I made it out to the ranch last weekend with the landowner. More of a scouting trip and had only a couple hours to fish before dark. The sun was already behind the hills so the water was in deep shade. I didn't see any spawning fish over gravel and fished a deep run with rocky structure below fast riffles/small waterfalls. Looked like good holding water. Bank was brushy so all single-handed spey and roll casting. Landed three very spirited trout in the 16in range on my 5-wt; next trip I will bring my bigger net. The trout fought more like strong river trout than resident lake trout, with some good runs that made the Hardy sing.
Saw a few bugs come off the water...probably midges around size 22. I didn't see any surface action but could have missed some sips. Caught all the fish on swung or stripped streamers, black or olive.
One fish had healed scars on its flank and a small open wound on its back. Maybe from jumping up small waterfalls? Ospreys?
I will attempt to attach a photo
Attachment 17696
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