Spring Creekin'

The onset of hot, dry weather means it's time to say goodbye to my little mountain creeks for a while and concentrate on the spring creeks. With water levels dropping all over the state and temperatures climbing, it's definitely best to leave the native brook trout alone. As much as I enjoy the SNP in the spring and early summer, and as much as I hate the summer heat, I always find myself looking forward to the action that will ensue on the cool spring creeks as the browns and bows get accustomed to seeing beetles and hoppers.

I've made three trips out there in the last few weeks to 2 different creeks and although things aren't quite in full swing yet, it turned out to be three pretty good days. Here's an action shot of me fighting a big rainbow while showing off the guns and the gut. Maybe next time Marty will let me know he's taking my picture so I can suck it in a little. Thanks Breh!

Can anyone say Pellet Pig? This creek holds some wild fish but is also regularly stocked with rainbows by Trout Unlimited. I guess they put some big 'uns in there the last time:

This might be the biggest trout I've ever caught, and it was a lot of fun, but it's washed out colors, short fins and small head are the unmistakable signs of a hatchery raised fish. Somehow that takes some of the feeling of accomplishment out of it.

This is a shot from the bend pool on the 2nd creek where I spotted an honest 25" brown last summer. I never did catch that fish (not from a lack of effort) so I hope he shows up this year. I still won't catch him but it'll be fun trying.

A nice rainbow that came from just upstream of that picture. This one was caught in a spot that required 2 people to get him landed, so that's Marty's hand in the picture although I actually caught the fish. I wouldn't want to give Marty any undue credit - that Yankee d-bag certainly doesn't need it.

One of our favorite runs. Big fish were all over this spot last year.

Marty landing a nice brown that inhaled a foam beetle pattern drifted under some low hanging branches on the other side of the creek. There were some tense moments trying to get him through all of those weeds:

The end of the fight. A 17 - 18" brown in perfect shape.

So, I haven't seen the big boys out in numbers yet but there are a few making early appearances. I can't wait...