2010’s adventure to trout paradise, day three

This morning we started even later. Carlo and Shane decided that they would try out a different stream. We decided to stick to the same stream where we have been fishing in the last two days. There are so many options when staying in Fernie. So many tributaries of the Elk River to choose from, just the Elk River itself is already so long and it would take weeks to experience it all.

We decided to go back to the magic hole where dozens of cutthroat trout congregated and fed on the surface yesterday. We arrived and found the exact same scenario. Fish were still coming up to sip down insects. Nina set up the video camera, I stood on the high bank and prepare to make the first cast. Once the camera started working, I sent the dry fly out. At the end of the first drift, a chunky cutthroat slowly rose and sucked down the fly. I set the hook precisely, but after a few dives it came loose. I quickly flicked the fly back out. Halfway through the second drift, another good good sized cutthroat came up and grabbed the fly. Like the first fish, it too came loose after only a few seconds. Two casts, two fish, none to my hands, the morning excitement was already climaxing and we were only ten minutes into it.

The third fish took a bit longer to entice. After another ten casts or so, a smaller fish rose and took down the fly. This time it was not as lucky. It was hooked firmly and I brought it downstream for the release.

After all the drama, it suddenly died down. There was still a hatch happening but fish were not as eager to feed on the surface. We spent another 30 minutes without much success so it was time to move on and switch up the technique. I rigged up an indicator and a small nymph so we could walk and cast to see if any fish were hiding in deep slots. By early afternoon, the sun was beaming so fish were shier. We walked a stretch of river for two hours and I managed to connect with half a dozen more cutthroat trout and one brook trout. Some big ones were caught under log jams, which made the fight rather interesting. Most of these were lost after a few head shakes.

Mosquitoes are crazy this year and there is a drinking/tap water advisory in effect around here for anyone who is thinking about coming up to enjoy this type of fishing.

Casting upstream for a rise.

Lunch break.

One more day before heading back to the real world.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Fishing trip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.