Being a bit pressed for time, here's the rundown of this week's trip. I am sad to say I took no pictures.
*Stopped at the Rifle river on Sunday and fished for an hour an and a half. No hits--water temp barely 50.
*Went to the Au Sable below Mio. Water temp was a more promising 60˚. "Nothing rising," an angler standing in one of my favorite runs told me as I arrived at the water. Moved a bit upstream from him, and after about ten minutes began to see Hendrickson Duns on the water, and rises soon after. The feeding was never heavy and I took one brown, one rainbow, and one brook trout, besides missing a few others. I'd never caught a brookie in the Trophy Water--didn't think they even existed there. Maybe it moved down from one of the creeks.
* The thermomenter on my alarm clock read 26˚ when I woke up Monday morning. I skipped the dawn streamer outing. I skipped it the next morning too when the temp was 28˚. Wednesday morning the day broke at a balmy 41˚. I hit the south branch and managed a single brook trout.
*Monday afternoon on the south branch: Water temp 58˚. A nice caddis emergence around 4. Not too many fish paid attention. Took a few brook trout
*Tuesday afternoon: floated the big water below Mio. Hendricksons emerged off and on (mostly off) and I got to fish my first ever daytime spinner fall. Ended up with only six trout to hand--all browns, unusual for the Mio stretch. A little disppointing, but my spirits picked up when, after calling Kristine and getting some supper, I went back to the river for one last look and saw both wings and rings on the water. There was a profusion of Hendrickson duns and spinners. It took me a while, and several refusals, to figure out that the fish wanted the duns (they feed on spinners at dusk, right? And Hendricksons shouldn't be emerging that late, should they?). Later it took me a while to figure out their preference had shifted to spinners. Again, I landed six fish. I'm sure I would have caught more if I'd wised up to their meal choices sooner, but there were so many insects on the water my fly was probably lost among them. It was, bar none, the largest insect event on a trout stream I'd ever witnessed. I thought I'd seen "blanket hatches," but I was mistaken. I also thought spinners didn't gather and fall on cool, windy nights. I travelled lighter on the return to camp, unburdened of these assumptions.
*Wednesday afternoon: fished the north branch around Twin Bridges in a punishing wind. Streamers, wets, and nymphs failed to produce. I could count on one hand the number of insects I'd seen by 3PM. Went to the mainstream for one last try. There were some bugs in the air here, and a few small trout rose along the banks or behind sweepers. One took my black caddis emerger. By five the river had gone dead and I set out for Grayling, and home. If I hadn't had a dentist appointment at 8 AM Thursday, I might have cruised over to Mio to see if the evening feed was on again.
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