Posted on September 21 2016
Spent the morning putting up tree stands. Drove down to the camp and with the bright sum and warm temps, was in no hurry to go fishing. Decided to take care of a few things around the yard and before I knew it it was 5:00.
With the recent fluctuations in the releases and the warm rain water, the temp had risen in both the WB and main stem. The increased temp was no threat to the fish but it has an adverse affect on the hatches. When I drove over the WB in Deposit it was muddy and unappealing. When I left camp I decided to try the upper EB. They have cut back the release from 130 to 100 but the rain water has kept the flow up. The water would be clear and no one would be fishing.
How wrong can one person be? The water was at a nice level and clear, BUT almost every pool had an angler in it. At this level one is enough. I drove up past Corbett and couldn't find a pool to fish. Turned around and drove back down towards East Branch and stopped at a pool that I fish when the tricos are on. There was no one there so I walked down to the river and spent an hour and a half watching two young beaver swimming around me sometimes closer than the length of my rod.
There were no bugs or risers. It was just about dark when I reeled it in and walked up the bank towards the path back to the car. Just as I was about to leave the river I saw a rise. It was on the edge of the current only twenty feet away, a simple cast, if only the baby beaver would stop swimming in circles in front of me. Finally the beaver swam downstream of the rise and I made the cast. A huge head came out of the water to eat the fly. The fish swam once around the pool and then came over and swam into the net. It was like he knew the game, did his part and was waiting to be let go. I did my part, took the hook out and released him - but not before I measured him at 20.5 inches. The (only) "fish of the day".
With the recent fluctuations in the releases and the warm rain water, the temp had risen in both the WB and main stem. The increased temp was no threat to the fish but it has an adverse affect on the hatches. When I drove over the WB in Deposit it was muddy and unappealing. When I left camp I decided to try the upper EB. They have cut back the release from 130 to 100 but the rain water has kept the flow up. The water would be clear and no one would be fishing.
How wrong can one person be? The water was at a nice level and clear, BUT almost every pool had an angler in it. At this level one is enough. I drove up past Corbett and couldn't find a pool to fish. Turned around and drove back down towards East Branch and stopped at a pool that I fish when the tricos are on. There was no one there so I walked down to the river and spent an hour and a half watching two young beaver swimming around me sometimes closer than the length of my rod.
There were no bugs or risers. It was just about dark when I reeled it in and walked up the bank towards the path back to the car. Just as I was about to leave the river I saw a rise. It was on the edge of the current only twenty feet away, a simple cast, if only the baby beaver would stop swimming in circles in front of me. Finally the beaver swam downstream of the rise and I made the cast. A huge head came out of the water to eat the fly. The fish swam once around the pool and then came over and swam into the net. It was like he knew the game, did his part and was waiting to be let go. I did my part, took the hook out and released him - but not before I measured him at 20.5 inches. The (only) "fish of the day".
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