When Alina and I pulled into the Swinging Bridge access site on the Stillwater River on a bright, 70-degree afternoon I had no idea what was in store for us. The parking lot was full of fishermen, so we quickly wadered up and set off downstream. We hadn't even gone 100 yards through the trees when I happened to glance to the side of the trail! There, not even ten feet away, was an awesome 4-point shed. I may or may not have shouted a four-letter word before picking it up and strapping it to my Vedavoo TL Beast Sling. I hadn't even got my feet wet and the day was already off to a great start.
With my new trophy/good luck charm in tow, Alina and I continued down the trail and past a wooden bridge before we started fishing. I started with the old tried and true - San Juan worm (10-12) and Zebra Midge (16-18) with a small split shot. Not surprisingly, the fishing was slow to start with. The sun was bright overhead and it seemed all the trout were still in hiding. Even with the slow start, signs were pointing towards good fishing as we both noticed a steadily increasing amount of caddis activity all around us.
Fishless, we continued fishing our way downstream focusing on deeper holes and shady spots, but to no avail. After going two or three hundred yards downstream and crossing the river things finally started to pick up. By this time we were still nymphing despite the ever growing number of caddis in the air, and were landing mostly whitefish with the odd rainbow or brown trout on the Zebra Midge. I intently scanned the water for signs of rising fish, nothing, but it was coming.
After scrambling up and around the cliffs below us, we made it out into a slower, more open section of water that runs right against the cliff we'd descended. Here we split up, and the fish finally caught on to the feast above their heads. At first it was just a few solemn splashes, but soon the whole pool was exploding with rising fish of all sizes. Some of the smaller fish were propelling themselves fully out of the water to grab the caddis flies overhead. Alina and I both tied on size 14, tan x-caddis flies, and I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I felt my Winston BIIIX come to life with the first dry fly cast of the year. Within the first three casts, I watched as my dry-fly disappeared in an eruption of water, only waiting a moment before setting the hook.
The hatch went on for another fifteen to twenty minutes before tapering off. When it finally did, Alina and I walked down to another cliffside pool, this one stretching fifty yards along a sandstone cliff. We both decided it was time to remove our dry flies, so I opted for a black sculpin streamer, and Alina went back to nymphing with the zebra midge. It didn't take long for Alina to hook up on a fish at the bottom section of the pool, but this fish was different.
As I worked my way down to Alina with net in hand, I could hear the periodic screaming from her old Hardy Featherweight and it became obvious that this was a big fish. When I finally reached her, she was beginning to get the fish under control. I positioned myself downstream, waiting for the right moment to net the fish. When at last we did get it in the net, it was a nice big brown trout - easily over 18 inches and hefty! Unfortunately, as we prepared to take a victory photo the big brown took matters into his own fins and extracted revenge by wiggling out of Alina's hands at the last second! Oh well, she was going to let it go anyways.....
We continued downstream in the same fashion for another hour or so. I had a couple of nice strikes on my streamer, but none of them stuck. On our way back I stopped at the same spot where Alina caught her big fish, and decided to try the streamer against the small rock face. On my first cast I started stripping and immediately noticed a huge silhouette trailing the streamer, but no take. Either way, a great image to leave the river with.
><> Tight Lines <><
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