I went to a local brush choked stream yesterday. I was in heaven casting dries to little naitive Bonneville Cutthroat trout. I picked my battles, avoiding pools I couldn't see fish in or couldn't cast into without a 95% chance of tangling my line into a web of dispair.

Same fish, differnt lighting. This little guy was about the norm for this stream. I cast to this fish over 20 times until I finally hook 'em (or her). Most of the fish in this stream, I could see. After about 3 changes in position, and three fly changes, I finally got a solid hook-up. Each time the fly drift over this fish, it would nudge it with its nose. Persistance paid off and I finally hooked it.

This was the largest of the day. I saw a little stream of water running down the hill into the stream. I followed the water up until I came to a small pool at the top. A small amount of water was flowing from a water diversion canal. I cast my fly right where the water came out. Right away my fly was slammed. But I missed the strike. I cast a few more times with a couple more missed strikes. I think this guy thought manna from heaven was flowing down to him. He never caught on I was about to catch him.

Many Firsts

I have been taking care of Connor while Katy was in California helping her friend after surgery. On the way to pick Katy up from the airport, Connor and I made a detour to fish a litttle stream I've been meaning to try for a while.

Connor was eager to explore the area while I put my waders on and strung up my new 3wt fly rod I finished a couple weeks ago. I kept catching him and bringing him back to the car until I was geared up and ready to go.


I was about ready to take Connor to catch his first fish. I put him in backpack and went to grab my stuff. In the meantime, Connor got inpatient and tried to get things moving a little faster. Connor tipped the pack over with him inside and he landed face first in the dirt! I snatched him up, but knew he wasn't going to go back in the pack. I wiped the dirt from his mouth and carried him down the stream to start working the small pools back to the car.



As I neared the stream, I realized there was no way to hold Connor and cast in the thick brush at the same time. I dropped my rod and fanny pack off and walked back to the car to put Connor in the pack for a second try. This time I bribed him with a sucker. Connor was content to sit in the pack while I tried top make a decent cast into the small pools. With a pack on back and the fanny pack on my chest, I struggled to move. I didn't see a fish until we neared the last pool. I missed a couple bites and finally hooked into a nice little 8" cutthroat. I released the fish from the hook and set him in a small pool blocking him from getting away. I took Connor off my back and held the fish up to him. Connor yelled, "Fisshie!". I put the little trout back where I caught him and tried to catch one more from the top of the pool. Connor kept yelling instruction to catch him another pet to look at.



First time to fish this stream, first fish on my new 3wt, and most importantly, first fish for Connor!

I love this picture, it looks like Connor is posing for the picture of an expose' detailing his rise to the top of the bob-sledding circuit.