Well, I've satisfied that particular curiosity. I figured today would be as good as any to give it a try, since we're coming off some cool nights and recent rain. By noon I was at the stream. Checked the water temp and got an encouraging reading of 65˚. There are streams up north warmer than that now.
I've sometimes done well there casting a streamer near alders that hang over deep water, and I thought that would be a good place to target with hoppers. Apparently it wasn't. Two different hopper pattern went unmolested for the first 200 yards or so of water. When I got to a shallow pool below a log jam, I saw a couple of fish sipping something or other off the surface. They would get the skunk off my line, I was sure. Often trout sipping midges or other flies on late summer afternoons will gladly smack a grasshopper or cricket pattern. One of these did, but the hookset didn't take. His buddy wasn't going to play.
I thought some faster water closer to the bridge might be a better bet, and initially I guessed I was right. My line became tangled around the butt of my rod after a couple of casts along the first riffle, and as I unwrapped it, my leader and fly were dangling just off the rod tip. With the tangle cleared, I lifted the rod for another cast, but it was stuck. I looked down and saw a trout writhing at the end of my line. It came off quickly, but at least I got to feel a couple of pulls. All those painstaking casts to cover, and my only solid hookup came in the middle of the stream ten feet in front of me.
Now I know Cloud Creek's potential as a hopper stream. Miniscule, I'd say. One outing might not be a fair basis for judgement, but the length of the drive discourages the collection of more data. I think I'll concentrate on bass in the Huron for the rest of my day trips. Though closer to the bridge where I parked, I did see what could only be an Eprhon shuck floating down the creek...maybe an evening run is in order.
Nahh. We get Ephrons on the Huron too.
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