Corey had told me that down stream further there was a large pool where there might be a chance to see if some fisher were rising so down stream we walked. I noticed some early midges on the water but not what I was hoping for. Once we got to the larger pool to my hopes there were some risers. I could make out what they were but the plan was to swing the Baetis soft hackles right into the feeding lane. Well it didnt take long before I connected. Once I had my first fish on to my suprise it was a Whitefish. Yes a Whitefish!! I was a little surprised myself because Whitefish usually feed on the bottom so even though I was a little bummed I was still determined to get into a nice brown. After few more drifts into the feeding lane I connected into another fish. LOL you guessed it...another Whitefish! "It must have been a fluck!" I thought.
Cor decided to hit the pool from another angle before we contemplated about moving on upstream. We packed our gear and moved upstream. The road that we had to take was covered with a fresh covering of snow. Roughly 12 inches of snow and we had to drive a couple of miles to our parking area. In the process I got stuck and got myself out but I shortly got a call from Cor saying..."I'm stuck big time Pat I think I'm going to need a tow truck!!" I told Cor start walking toward me because at this point I got myself stuck again. I could see Cor walking toward me but he was still along ways away. I finally got myself free and tried to keep the tires in the snow ruts the best I could. I met up with Cor and we drove the remaining distance to find Cor Toy buried big time. I got out and assessed the issue and told Cor." I got a tow strap Cor but I need to turn this truck around." Once we got me turned around.
We started digging Cor's truck out. I remembered that I had a couple of old wooded oars in the back of my truck. Dont ask me why I had them back there but they came in handy for situations like this. I also never go out on any venture without the Towstrap. Which I had to use once I got turned around.
Hooked up the Towstrap to Cor's truck and we got him out of his jam. It wasnt easy with all the snow and ice underneth and getting traction was tough at best. There was another vehicle down where we were but for the life of me I dont know how it got down there with just street tires. Once we got turned around we were able to park the trucks. Now lets go Fish!!! We earned it now!!
By this time the sun was starting to break out of the clouds. We walked up onto this first nice pool and saw a few risers and there were a small BWO hatching coming off but nothing major....yet. I picked 3 quick fish and we decided to move upstream. Cor seen a nice run where he was still nymphing and I moved upstream to see what was around the bend. Corey met up with me a little while later we hit some more water together before deciding on another run he had fished the previous weekend.
Corey pick off a few fish and the BWO hatch wasnt real strong but it caught the browns attention and they were picking them off. Ok, I thought now its game time. I slipped on BWO soft hackle pattern that I've been working on and it didnt take long before it was game ON!!
We carefully walked upstream in hopes that we wouldnt spook the fish. It was stealth mode from the get go. Our cast had to be spot on without spooking the rising browns. To add to the already challenging situation we had some overhanging trees to deal with as well. We had to fish on our knees of fear of being seen.
Cor and I took turns as we were picking off fish left and right. Here is a release that Cor got while I released a nice brown.
At this point the hatch was starting to die off but I knew we had about another 30 minutes before the risers would go deep. There was a nice little run that emptied into a nice pool. A lot of the browns were right up against the far bank and what our plan was is to cast upstream with some BWO Soft hackles and let them drift right the browns feeding lanes. This worked and I connected with a nice 20 1/2 Brown. I was so excited, by far the best fish I've taken from the Ghetto. I'll be back for sure. Thanks Cor for the fun. We worked our asses off to get ourselves unstuck but it was well worth it.
Photography Credits go to Corey K.
Thanks Cor~ Excellent job!!!
