Yesterday was a great day to be out. The sun was out and the wind was blowing, but we still managed to catch fish on several different patterns. The best streamer seemed to be the white and silver. I caught a couple nice browns right off the bat, but as the sun came over us the streamer bite slowed down and shut off around noon. George caught a couple on a san juan worm under a chubby until we started seeing rises and switched to caddis and quills. The dries worked well the rest of the day. Al started throwing a peacock chubby with a caddis pupa in the early afternoon, and to our surprise, the fish started hitting the big bug as well. When George started rowing I moved to the front of the boat and put on a brown gypsy king #12 followed by a #16 olive quill. There were no big bugs to be seen but the large dries still managed to raise quite a few fish, all brooke and rainbow.
The best part about the trip was the fact that we saw no one else on the water except one boat that put in before us. The upper river can be a hard fish when it is bright out but it did not seem to slow us down. Storm clouds swirled all around us but did not rain on our parade. I was able to pick Al’s brain about his favorite banks and how he liked to fish them. One thing I have learned over the past 15 years of guiding is that it is always a process, and that every day is different. Here is the proof….enjoy!
