream. This meadow means a lot to me. There’s something indescribable about my experiences here.
I wrote about this experience for the 2021 printed issue of Tenkara Angler Magazine, if you would like to read more about the brook trout, you can find the article "The Meadow In The Mountains" on the Tenkara Angler Website.