Parking Lot Surprise

Marty was able to sneak away for a half day adventure today and we decided to revisit our mutual favorite mountain brookie stream in the SNP. In an effort to beat the heat, we met up at 6:30 and made our way to the Park. After the hike in we fished the lower stretch between the two big waterfalls and each caught a few decent fish. One funny incident happened as I was fishing a shallow spot between 2 pools. Just as I was picking up for a back cast something grabbed my strike indicator and went for a ride it never expected. This thing sailed through the air behind me and then forward again as it splashed into the pool in front of me. Pulling in the line to inspect, I found one very shaken up crawdad, still clinging tightly to my indicator with one pincher.

Since Marty had to leave around 1:00 we decided to get out and head up the mountain to the ultimate brookie hole. There wasn't much going on when we got there, so I decided to tie on a "secret fly" and do some prospecting. On the 2nd cast I hooked the biggest brookie of my life and managed to get him to the shallows at my feet where we both got a good look at his broad back before he bolted and pulled free from the hook. Needless to say, I was crestfallen about playing the fish like an idiot and losing my biggest brookie to date. We estimated that he would have gone a full 12 inches - a true monster of the mountains.

The pool went dead after that and it was time to leave anyway, so we made our way back down the mountain to the parking lot. The last time I was there I had noticed a good fish in the little pool next to the road into the upper lot, so we stopped by to take a look on our drive out. This time, there were 2 good fish in the pool and since my rod was still rigged up...

A solid 9" fish, with outstanding colors, from the parking lot pool. It almost makes me feel better about that bruiser from the honey hole - but not quite.