Frolicking Spiders Galore

3/15/2010

Well it was a warm and sunny Monday, forecast to be the warmest day since last fall, so of course I had to go fishing. I made a quick stop at the post office to pick up my new fishing vest that doesn't smell like cat pee, then headed off for the BSF. I decided to go up higher than I'd fished before in search of spawning cutthroat. I suited and rigged up, but before I could wet a line, I needed to void my bladder of spent Mt Dew. While I was relieving myself, I noticed scores of little spiders scampering about in the undergrowth. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see spiders before in my life. Spring had truly come, it was hard to believe. The first run brought me a pretty little cutty on the Carrot's Ear.

I worked my way upstream and passed a few more likely spots that brought nothing. I noticed some little winter stones on some patches of snow, and a saw a couple of BWOs coming off, so I switched to a size 16 dark brown mayfly nymph with an olive sparkle thorax. That did the trick. I caught a nice little brown and soon after another cutt. It kept up like this for a bit, the browns and cutts were neck and neck the first hour of fishing. Then I got to a long run with some gorgeous blue green slack water against some boulders on the far bank. My indicator went under and I immediately knew it was a little better fish. It shot downstream a good 30 or 40 feet, switching back and forth across the stream several times before I scooped it up in my net. I was delighted to behold a lovely cutthroat.

I worked up toward the head of the run, surprised that more fish didn't take my offering, before coming to an even larger pool with some fast water creating a nice seam along the far side. I spotted some smaller fish feeding in the center of the pool and was able to catch a couple. I was disappointed that I didn't catch any decent fish from the run, but before moving on, I plopped my fly in the little eight inch swathe of slack water tight against the bank. Perfect, another nice cutt shot downstream, and we danced for a bit.

As I moved up ahead, the trees grew tighter and the water faster. The browns also became more numerous, taking over by a huge margin. I was able to spot fish a couple of them and even had a take or two on my Turk's before having to head to work for a late and tiring night.

Final Tally: 11 Browns, 6 Cutthroat

Year Tally: 60 Fish