Day 98
Wanted to get out of the heat of Denver so I drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park for the day. I decided to go to the Wild Basin area and fish North St Vrain Creek. I hiked in about a half mile and found a nice little area with a couple pools to take a break and pull the rod out. With the Yellow Humpy still tied on from the day before I start casting to the big pool when I see a fish rise but not take it. I try a couple more casts with the same result before I switch to a winged ant. As I am getting ready to cast a moose and her baby cross the stream not 30 feet from me like I wasn't even there(one of the cooler things I have seen hiking). After about ten casts with no action I change up again. This time I tie on a #16 Hopper( Realistic ) and on the first cast catch my one and only Greenback of the day. I casts to the far pool and hook a little brookie before I pack up and hike in a little further.
I hike up past the the cascades and head towards Ouzell Falls before I go off trail just before the falls and hike down to the creek and start fishing my way back. I start fishing at this beautiful spot with a couple big boulders creating a nice pool. Right off the bat I catch another brookie on the hopper. I continue to cast through the pool and little run and pull out another four in about a half hour. Before I move I try a little pool just below a couple rocks and get my sixth fish at the first spot, all on the same hopper.
The rest of the day goes pretty much the same way at every hole I stop at. The creek was pretty narrow with a lot of trees so I decided to try the slingshot cast for the better part of the day. This enabled me to cast the full distance of the line with no back cast. This method worked great for me in that it was extremely accurate and let me cast to some tight areas.
About 3 hours into fishing I finally get snagged in a tree and lose the hopper(my only one) and decide to try the Yellow Humpy again. To my surprise I didn't miss a beat. The Yellow Humpy killed it the rest of the day. I fish down to just above the cascades with what must be thirty fish caught in about 5 hours of fishing and hiking before I call it a day and start hiking back to the car.
Had a fantastic day of fishing a new spot in the mountains and got to see a couple of moose and a deer while avoiding the heat in the city.
Rod: Iwana 12'
Line: 3rd Gen traditional Tenkara 10 1/2'
Flies that worked: Realistic Hopper, Yellow Humpy
I hike up past the the cascades and head towards Ouzell Falls before I go off trail just before the falls and hike down to the creek and start fishing my way back. I start fishing at this beautiful spot with a couple big boulders creating a nice pool. Right off the bat I catch another brookie on the hopper. I continue to cast through the pool and little run and pull out another four in about a half hour. Before I move I try a little pool just below a couple rocks and get my sixth fish at the first spot, all on the same hopper.
The rest of the day goes pretty much the same way at every hole I stop at. The creek was pretty narrow with a lot of trees so I decided to try the slingshot cast for the better part of the day. This enabled me to cast the full distance of the line with no back cast. This method worked great for me in that it was extremely accurate and let me cast to some tight areas.
About 3 hours into fishing I finally get snagged in a tree and lose the hopper(my only one) and decide to try the Yellow Humpy again. To my surprise I didn't miss a beat. The Yellow Humpy killed it the rest of the day. I fish down to just above the cascades with what must be thirty fish caught in about 5 hours of fishing and hiking before I call it a day and start hiking back to the car.
Had a fantastic day of fishing a new spot in the mountains and got to see a couple of moose and a deer while avoiding the heat in the city.
Rod: Iwana 12'
Line: 3rd Gen traditional Tenkara 10 1/2'
Flies that worked: Realistic Hopper, Yellow Humpy
What a jewel of a stream! One of my favorites in the Park. Seeing the moose is just icing on the cake.
ReplyDeleteThe Tenkara Ambassador
The Moose sighting started what was a great day off right!
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