On day three Jon and I headed back to the stretch above High Bridge where we had fished the day before. It was cold rigging up the rods in the morning before the sun hit the river. Using a Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear and a Pheasant Tail Nymph as a dropper we tried coaxing the huge rainbows to hit. It seemed like they weren’t even there. 
There were some bare gravel spots that the brown trout had prepared for spawning that we used as markers on where to fish. We couldn’t figure out why they weren’t biting like the day before. Again we caught a couple of smaller 15 to 16 inchers but none of the 19 to 20 inchers we were hoping for. At about 11:00 we decided to head to the Henneberry Walk-in Access stretch that we enjoyed so much the day before.
Crossing a short channel and heading around the bend there was a riffle that dumped into a big pool. I cast a red midge nymph into the shallow riffles and let it drift into the deeper pool. Immediately a small brown hit and I reeled him in. I thought this was pretty good for the first cast. I tried again and another brown hit. 
This was an excellent start for this section of river. I fished my way upstream to where the river started to braid. At another curve in the river the water was shallow and riffled and dumped into a deep pool similar to the one I previously described.
A large brown, it had to have been over 20 inches long, jumped right at the seam of shallow and deep water. It was brightly colored with its spawning golden hue. I must have fished this hole for a half an hour trying to catch this fish. I ended up catching seven fish from this hole but none the size of the one that jumped.
I continued moving upstream to the next hole but didn’t have any strikes. By now it was getting to be about 1:15 and I needed to head back. On the way back I fished the stretch where I had the hard strike on a streamer the previous day.
Wham-O, I hooked a big one. It jumped and threw the hook. This was a good note on which to end the trip.
I caught back up with Jon and we headed back to the truck and then began the long drive home.
alright a bonus fish!!!
ReplyDeletethat's awesome you were able to go on a cool trip like that mid-week! nick hopes to be able to go on one next week :)
It's fish like that last one that make you so eager to take the next trip. Those big ones seem to be so much more skilled at throwing hooks or breaking lines. Those smaller ones are fun too though. Again, I love being able to recognize the holes and runs in the river. Thanks again!
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