Five beautiful fish (and one ugly one): A fish report

[Fly Guy Dave]

Since I had a week off from work and a serious case of cabin fever, I decided to get out of Dodge and hit the East slope of the Range of Light for a few days of fishing. Streams? Yes. Names…specifics? Nope, sorry!

Alpen glow, The Moon and Mt. Tom, a classic east slope vista



I flogged the water for a while with streamers until I was able to get this rainbow into the net. There were a few others, but it was kind of windy and this stream was a bit too crowded for my taste.



One of the days on another stream was overcast and no wind and the BWO hatched with a vengeance, rising fish all over the place, as many as you wanted to catch. Here’s the main menu item:



Lots of these…



…and these…



…with a few of these fish that got hit with the ugly stick repeatedly. No, they weren’t rising to the baetis, but they hoovered in the nymphs I was using before the hatch started.



Some of the locals that I shared the water with one day



On the way home I fished another stream further north and had to WORK for this brown. It probably took 45 minutes to find the right fly, present it perfectly before I was finally able to hook and land this 18” brown which was as thick as my arm. I think the common thought is that when browns get that big, they become piscivorous, but this guy was finally fooled by a size 20 BWO cripple right on the surface. Go figure.



The perfect way to spend a week without work, in a beautiful locale and some solid fishing to boot. Good times!

[Paul B.]

Thank you For the post!
I'm on standby at work wishing I could be working for an 18" brown.
Cheers, Paul

[SHigSpeed]

Is that a cui-ui or some other sort of sucker?

Definitely not the "golden trout" that I normally see in the valley systems.

_SHig

[Fly Guy Dave]

Is that a cui-ui or some other sort of sucker?

Definitely not the "golden trout" that I normally see in the valley systems.

_SHig

I believe it is the Owens Sucker (a.k.a. Catostomus fumeiventris by scientist types). A CA native fish, which I did net and gently release, even though I can't say I'm thrilled to catch them.

[catchsnaprelease]

Great fish. That sucker fish is interesting...

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Excellent post........

[Wanderingblues]

The secret for that lower water is to stay the hell away from the blue ribbon section. Too many folks, and smaller fish.

[Fly Guy Dave]

The secret for that lower water is to stay the hell away from the blue ribbon section. Too many folks, and smaller fish.

I like it better when it's snowy and muddy out there, that certainly keeps the crowds down, as does the extreme cold. Not the case this winter, hence the crowds.