tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90793403925666733472024-03-13T12:02:13.430-04:00The Search for Native SalmonidsChris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-64519861936354687232015-03-19T15:48:00.000-04:002015-03-19T15:48:03.087-04:00GSMNP - A Quick Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't think I have posted a good report from the Smokies since 2012.<br />
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In 2013, my son and I brought my girlfriend, Sara, with us for her first visit to the Smokies...not a complaint but we did more hiking/sight seeing than fishing. However, Ross and I both landed a couple of wild rainbows when we stopped along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail for lunch.<br />
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After watching me land a few, Ross took control of the rod and after a few missed strikes, he brought one to hand.</div>
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In 2014, my (then) 14-year old son backed out for a girl so we canceled the July trip. Even though the planned July trip fell through, Sara and I went down at the end of September so I could run in the inaugural Great Smoky Mountain Half-Marathon. Again, we did FAR more hiking than fishing.<br />
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It was a VERY busy 4-day trip. On day one we made a difficult hike of 12 miles to Mt. Cammerer fire tower. On day two we went to Cataloochee so Sara could see her first elk - she also was able to hear her first elk bugle as the rut was on during this late September weekend. Sara's dad was an avid deer hunter so she knows how to spot deer and she spotted this cow bedded down in the treeline.<br />
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I was able to fish a few holes on Palmer Creek, which I had never fished before, and I was able to add another stream to my growing list of Smoky streams I have explored/fished. I caught this nice little rainbow right in front of a horse camp set up on the lower end of Palmer Creek.<br />
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From Cataloochee we went across Sterling Gap to Big Creek - another new stream for me. We hiked up to the Midnight Hole and Mouse Creek Falls. I was able to add another stream to my list, but I didn't take any photos. Trust me, there were several fish in the stream and this is one I've bookmarked for a return visit. This is a large, high gradient stream with house-sized boulders - just what I like!</div>
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Sara above the Midnight Hole.</div>
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Day 3 was the half-marathon. It had a few more hills in it than I expected, but I still finished in a respectable 1:54.</div>
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I don't have any current plans to visit the Smokies in 2015 but I hate to break the string of at least one visit for ten consecutive years!</div>
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Short and sweet!</div>
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Chris</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-47148876952756746302015-02-12T12:42:00.000-05:002015-02-23T15:02:07.820-05:00Colorado 2014 - Let's Get Serious (Part 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When I finished Part 1 of this trip entry, I had taken a rest day to prepare for the 5-day backpacking portion of my trip. In hindsight, I'm glad I took the day off but I was three days into my Colorado adventure and I had yet to touch a fish.<br />
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The second leg of my adventure started with my host, Keith, picking me up as I dropped off my rental car, then it was straight to Granby in preparation for an early morning start into the backcountry.<br />
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The plan was to hike into the west side of the Indian Peaks Wilderness, via the Roaring Fork trail. From Watanga, it would be bushwhacking over an 11,800 foot pass into Rocky Mountain National Park, then bushwhacking through Paradise Valley to the East Inlet trail for the final three nights at Lake Verna...it looked pretty straight forward on the topo maps.<br />
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This 5-day adventure would be my longest backpack trip, to date, and my pack weighed in at roughly 50 pounds. This would also be the first real test of my new Osprey Xenith 88 pack.<br />
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The initial climb (roughly 1,000 feet in the first two miles) from the trailhead was uneventful and having fresh legs was truly a blessing. The trail levelled out for the next few miles before another climb to the lake. The final climb to the lake required a few more breaks than the initial climb from the trailhead. In all, it was roughly 3,000 feet of elevation gain over the seven mile trek.<br />
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Once again, when we arrived at our destination, I was surprised to find company. These visitors, however, were not fisherman but day hikers. </div>
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As we circled the small lake and crossed the small outlet stream, it was easy to see there were plenty of fish....but would they cooperate?</div>
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Our fellow visitors didn't stick around long and after we set up camp, we had the lake to ourselves. It wasn't long after that we were into fish as the small Colorado River cutthroat were very cooperative!</div>
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At one point, I had jumped up on a small rock on the edge of the lake and caught fish on six consecutive casts. They didn't have much size but they were far more cooperative than the fish in the first lake I visited.</div>
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After catching more than my fair share from the lake, I moved over to the small outlet stream to try my luck in moving water. The results were almost equally successful.</div>
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Having worked over the moving water with more good results, I decided it was time to take in the amazing scenery and have a little midday rest. </div>
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We had set up camp for the night well away from the lake and the view across the small meadow was amazing.</div>
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The lake itself was beautiful too! A good portion of the lake was lined with reeds, that (apparently) provided food and cover for the abundant population of cutthroat.</div>
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I would go back to the lake later that afternoon to catch a few more cutts but the mosquitoes and the hike up found me in my tent before the sun went down.</div>
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As normal for me when I'm in a tent, I was up at daylight. I had a quick breakfast before packing up camp in preparation for the off-trail section of the trek. The plan for the day was up and over a pass at about 11,800 feet, then down to Adams Lake in RMNP.</div>
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For perspective, check out the peak in this photo I snapped off from camp early on day 2...</div>
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The topo lists that peak at 11,721 and after two hours of climbing, we are nearly parallel (altitude) with it as we neared the top of the saddle. </div>
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Once at the top of the saddle, we dropped packs to scout out our next dilemma...How do we get down to Adams Lake?!</div>
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All I can says is, thank goodness for game trails! Keith located a game trail out of the photo to the left. It wasn't much of a game trail, it was steep with loose scree, but it was our best (and possibly only option). </div>
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At a couple of points going down, I used both trekking poles out in front of me to keep from sliding down the steep descent. My pucker factor needle was nearly pegged!</div>
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Another shot, for perspective: that is the saddle from which we crossed into RMNP, above the left snowfield and we descended between the two snow fields.</div>
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Once on "flat" ground and once my pulse had slowed down, I was able to string up a rod and start prospecting for Colorado River cutts.</div>
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The lake was beautiful and the surrounding wildflowers were in full bloom.</div>
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However, the fishing left quite a bit to desire. We circled the entire lake and did not see a single cruiser or riser; we didn't even spook a fish. That doesn't translate to a dead lake, you just couldn't prove it through us that the lake had fish in it.</div>
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By the time we had made it back to our packs, the sky had clouded up and it had started to rain. By the time we started the steep descent (bushwhacking) into Paradise Valley, it had started to rain hard. We were somewhat sheltered by the trees but the terrain was as difficult to descend as it was dropping into Adams Lake from the pass. The only difference was it wasn't loose scree this time, it was wet ground and mud...I went to my backside on a couple of occasions.</div>
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When we made it to relatively flat ground, I discovered one of my slips/slides had taken a toll on my rain cover.</div>
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Oh well, considering the remoteness of our location, I was glad it was my rain cover that had been opened up rather than one of us!</div>
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The rain eventually stopped and when we made it to the first meadow section of Paradise Valley, it was time to drop the packs and start prospecting for cutties again. This time we would be on water I'm familiar with - MOVING WATER.</div>
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It didn't take long to pick up a couple of small Colorado River cutthroat.</div>
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The fishing was good but not as good as I would have liked. I was able to pick up a few cutts through the meadow, including the largest in this section. This guy came from a nice, deep bend pool with a small log jam at the head.</div>
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That guy would be the last cutthroat from Paradise Creek for me. Shortly after I released him, I headed back down the meadow to see how my partner was doing and to see what the remainder of the day held in store for us.</div>
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We decided that somewhere up in the tress above the meadow would be a good place to set up camp for the night. Even though it was early in the afternoon, it had already been a long day. The mental stress of some of the descents had me drained and after a quick dinner, I was in my tent asleep before 6:00 PM. I didn't have any problems sleeping either!</div>
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The next day started as usual, up early and ready to hit the trail...or lack there of. Our choices were continue down Paradise Creek to the East Inlet trail or up and over Ten Lakes Park and back down to Lake Verna. The topo showed a steep descent to Lake Verna from Ten lakes and I didn't feel like another round of backside puckering, so we chose to follow Paradise Creek.</div>
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The topo with our options:</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3yMkdSAoV6w/VNuzoeAl3RI/AAAAAAAADXY/dFCILwHkN0Q/s1600/East%2BInlet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3yMkdSAoV6w/VNuzoeAl3RI/AAAAAAAADXY/dFCILwHkN0Q/s1600/East%2BInlet.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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I don't have any photos from the time we broke camp until we reached our campsite at Lake Verna, and there is good reason for that.</div>
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Those final three miles to the juncture of East Inlet trail were absolute torture. It was the most physically demanding thing I have ever done in my entire life...and I've completed multiple half-marathons and climbed several 14K summits.</div>
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To begin with, the grass and bog, combined with the cool temperatures in the upper meadows created a heavy coat of "slush" on my shoes. Then there were multiple stream crossing, a bog that swallowed one of my shoes and that was the easy part. </div>
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Remember my comment about "thank goodness for game trails"? One section of Paradise Creek narrowed down to a short, steep canyon with the only passable route being on a game trail about 2-3 feet wide with a rock wall on one side and an extreme drop on the other. My "pucker factor meter" was pegged out (and then some) here! After Keith had crossed this section, I followed taking baby steps and making sure my feet and trekking poles were secure with each tiny step.</div>
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After that we still weren't done! The final quarter-mile or so was a section of blow down. We had to maneuver over, under and around pine trees that had been knocked over into the largest brush pile I have ever seen. It would have been difficult without a pack but it was very physically demanding with a full pack on. I will say that the way the new Osprey pack shifted and swiveled on it's center axis made it easier.</div>
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We finally made it to the East Inlet where we could drop packs and rest for a bit - I was whipped! Five hours to cover three miles!</div>
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The only thing remaining was another 1,000 feet of elevation gain to get to our campsite for the next three days...another 1,000 feet!</div>
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We eventually made it but I was so tired, I didn't even string up a rod after we got camp set up. The lake was beautiful and there were little brook trout rising everywhere. I just didn't have it in me, even though you can see multiple rises in this next photo.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EGTWFfYKih8/VNu5uCprhxI/AAAAAAAADXs/JCVF7ceXF54/s1600/DSC08182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EGTWFfYKih8/VNu5uCprhxI/AAAAAAAADXs/JCVF7ceXF54/s1600/DSC08182.JPG" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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Keith continued to fish as I spent the evening lounging on the large lakeside boulders. As he fished his way back to where I was relaxing, we were both surprised by a late evening visitor. We had a late day visit from a park ranger. I was very surprised when he slipped in behind me, I may have even jumped a little when he spoke for the first time.</div>
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It was nice to discover he was originally from West Virginia. I believe he said he was from somewhere in the northern panhandle and he graduated from WVU. Of course I always have on my "lucky" WVU ballcap when I'm in the outdoors. Also, as we spoke, we were all treated to an absolutely amazing moonrise over the jagged peaks across the lake.</div>
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After a short conversation about "home" , a quick check of permits, he was on his way down the trail and it was nearly dark. He was a at least a mile from the next camp site but I guess that's why he is a ranger.</div>
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I almost made to a total sunset this night but I was early to bed and early to rise again.</div>
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The next day we would try to rest and recover from the previous day by fishing the next two lakes up the drainage - Spirit and Fourth Lakes.</div>
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I love the early mornings with the reflections in the calm water. They make for great photos.</div>
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Lake Verna:</div>
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Spirit Lake:</div>
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And, finally, Fourth Lake:</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gc11eJqlfQk/VNu-0DVaOCI/AAAAAAAADYk/-mDa1aOC0hQ/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gc11eJqlfQk/VNu-0DVaOCI/AAAAAAAADYk/-mDa1aOC0hQ/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Once we made it to the upper end of Fourth Lake, we made the decision that our legs had recovered enough to make the hike on up to Fifth Lake. The thought of the largest Colorado River cutthroat in the park was a pretty motivating factor.</div>
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Where is Fifth Lake? It's up there to the right somewhere.</div>
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The climb up wasn't that bad, of course, we didn't have on a full pack. It required a little scrambling but once we made it over the last little pitch, it opened up into a nice, open (but rugged) bowl with Fifth Lake still in the early morning shadow.</div>
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I had very high expectations for this lake! However, just as with Adams Lake, you could not prove by us that there were fish in there. We circled and fished the entire lake without a single rise, a single cruiser, and not even a spooked fish. Again, just as with Adams Lake, the scenery more than made up for the lack of fish. It was an absolutely spectacular looking lake!</div>
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After a couple of hours of prospecting, we made the decision to head back down and chase some of the numerous brook trout we saw as we passed the lakes earlier.</div>
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For perspective, that is Fourth Lake below us as we started the descent back down.</div>
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Once we made it back to Fourth Lake, we strung up the rods again and were immediately into the brookies. When you are this far into the backcountry, you expect to catch the native cutthroat, but I never complain about catching brook trout - anywhere!</div>
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Other than the California Golden trout, I think the brook trout is the most attractive of the salmonid species I have had in my hand, and these were no different.</div>
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We both caught several brookies out of both the inlet stream and the lake.</div>
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Fourth Lake brookies:</div>
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I had a nice lunch in the soft high grass along the inlet stream. I may have even dosed off for a few minutes, but then it was back to the brookies as the pace of the catching never slowed.</div>
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We decided to drop back down to Spirit Lake to try our luck with those brook trout and the result was no different.</div>
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By the time we had made it back to Spirit Lake and caught a few more brookies, we had already put in another 4-5 miles (at altitude), on a day we had planned to recover. We decided to head back to camp at this point and as we were hiking along the Lake Verna shoreline, I could start to feel the fatigue in my legs. The four days of hiking was, apparently, starting to take its toll.</div>
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I spent the evening lounging on the large boulders on Lake Verna and I set up a camera in an attempt to catch some time lapse photos of the spectacular moonrise we had the previous evening. It soon became apparent the cloudy evening was going to prevent a repeat performance, so it was another early night for me.</div>
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The last day of fishing would be doing what I know, fishing moving water. As we hiked to Fourth Lake the previous day, we noticed the stream that connected Spirit and Fourth Lakes looked very "fishy".</div>
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We would be correct! I think a single person fishing this stretch of water could easily land triple-digit brook trout!</div>
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From lake to lake we caught beautiful brook trout.</div>
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I can always tell when a trip is starting to wind down, the number of pictures start to dwindle. I probably caught over 50 brookies but the number of photos was significantly less. In addition, we stopped at the inlet of Lake Verna on the way back to camp, I landed a few more brookies but no photos. At least I caught brookies in all three lakes: Verna, Spirit, and Fourth. I'm a list guy, so I can add those to my list and move on.</div>
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The last night in camp I set up the time lapse camera again and again the moonrise did not materialize. However, we were treated to a spectacular sunset down the East Inlet drainage. No photos of that either.</div>
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The next morning was the dreaded hike out. It was all downhill but seven miles is seven miles, no matter how you measure it.</div>
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I did break out the camera for a few parting shots.</div>
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Along the trail between Lake Verna and Lone Pine Lake:</div>
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Lone Pine Lake from above:</div>
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And, finally, the last photo of my adventure and the remaining portion of the trail - through the meadow in the distance.</div>
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I had mixed feeling when we finally made it back to the trailhead. I was relieved to take that pack off my back, I felt a sense of accomplishment for what we had done, and I was disappointed that another Colorado adventure was over.</div>
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Some of the rough numbers for my 2014 Colorado Adventure : 55 miles hiked (about half of that with a full pack), 16K in total elevation gain, and two of the most physically demanding days of my entire life...the only paradise to Paradise Valley was getting back on an established trail.</div>
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Over the conversations that would follow, I agreed to return again in 2015 for another backcountry adventure, but I asked Keith to try to keep the next one "on trail". I can't wait to see what he has planned for 2015!</div>
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Chris</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-10928955129958548672015-02-10T15:55:00.000-05:002015-02-10T15:55:08.565-05:00Colorado 2014 - Let's Get Serious (Part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I started planning my 2014 trip to Colorado not long after the <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2013/09/colorado-2013-rocky-mountain-national.html">2013 trip</a> was in the books.<br />
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The 2014 trip would be another backcountry adventure with my host/guide from the previous year but this trip would also include a couple of added side trips - serious side trips!<br />
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I landed in Denver early in the AM and after a few quick stops for supplies, I was headed to RMNP. On the agenda was a day trip to a lake that has been on my list since the very first time I drove across Trail Ridge Road.<br />
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From my first trip n 2006:<br />
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I was planning on using Timber Creek campground as my base camp, so I took Trail Ridge Road to the west side so that I could get a good look at my destination - again.</div>
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As I neared the Forest Canyon overlook, I ran into an elk jam. I've seen hundreds of elk in my travels, so I would prefer to just keep moving, but that is not always a choice. After the elk crossed, traffic started moving again, until I got to the exact location where I took the above photo, and traffic stopped again.</div>
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When I saw what had caused this traffic jam, I immediately went into tourist mode. It was my "white whale" of RMNP, mature bighorn rams!</div>
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I've seen bighorn sheep multiple times, in multiple states, but I've never seen a mature ram...until now!</div>
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I snapped off several photos and took another look at my route for the following day, the ridgeline in the upper right of the photo would be the off-trail portion of my trek. </div>
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I stopped at the Continental Divide and the Mt.Ida trailhead to scope out the first mile or so of trail. Since I would be going in before daylight, I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. I didn't want to miss the trail to Mt. Ida and end up at Trail Ridge Visitor's Center. I also wanted to get above treeline for a little acclimatization.</div>
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After a mile or two of hiking, I found myself above treeline and a good spot to turn around. This rock outcropping was home to a family of marmots and this guy had the perfect view of the west side of the park.</div>
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My legs felt great! I had been training for a half-marathon so I didn't expect any problems, but after the previous year's trip (5 hours to backpack the final 7 miles to 11,000 feet) I wasn't going to put myself in that position again. I've never had a problem with the altitude either, going from slightly above sea level to 10,000+ feet on the same day on multiple occasions. This day would be no different.</div>
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It was a nice warm-up hike for the full trip the following day. I also ran into a father and son combination that were on their way out from the lake. They informed me they had not caught any fish. That didn't dampen my spirits because I was so impressed with the fact that his 8-year-old son had made that difficult hike.</div>
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Once I got down to the valley, I found something I had never dealt with before. Timber Creek campground was full. Even when the campground was partially closed for the bark beetle tree kill, it was never full. My next option was a hotel room in Granby, which wasn't a big deal, it would simply add another half-hour to the start of my day.</div>
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I found a room, arranged my gear for the day trip to follow, and I was asleep early (2-hour time difference).</div>
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I was at the trailhead well ahead of the sunrise and had made it to the divide ridge about sunrise - my favorite time!</div>
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The views were amazing! Aplenglow over the Neversummer Range.</div>
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I even spooked a large group of bighorn ewes and juveniles.</div>
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As the sun rose, the views continued to get better...</div>
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...and another small group of bighorns. </div>
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If the day continued to produce views like this, I might never make it to my final destination, so I pushed on (and up). </div>
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My directions were simple, climb to 12,000 feet on the Mt. Ida trail and hang a left. When I finally took a look at my GPS I had gone above the 12K mark, which wasn't a big deal. I'm not even sure it added any distance to my trip.</div>
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What the added elevation accomplished was to put me above these guys...the highlight of my trip!</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YFhOYX5a8w/VNoyW-sf3AI/AAAAAAAADSw/SJR9ESHd8CU/s1600/DSC08111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9YFhOYX5a8w/VNoyW-sf3AI/AAAAAAAADSw/SJR9ESHd8CU/s1600/DSC08111.JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
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They even let me break out the telephoto and zoom in on them. Apparently, I'm no threat to them.</div>
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It was not until after I passed them that one of them decided to stand up and they were still not spooked.</div>
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As I said before, I had never seen a mature bighorn ram before. I had been in Colorado less than a day and I had now encountered two groups of mature rams! What a trip so far, and I hadn't even made it to my first destination.</div>
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Speaking of my first destination, I would soon get my first look. It didn't seem that far away - if I wanted to go straight down.</div>
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The directions said to follow the ridge down until I could find a good point to backtrack to the lake. That seemed simple enough, and it was as I came in above the smaller lake.</div>
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Up until this point it had been a fairly easy hike, even as I passed the first lake. It didn't get interesting until I started my final descent (maybe 100 yards) to the water. The area between the two lakes was covered by krummholz, which I think is German for "cuss a lot".</div>
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I did, however, make it to the water without incident. Once I found a nice large rock to rig up my fly rod, I spotted something across the lake that I wasn't prepared for - other fisherman! They appeared to be gearing up for the hike out. Regardless,even though the lake appeared small from 1,000 feet above, it was plenty big enough for all of us.</div>
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After rigging up, I started checking out the water for cruising fish. There were several cruisers and even a few risers. These cutthroat were, as advertised, larger than the average fish. These fish appeared to average about 16 inches and I soon found out they wanted nothing to do with the large, fuzzy fly I was tossing at them.</div>
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After the other group left, I made my way around to the outlet and tried my luck at some moving water, but the result was the same. I worked my way on around the lake and the high, rounded rock ledges on the south side of the lake. Again, the fish were rising and they wanted nothing to do with anything large and fuzzy.</div>
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Finally, I broke out the small flies and tied on a size 20 Griffith gnat and smaller (8X) tippet. This got their attention and I missed the first couple of takes as I was excited just to get their attention! I was able to hook 3-4 good size cutthroat but, I'm guessing, the old tippet material had rotted because every fish I hooked, I broke off.</div>
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I fished around the lake for about three hours before I made the decision to pack out. I had a long climb ahead of me and I wanted to be below treeline when the afternoon thunderstorms rolled through. Before I started out, I picked a good spot to have lunch and watch the cutties cruise by.</div>
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Leaving the lake, I followed the route of the other visitors and rock hopped up the outlet to the lake above. No way was I going to cuss my way through that krummholz again!</div>
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It was an easy climb to the next lake, but that was only the beginning as I had another serious climb to the ridgeline. I created my own switchbacks, took several quick "breathers" and before long I was bushwhacking my way across the tundra to the Mt. Ida trail.</div>
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As I neared the trail, something caught my attention. I heard a strange sound, it wasn't marmots, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. Then I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, so I froze. I had walked up on a family of ptarmigan and the mother was calling out to her little ones. How many do you see?</div>
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Finally, after roughly 12 miles of hiking I found myself back at the crowded trailhead - just as the afternoon storms started rolling through. I felt pretty good considering the elevation gains and the fact I did very little acclimatization. I wasn't even disappointed that I came out smelling of skunk, the scenery and the wildlife more than made up for it!</div>
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I had a very aggressive schedule planned out before I met up with my partner for the backpacking portion of my trip. I had planned a couple of 14ers on back-to-back days following the 12+ mile hike I had put in on day 2.</div>
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From this Mt. Ida trailhead, I drove to Leadville with plans to add a couple of 14ers to my list. I set up camp near the Mt. Massive trailhead and I didn't set an alarm. I figured I would let me body tell me when it was ready to start.</div>
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On queue, when it started getting light out, I was up and shortly thereafter I was on the trail headed to the top of the second highest peak in Colorado (I did number one in 2008). Seven miles and 4,500 feet elevation gain later, I was on the top...</div>
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...which reminds me, I need to update my hiking blog, it's been a couple of years.</div>
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Again, I felt great (relatively speaking) when I made it back to the vehicle. I had plans to do La Plata the following day but I figured, after back-to-back days of 12+ miles with significant elevation gain, a day of rest would serve me well. With a 5-day backpacking adventure ahead of me...I would be correct!</div>
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Stay tuned for Part 2 of Let's Get Serious.</div>
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Chris</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-25960214547817621362015-01-02T14:49:00.001-05:002015-01-02T14:49:57.220-05:00Spruce, WV - 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My backpacking trip last year to the <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2013/07/west-virginia-trout-bummin-town-of.html">old logging community of Spruce</a> got quite a bit of attention from my facebook and TU friends. I did a presentation on the trip at a local TU meeting and made an open invitation for a return visit this year.<br />
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I got one taker, a friend I had fished with on a couple of other occasions and one that wanted to learn a little more about backpacking. We made plans to head in after the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade, with plans to stay 3-4 days.<br />
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As always, we had a good turnout for the 7th Annual Bucket Brigade.<br />
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On the other side of the attention scale, I received several messages from the "softees" who wanted to know if you could drive to Spruce. I'm sorry (soapbox time) but if I put in the time and effort to explore these places (off the beaten path) don't insult me by asking if you "can drive to Spruce"!<br />
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OK, rant over, time to get back to Spruce...<br />
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We got a late start on the day, but the only real day 1 activity was to get camp established. We made it to the same spot I set up camp in 2013 and found the campsite empty. As we started to get camp set up, I noticed a couple of visitors crest the railroad tracks just upstream. I thought to myself: "no big deal, we can share this large area with a couple of other outdoor enthusiasts...plus they didn't appear to have fishing gear".<br />
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As I continued to pitch my tent, I noticed a couple additional people crest the tracks...than a couple more and a couple more...When they finally all arrived in Spruce, there was nearly 30 people with packs strapped to their back - not good! A couple of them actually started to set up camp right beside us!<br />
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They have as much right to this lovely place as I do, so I said nothing. Luckily the leaders, and obviously more experienced coordinators, asked everybody to give us our space and everybody happily obliged.<br />
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After getting camp set up, we spoke with the coordinators for a few minutes. They were from Washington DC and many of the folks were making their first visit to West Virginia. They said it started out as just a couple of friends, then those friends invited a couple of friends, those friends invited a couple of friends, and eventually you end of up with a group of 30+ people.<br />
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They gave us plenty of space and I was amazed how quiet a group that size could be. Eventually, we got our lines in the water with the backdrop of "tent city".<br />
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It turned out to be a very nice evening and we had a noticeable hatch of some type of sulfurs and even some coffin flies floating around. I quickly picked up my first brookie in a riffle below one of the old mill abutments.<br />
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We fished our way upstream past camp until we got to a large, lazy pool under the trestle. I climbed up the bank to simply take in the views. Shortly after, my partner yelled for help...I wasn't sure if he had gotten hurt or caught the "big one". It didn't take long to figure out what his problem was as his rod had a nice bend to it.<br />
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I watched him follow this fish up and downstream, under the trestle, all the while not making much headway in landing it. When it finally rolled so that I could see the size, I was simply amazed! I knew there had to be some big fishing hiding up under the remnants of all of these concrete abutments.<br />
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She didn't look like she had been eating well but she definitely had the length. My partner couldn't tell how big she was until the line went tight because she simply "sipped" the coffin fly he had tossed to the head of the bridge abutment.<br />
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What a way to start this adventure!<br />
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That was also a nice fish to call it a day on. We headed back to the campsite, had dinner, and were in our tents early. It had been a long day for both us and we big plans for the next few days as it would be all new water for my fellow explorer.<br />
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As usual, I'm up when it starts getting light out. Early morning is my favorite time of day! I love the rainbow of colors in the sky and the reflections on the calm water.<br />
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After enjoying the sunrise over Back Mountain, it was time for a cup of coffee and a Clif bar before meeting another friend on the stream I had landed "the slam" on the previous year. Our partner on this small trib is the head of the WV DNR Limsetone Fines Program and coordinator of the Middle Fork Bucket Brigade.<br />
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He had made the short trek to try his luck at landing all three species in one stream.<br />
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I didn't take many photos and all we landed were brookies - not that I'm complaining. All three of us landed good numbers and a few better than average-sized brookies. I think the only photo I took on the stream this morning was of this blood-red trickle that dumped into the main trib.<br />
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We fished much further up the tributary than I had the previous year and we decided to call it a day around lunch time. Our partner on the stream had a family commitment but it is always nice to spend some time on the water with him - no matter how brief.<br />
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When we returned for lunch, Spruce was empty. All of the tents were gone, the camp fires buried and, other than matted down grass from the tents, you couldn't tell anyone had been there. This was a fine example of "leave no trace"!<br />
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After lunch, my remaining partner and I decided to explorer the main stem above the trestle and below the trib we had fished in the AM. This is slow water and the temperatures felt like borderline trout water as we wet-waded upstream. Again, I didn't take any photos but between the two of us, we landed all three species - however, I don't recall who landed what.<br />
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Once again, we returned to camp, and had dinner as the sun was setting at the end of another great day in Spruce.<br />
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Day 3 started just as day 2 had, watching the sun come up over Back Mountain and watching the spectrum of colors in the early morning sky.<br />
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The plan for day 3 was to push further up the main stem to the final trib I had remaining to explore. This last trib would nearly complete my exploration of the tributaries from Rt.250 to Snowshoe Resort. I would have one unnamed trib above Spruce remaining and one more just upstream of Rt. 250.<br />
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In this section the main steam actually returns to the resemblance of a trout stream and the fish were there to prove it. It was the most beautiful section of water I had fished in that area.<br />
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After landing a nice, wild brown under a log jam in the early morning, my partner was able to complete his slam in this section of water. It is also nice to see remnants of days gone past. I know it makes me wonder what life in this area must have been like 100 years ago. I'm guessing it wasn't very easy.<br />
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Ultimately, this was not our destination for the day. We had set out to explore a small trib that drains the Silver Creek ski resort. It didn't take long to verify the existence of brookies...<br />
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We had been going hart at it for a couple of days and after we had both landed brookies from this small trib, it was time for an on stream lunch break and a quick nap (for my fishing partner).<br />
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After a quick nap, we fished up this little trib until we crossed one of the resort hiking trail...exit stage right. We had a 2-3 mile hike back to camp and the mid-day was starting to get very warm. When we finally made it back to camp, we attempted to take a siesta but it was just too hot in the tents.<br />
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I made a recommendation to explore a heavily canopied trib about a mile downstream from Spruce and my partner was all in.<br />
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I had not explored this little trib the previous year but I did take note of the new fish ladder that had been installed. I hope it works to reconnect the brookie populations in this upper watershed. it sure looks like it should help.<br />
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I quickly landed one little brookie just upstream of the fish ladder and didn't see another until we made our way to this old structure and the pool it created above it.<br />
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I've checked all of the topo maps and trail maps I have and none indicate a road or trail this far upstream. I'm sure it's more remnants of the days when Spruce was the highest incorporated town east of the Mississippi, but I can't find anything on this trail/road...and the nice pool did create habitat for a decent/small stream brookie.<br />
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We pushed our way upstream to the point the stream was becoming very high gradient and, again, we moved no more fish. Hopefully, the fish ladder will enable movement of the disconnected populations and one day this stream will rebound - assuming acid rain doesn't impair it.<br />
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With no prospects of fish and still feeling the heat of the day, we both enjoyed a stream side nap. The dense canopy and the soft bed of pine needles made for a very comfortable nap.<br />
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When we finally decided to head out, my partner had decided he had had enough and made the decision to call the trip to an end for him. Once we returned to camp, he packed up and headed out. I spent four days up there solo last year so sticking it out by myself didn't bother me.<br />
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I had the entire evening to enjoy a nice, quiet, stream side dinner.<br />
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I also took this time to explore the area around the old mill - something I didn't take the time to do last year.<br />
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After exploring the old structures for a bit, I grabbed my rod and piddled around the mill abutments in hope of catching an evening hatch of some sort. I didn't catch a hatch but I was treated to one of the most amazing sunsets I have seen in West Virginia. The photos do not do it justice -as if they ever do.</div>
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The early morning of day 4 was just like the previous mornings, with the exception this morning would add a small layer of fog over the old town of Spruce. I will never get tired of this view:</div>
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I had no plans to fish this day. After a quick breakfast, I grabbed my day pack and my camera and headed up an old Forest Service road to Bald Knob (3rd highest point in West Virginia).</div>
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Typically, you take Cass Scenic Railroad to the top of Bald Knob and have to deal with the crowds of people getting in your photos at the overlook. The benefit of an early morning hike was that I had it all to myself! I'm selfish in that way, but look at the benefits:</div>
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Looking out over the Greenbrier River valley and the town of Marlinton.</div>
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A nice panorama looking across Green Bank Observatory into Virginia.</div>
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In addition to dealing with the crowds when you ride the train to the top, you also don't have time to go to the "true" Bald Knob, which requires about another half-mile hike uphill on a Forest Service road. What you find on the real Bald Knob is an old, abandoned fire tower.</div>
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After enjoying the views by myself, it was a nice downhill hike and a pack out. It was a couple of days sooner that planned but I was more than satisfied with my return visit to Spruce. I didn't catch nearly as many fish as the previous year (as evident by the lack of fish photos), but I didn't fish as hard or cover as much ground.</div>
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I was able to add two more streams to my personal list, which nearly completes another West Virginia minor watershed for me. I may add this trip to my 2015 plans, it's definitely worth the return visit, but my fishing days are getting fewer and my bucket list is getting longer...something has to give.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-86218290358188442452014-12-23T12:43:00.001-05:002014-12-23T12:43:46.546-05:00Another New Member to the Sport<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A couple of things I enjoy most of this sport: exploring new places/water and introducing new people to the sport of fly fishing. I get equal enjoyment out of both!<br />
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My only outing prior to this one was to introduce a fellow co-worker (and Aggie) to the sport and to show him what West Virginia has to offer in the way of scenic beauty. This time I would help introduce another generation to the sport and hopefully provide some guidance for his trip to Colorado in late July.<br />
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The interesting thing about this individual is that a few years earlier I taught his dad how to fly fish and I also took his dad to <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2011/09/colorado-2011-part-1-normal-haunts.html">Colorado for the first time in 2011</a>. I was also able to put him on every native species of cutthroat Colorado offers, including one of the top three streams I have ever fished in the west - I refer to it as <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2011/09/colorado-2011-part-2-cuthroat-heaven.html">Cutthroat Heaven</a>.<br />
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When I introduce a new person to the sport, I like to start on a good brookie stream. There are a couple of reasons I start this way: brookies will hit anything big & fuzzy and there are plenty of strike opportunities to keep them interested. I talked it over with "dad" and we decided on a big brookie stream, with plenty of space (for casting and three people), and it also happens to have a good population of larger fish. Other than Seneca, this has become one of my favorite streams.<br />
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The first thing I always teach them is how to read the water and where the fish, most likely, will be located. From there, I go with the high stick drift...no need to worry about casting. It didn't take long for "junior" to catch his first fish on a fly rod while, basically, standing right over top of it.<br />
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Father and son sharing the moment.<br />
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"Junior" with his first trout on a fly rod; a nice, native West Virginia brookie.</div>
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After it appeared "junior" had a slight grasp on the system, and with dad assisting as needed, I was able to poke around a bit and land a few nice brookies of my own.</div>
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Soon after, dad got in on the action.</div>
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With everyone into fish, we moved much quicker upstream, picking up fish from nearly every decent looking pool. </div>
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It was nice to lag behind and watch father and son enjoying the time on the water. With the video game craze, this is becoming even more rare every day.</div>
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Father's watchful eye...</div>
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As much as I enjoy introducing new people to the sport and showing them around some of my favorite places, I still enjoy catching fish. Even fishing used water, I was able to pick up the occasional brookie.<br />
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We fished well upstream, further than what I realized actually. After about a two mile hike out and some snacks/drinks on the tailgate, it was off to Seneca Creek to catch a few wild rainbows for dinner. That didn't work out to well...we landed plenty of fish but nothing of size to make a meal out of - car camping food for dinner it would be.<br />
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Our last stop for the day was Seneca Shadows campground for the night. I have been past the entrance of this campground a hundred times, but I have never stopped or stayed here. That has been my loss as this was the view from our tent site.<br />
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This is where I get sentimental for a moment. The reason I hadn't fished much was the business within the company I had worked for 21+ years had been sold and this was my last night as an employee of the former company. When I would wake up in the morning, I would be an employee of a new company. This hasn't happened in over 20 years and even though my job or my coworkers weren't changing, it was definitely a new chapter in my life. That always causes me to reflect on memories of what once was and thoughts of what will be. </div>
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The one thing I finally came to realize was: I like change, I'm an explorer! Let's get this party started!</div>
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With that now behind me, I slept well and felt no different when I woke up...let's go exploring!</div>
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The next morning was a couple of quick stops to streams I had not fished previously. I hadn't checked off any new West Virginia streams yet in 2014 - that changed this day.</div>
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The first stream was one of the last two remaining streams in the Seneca drainage. It was a small stream and the water was a bit low, which made fishing with three people difficult. I left the father and son to fish together and I pushed upstream far enough to give them some space to explore on their own.</div>
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I quickly picked up a small brookie in a small plunge pool...add this stream to the list.</div>
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I moved up the high gradient stream, skipping most of the marginal water, until I spotted a good-sized pothole about eye level. With a high stick drift, I caught another brookie and a decent one at that.</div>
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I studied the GPS and topo map and decided I needed to return to this stream sometime and explore further upstream. I've heard there are wild rainbows in here too, so I added it to my never ending West Virginia streams to pay a return visit.<br />
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After a decent fish to finish up this stream, I moved back downstream to pick up the boys and move to another stream on my list.<br />
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I've stared at the mountain contour which contained this stream every time I travel down the east side of Rich Mountain. Today would be the day i would finally check this one off the list, so over Allegheny Mountain we went to where the GPS indicated the mouth of the stream should be.<br />
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We parked the truck and waded across the main stream to the mouth. After a quick couple of drift at the extreme low end of the stream, we decided to pick up an old Forest Service road and hike upstream.<br />
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I picked up the first little brookie at the bottom of a culvert hole where the Forest Service road crossed the creek the first time.<br />
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It's a good thing I caught that brookie in the first culvert hole because I didn't move another fish in that little stream. There seemed to be an excessive amount of silt in the stream. I believe there is a grazing allotment at the top of the mountain and that may have something to do with the siltation, but who knows?<br />
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After adding another member to the fly fishing community and adding two more brookie streams to my West Virginia life list, it was time to head for the house...more memories created and time to reflect - that's why we do this, right?<br />
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-87921690979007321882014-06-27T12:45:00.000-04:002014-06-27T12:45:12.317-04:00I'm Back...Finally!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know it's been a while since my last entry but I have way too much time invested in this blog to let it slide.<br />
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The first half of 2014 has been CRAZY! I have made it out on the water a few times but work and my personal life have made it difficult to find time to update the blog. I believe work may be the main reason - at least that is where I'm placing the blame. The company I have worked for over 21 years sold the business sector I have been in for 6 of the last 8 years. The transition to the new company occurred on June 1 and things are finally starting to return to "normal".<br />
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My trips this year started with a day trip, then an overnighter, then a pack trip...I like how this is progressing!<br />
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My first entry will be of the day trip I took on Good Friday and it turned out to be a good Friday. I took another coworker to my favorite stream in order to give a one-day lesson in fly fishing.<br />
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The temperatures at night had been dropping into the upper thirties but the day temps were climbing into the lower sixties, so I knew there would be no need to get up there early. My coworker is also a Texas A&M Aggie, so I didn't know what to expect from him. : ) Texans are a different breed.<br />
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We arrived on the water about 9:00 and it was still pretty chilly. My partner didn't have waders and I hang mine up in March so we were both wet-wading. I could feel a little sting on my feet so I'm positive it was brutally cold for him.<br />
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For the first 2-3 hours I stood over his shoulder, working with him on reading the water, fly placement, drift, and tending the fly line...the basics. The water was just too cold, the fish weren't looking up for dries yet and I wasn't about to put him on nymphs.<br />
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We stopped for lunch and dug a few ramps before moving further upstream, all while waiting on the water temperatures to raise. After lunch, I basically turned him loose and I was fishing a few runs myself. When we reached a spot where the trail was well above the stream we spotted a couple of nice, wild rainbows.<br />
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We dropped down over the bank and split up. He was still working the dries and I had tied on a small, olive woolybugger. In the first small run, I hooked a very nice rainbow under the large rock where I was standing. I played it downstream to where I could land it but he got off at my feet before I could get a photo. It was a solid 14" wild rainbow and I didn't get a photo. I guess it's true what people say, the big one always gets away (stay tuned because it doesn't ALWAYS get away).<br />
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From this point on the stream, we decided to start fishing back toward the vehicle as we were about two miles upstream by this point.<br />
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Our luck would change in our next pool and my partner caught his first trout - on a fly rod and a nice, native West Virginia brook trout to boot!<br />
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He seemed to have the technique of the drift down and was reading the water good, so I left him to fend for himself and I went to check out a few runs for myself.</div>
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By this time it had warmed up nicely and the fish were starting to look up. I was fishing my normal early season rig of a small caddis with a beadhead dropper. The size 16 black stones were popping off, so I tied on a black stonefly nymph. Some wanted the nymph...</div>
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...and some wanted the dry.</div>
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And then...I walked up on a nice pool with a root ball just below the head of the hole. Remember, the big one doesn't ALWAYS get away.</div>
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This may be my biggest brook trout out of this stream.</div>
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It was a nice male, with a well defined kipe.</div>
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I don't know that there was anything else that stood out after this fish. I picked up several smaller rainbows and brookies. My partner may have not landed another fish but this was another memorable fishing experience, both for the big brookie and getting another fisherman started on the water.</div>
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With the fishing behind us, we had enough time left in the day to show him around the area and what beauty West Virginia has to offer.</div>
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Seneca Rocks, dinner at Hellbenders in Davis, and Blackwater Falls.</div>
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We were also treated to an amazing sunset as we left Thomas and drove past the windmills. The end to a nearly perfect day.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-81643813944500803802013-10-20T10:22:00.001-04:002013-10-20T10:23:55.114-04:00Day Trippin' Renewed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After fishing the trib where I caught my first native brook trout during my WV Trout Bum adventure in early June, this stream has been on my mind since.<br />
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The weekend before, I spent a day hiking the extreme headwaters of this watershed; taking in the fall colors and catching brookies above the lake named after the main stem stream. Here are a couple of shots from the hike and a couple of brookies:<br />
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The above shot is from the Snowshoe Resort fire tower, looking down the Shavers Fork watershed toward Spruce.<br />
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The beginning of Shavers Fork below Shavers Lake.</div>
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Shavers Lake and couple of small brookies from tiny Shavers Fork above the lake.</div>
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That day hike did two things for me: One, remind me I need to update my hiking blog and two, put the Upper Shavers bug back in my brain.</div>
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So...with vacation days to burn and work driving me to GET AWAY, I made a day trip to where it all started for me.</div>
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I had planned on doing the trip solo but I got a text from a young friend whom I haven't fished with since our mega-roadtrip in 2010. Three years, where has the time gone?!</div>
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The day started well before daylight and 3-1/2 hours later we were at the end of an 11-mile, dead-end, dirt road. It was 37 degrees when we got out of the vehicle - a great day to wet wade!</div>
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After two miles of railroad it was time to hit the water. What a beautiful fall day!</div>
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As I strung up the rod and tied on my dry/dropper rig, I reflected on the beauty of the Upper Savers area.</div>
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The air was brisk, the water was cool, and the "catching" was slow. We did manage a few small brookies and Nathan landed the first small, wild rainbow of the day.</div>
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Shortly after he landed his first wild rainbow, I landed my one (and only) rainbow of the day.</div>
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I know the camera never captures the true colors of the real experience and the photo of that rainbow was no different. That rainbow had a golden tint to it - it reminded me of the Kern River rainbows Nathan and I caught on that small trib of the Kern during our California Heritage Trout Challenge expedition. </div>
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As I catch wild rainbows in my explorations of blue lines, I often wonder the origin of the hatchery strains from which they came. This is why I do what I do!</div>
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As I mentioned the fishing was slow and I was disappointed to not see any paired up brookies doing their fall dance. Maybe in this "connected" trib they return to the main stem to do their dance??</div>
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As the temperatures (water and air) warmed up we started picking up small brookies on top - but no size.</div>
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I'm not sure where all of the larger brookies were hiding on this day, but that's OK, in the name of Henry David Thoreau:</div>
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"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after".</div>
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I did have a goal for this day, which is something I don't typically do. I wanted to make it to a feeder trib that a friend had told me about over a glass of home-made wine.</div>
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We made it to the small trib and found small brook trout hanging out in nearly every small pool. The stream was high gradient - I love fishing like this!</div>
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After scrambling up this small trib a short distance, I knew time on the stream and the day was winding to a close. </div>
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It was 2-hour hike back to the vehicle, with the first 1-1/2 being bushwhacking...there's no trail here!</div>
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When we got back to the car, I was beat, but it was a good beat down. The refreshing feeling of being miles from nowhere, and adding another blue line to my personal life list is what it's all about!</div>
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I may not get another opportunity to get out this fall, if not, this was as good as any to end the season with.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-14707141947282298352013-09-01T14:53:00.003-04:002013-09-01T14:53:51.381-04:00Colorado 2013 - Rocky Mountain National Park Backcountry<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Earlier this year I received an amazing invitation from a fellow backcountry blogger. Keith is a resident of Colorado and maintains the blog <a href="http://coloradoalpineangler.blogspot.com/">Colorado Alpine Angler.</a> He sent me an invitation I couldn't possibly turn down - a long weekend in the RMNP backcounry.<br />
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I've fished all over the park but I've never taken the time (as Keith did) to secure a backcountry campsite permit, so I was all over this opportunity! In addition, our location is known as one of the best greenback cutthroat fisheries in the park.<br />
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I got a message a few weeks before the trip date that he had his other party members back out and he asked if I knew of anybody that was interested - and capable. I have only two friends here in the east that have the highcountry experience to pull off a 10-mile backpack trip to 11,000 feet. One declined and the other received the trip from his wife as a surprise birthday gift. My traveling partner would be my annual Brookiebum partner and a 2008 "Colorado Cuttslam" partner, Phil.<br />
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Now we were set, the plan was to hike part way in the first day, get acclimated, then finish off the remaining distance (and altitude gain) the second day. The trailhead sits at ~7,600 feet and the first three miles, to night one camp was uneventful with only 1,000 feet of elevation gain in three miles.<br />
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We set up camp in the Comanche Peaks Wilderness Area.<br />
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It is nice when your host, and experienced backcountry adventurer, pulls out the exact same tent - MSR Zoid. All three of us were packing the same model tent, although Phil's is a 2-man version. It's a shame these are no longer manufactured.<br />
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Having been up since 5:00 AM (EST), it was an early night - before sunset. We also had seven miles and nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain waiting on us the next morning.<br />
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As typical on my backcountry adventures, when it starts getting light out, I'm up. I had "breakfast", packed up camp, and was ready to roll by 6:30 AM.<br />
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The first couple of miles went by easily but when we entered the park and made it to this campsite, reality started to sink in. Only halfway through the elevation gain?!<br />
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It's a good thing we were following the North Fork of the Big Thompson to take my mind off the climb. I would have loved to drop my pack and wet a line.<br />
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I didn't break my camera out for any more of the journey and I'm ashamed to admit it took me five hours to hike that seven miles...note to self: get in shape!</div>
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We finally made it to our destination and I gladly dropped my pack. I recovered for probably thirty minutes before I even thought about setting up camp. <br />
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I quickly recovered from my fatigue (probably 80% mental) as I set up camp and thought: this is the view from my front porch for the next three nights.<br />
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With camp set up, it was time to get down to business...chasing greenbacks!<br />
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Phil landed the first greenback of the trip from directly in front of camp. <br />
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I soon landed my first greenback of the trip on a big fuzzy yellow caddis...<br />
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...I could tell this was going to be an above average trip - no average 6" stream resident greenbacks here!<br />
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There were fish rising everywhere! I quickly landed three greenbacks that all probably average 12"! Unfortunately, as quick as the "catching" started, it ended the same way. With the fishing slowing down, it was time to relax in camp and make dinner.<br />
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It was a nice relaxing evening in camp, talking fishing and backcountry locations. Keith is quite a reference for these Colorado adventures. I could listen to his trip reports for days - I am green with envy of some of his trips.<br />
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I was in the tent before dark again and up again early with anticipation of my favorite high country event. I love the alpenglow! There is nothing more amazing than the colors you see on the high peaks before the sun hits them directly.<br />
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Pictures don't do the reality justice, these high peaks were glowing with an orange hue!<br />
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The plan for day two was a hike to the lake in the extreme head of the watershed. It was about a mile from camp with additional elevation gain. Our destination was over the ridge and to the back of the cirque in the above photo. We were headed to the edge of treeline and a lake that was supposed to hold larger than average greenbacks.<br />
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The initial climb wasn't too bad. I had obviously fully recovered from the hike in - I had also dropped my 50-pound pack! As we climbed toward our destination the view back toward camp was very nice.<br />
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As we crested the final ridge, we caught a first glimpse of the lake - BEAUTIFUL!<br />
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As we stood on the ridge, something caught my eye below us. Something big and black...<br />
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I quickly dropped my day pack to dig out my telephoto lens.</div>
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Even though he had to be 400 yards away, we had him spooked and this very nice bull moose was making tracks.<br />
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The moose at 11,000' was an added bonus but that's not what we were after. We quickly dropped down to the lake, slogged through the outlet to make our way around to the deep side of the lake. I've only fished an alpine lake one other time so I was following Keith's lead.<br />
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Keith picked out a promising looking spot and I dropped my pack to rig up my rod. I'm usually pretty quick at getting rigged up and getting a fly on the water but I couldn't help but notice all of the cruising greenbacks in front of me.<br />
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While I was busy snapping off photos of cruising greenbacks, Keith was busy landing them. He caught three before I ever got a line on the water - including this beauty!</div>
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It started off on fire and it never slowed down! The average size fish was about 14" and at times it was every cast! Here are a few of the many...<br />
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...and finally this guy. I've caught California Golden trout in their native watershed and I've seen photos of lake goldens introduced to Wyoming. This guy looks as if he had some lake golden in him - although I knew he didn't. Regardless, another beautiful specimen!</div>
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I sometimes get bored with catching fish and I sometimes found myself just sitting on a rock, taking in the amazing scenery and watching my partners land fish after fish. This lake is now in the top 5 adventures I've had chasing native salmonids.</div>
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We fished to mid-afternoon when we made the decision to fish another lake on the way back to camp. Lake number three of the trip:</div>
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As with the first lake of the day, Keith was on fish quickly. We didn't fish long at this lake but I had to work hard for my one greenback from this lake.</div>
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After landing greenbacks in both lakes, it was time for the hike back down to camp for dinner and a little resting of the casting arm. I used a 9' 4wt rod that I hadn't used in years and when you're accustomed to throwing a 1wt bamboo of a 000wt graphite rod, this was like casting a telephone pole. You also have to like it when your arm is tired from catching fish!</div>
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As with previous nights, it was early to bed and early to rise. Again I was up in time to catch the alpenglow.</div>
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Day three would put us back in my comfort zone, small stream brookie fishing. We hiked downstream on the North Fork and jumped in at a nice meadow section. The fishing was tight and tough in the early morning...</div>
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...then the sun came up and the water temps rose just enough.</div>
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The stream eventually picked up gradient and it was pocket water fishing at it's best - my favorite type of small stream fishing.</div>
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When you are fishing small streams with a partner (or two), you take your turn. As I gave up the lead I was able to catch Phil doing what he does best - photography and videography.</div>
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It has been a couple of weeks since I have returned from this trip and Phil has had time to put together a nice little <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E21q-lj9v5o&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4V0ybnsuYNYwziIlRLVcjA">video</a>.</div>
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There were even a few surprises as we fished the North Fork, from brook trout in the 10"-12" class to the occasional greenback.</div>
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We fished our way upstream, through a high gradient small canyon, to the point we were parallel to camp. We decided if we continued upstream further, the bushwhack back to trail would only get longer, so we called it a day on the small stream. </div>
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When we made it back to camp, we had a quick lunch, then relaxed on the rocks along the lake until afternoon storms drove us into the tents. I had forgotten the sound of thunder in the high altitude. Phil was with my brother and I the first time I got caught above 10,000' during a thunderstorm and I'll never forget the feeling of the thunder when you are that close to it's origin. You can actually feel the thunder in your chest and I'm just glad the storm passed to the north of us, behind the mountain that was our camp backdrop.</div>
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The storm soon passed and we were back out and fishing the lake in front of camp again. The fishing was slow (for some of us) and I caught my last greenback of the trip.</div>
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Phil and I decided to relax on the rocks again while Keith moved down to the lake inlet where he had very good luck. As we watched, Keith landed the biggest greenback of the trip - a very nice 18" fish!<br />
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Keith didn't stop there. Shortly after Phil and I returned to our rock, Keith's rod was bent again. I commented that he was fighting this fish for a long time, then he got out his net (he only did this on large fish). After he landed it, he looked our way, I gave him a "thumbs up", and he gave us an urgent arm wave to get down there NOW!</div>
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In this lake where we had landed several greenbacks, Keith had enticed this leviathan up to a dry fly.</div>
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This was the largest wild brook trout I have ever seen, a true 20" male with a very impressive lower jaw - as if the entire fish wasn't impressive enough. Keith agreed this was the perfect fish to end this adventure on.</div>
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We packed up our rods for the day and I boiled water for my final freeze-dried meal. Just as the water came to a boil, the storms rolled in again and I was forced to have my final dinner in the tent.</div>
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The storms forced us into the tents twice that last day and I ended up taking a couple of cat naps. Those naps made for a very long night. I don't know if it was the naps or the thought of the 10-mile hike out the next morning but it made for a very restless night.</div>
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I finally crawled out of my tent as it was getting light and walked to the edge of the lake. Phil had also gotten up by then, he walked toward the lake, then quickly ran back to the camp. My first thought was bear (we had to carry bear canisters in the park), but I soon found out we had other visitors in camp to see us off.</div>
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We watched from the edge of the trees as this young moose nursed. That is something you don't see every day.</div>
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I hated to break camp, it's one of the most beautiful places I have ever pitched a tent.</div>
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As with all good things, they must come to an end, and by 7:30 AM we were on the trail with a 10-mile hike ahead of us.<br />
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During the hike down, and out, it was easy to see why I struggled on the way in - it was a steep climb. When you are not struggling, it's easier to snap off a few more shots of the trail.<br />
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We made it out in 4:45, quicker than the final seven miles going in, but it was a relief (again) to drop that pack!</div>
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We went straight from the trailhead to Estes Park for some real food. The pizza was some of the best I have ever had, but after four days of freeze-dried meals anything would have hit the spot.</div>
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This was one of the best backcountry adventures I have had, I hope Keith and I get an opportunity to do it again some day.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-75678273208931780462013-07-21T12:09:00.001-04:002013-07-21T12:09:27.869-04:00West Virginia Trout Bummin - Rain, Rain, Rain<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The final leg of my West Virginia Trout Bummin Adventure would conclude on the upper Williams watershed in a USFS campground.<br />
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After finishing up my first leg, I made a short stop on a trib of the Slatyfork section of the Elk. I had fished this stream (stream #11) a few years earlier and landed several small brookies. I had since received reports of wild rainbows in this stream and I had t find out for myself.<br />
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I made the short hike in during the heat of the day but I knew this little trib had a good canopy, so I wasn't concerned about the high mid-day sun.<br />
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This stream was as I remembered it but it had been hit hard by the heavy snow of Superstorm Sandy - there were downed trees everywhere. However, it didn't affect the brookies, as I caught brookies of a couple of different age classes.<br />
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I didn't catch any wild rainbows, but it was nice to see the brookies still doing well.<br />
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From here it was on to the USFS campground and as opposed to another freeze-dried dinner, I drove into town and had a nice hot meal at a local restaurant/hotel, then it was back to the tent - just in time for the rain.<br />
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This night the rain would not let up and my coffee would be prepared in the tent vestibule before throwing on the rain gear and heading out. <br />
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I had three tribs on the upper Williams on my list for this day - the last three tribs on the main Williams.<br />
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The first trib (stream #12) was slightly off-color, which brought out the wild browns.<br />
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I also caught several brookies out of this trib but with the rain I didn't take the camera out. I like to have digital proof of my catches when I'm exploring, but not at the risk of my camera.</div>
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After fishing the first trib for a short distance, I headed back down to the mouth for the hike upstream to the two tribs that make up the Williams proper.</div>
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It had been raining all night and all morning, so by the time I made it to the junction the two tribs were chocolate milk!</div>
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You can see the current from the second trib coming in on the right - the beginning of the Williams River.</div>
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I was surprised that the upper Williams, and the two headwater tribs were meadow streams - I didn't imagine that when I planned this trip.</div>
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I did fish up the trib to the right (stream #13) but it was no use fishing in the heavily stained water, I will be back when conditions are better.</div>
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After a wet hike out, it was back downstream for lunch. The rain held up long enough for lunch, the it was back on to stay. Another freeze-dried dinner but this evening I would have company with a friend from Morgantown who was also in camp for the Bucket Brigade. I stayed up past sunset this day but it was another early morning...in the rain again!</div>
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I had a couple of streams downstream on my list for this day. I made the short drive downstream and the ran seemed to let off - until I parked. When I grabbed my rod, I also had to grab my rain jacket again.</div>
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I had to wade across the main Williams to get to the first trib, but it was worth it. This trib (stream #14) would be the most beautiful of the trip - even in the rain. It was very high gradient and lined with rhododendron.</div>
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It also contained brookies! You can tell by the darkness of the photo how dark it was on this stream, between the dark skies and the heavy rhododendron, it felt like I was fishing at twilight.</div>
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There were a couple of nicer brookies landed in the plunge pools.</div>
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I had to leave the stream a couple of times to navigate upstream. When I had to make a decision at another impassable section, I decided to call it quits on this stream.</div>
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From here I drove further downstream with two more tribs on my list. By the time I reached my next destination it was raining much harder, but I was here to fish.</div>
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I wandered through the woods trying to find a trail while navigating with my GPS in the driving rain, when I glanced down and saw the screen fading on my GPS, I decided I had had enough. There will be other times to explore and I had to protect my gear - I never leave the vehicle without my GPS and the accompanying SPOT emergency satellite communicator.</div>
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I drove back to camp, grabbed some clothing and headed into town for a (dry) motel. First stop though was the local grocery store for a bag of white rice to dry my GPS unit.</div>
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I met up with some good friends at the hotel and it was nice to sleep without the sound of rain on the tent. </div>
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The next morning it was back to the campground to break camp for the end of my adventure. It started raining again as I started breaking down my tent - quite fitting for the final leg of my West Virginia Trout Bummin Adventure.</div>
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The rains did stop in time for the annual Bucket Brigade, which was another successful year. We had over 100 volunteers, more than half were Walmart employees. We moved another 6-7 tons of limestone sand into the headwaters of the Middle Fork of the Williams. I didn't stick around long enough for a group photo, I had to be back in town to pick somebody up at the airport...but as I drove down the road I mentally summarized my adventure.</div>
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Five watersheds, 14 streams, brook trout in 11 streams (10 new), rainbows in four streams (all new), and brown trout in two streams (both new). That's quite an adventure!</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-75025857086983137312013-07-21T11:23:00.001-04:002013-07-21T11:23:26.322-04:00West Virginia Trout Bummin - Back to the Beginning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had planned to hit a few more tribs while using Spruce as a base camp, but with the water/fuel issue, I had to change my plans.<br />
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A short distance below Spruce is where the remediation work begins. There was quite a bit of heavy work completed in the main stem but a couple of the tribs had some heavy work done too. This was quite an impressive fish ladder and a fish-friendly culvert.<br />
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The next stream on my agenda (stream #6) was approximately two mile below Spruce. I stashed my backpack and went in search of the mouth of this trib. It was not easy to find - the stream didn't register on my GPS so I had to follow the topo lines to find it.<br />
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I found the mouth and shortly thereafter I had added another brookie trib to the trip.<br />
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The brookies would eventually get bigger, but not much. Maybe the bigger brookies were in the main stem??</div>
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I didn't catch any brookies of size but I did land another wild rainbow.</div>
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I fished a little further upstream than I had planned - after the little rainbow, I was hoping for another WV slam in this stream. I didn't land a brown but I did land the biggest brookie from this beautiful little tributary.</div>
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Once back on the tracks with my pack strapped on, I passed several man-made structures that will hopefully enhance the main stem fishery.</div>
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Just above this structure, I saw "people" for the first time in a couple of days. With the work done on the stream, the WVU fishery students were doing an electro-shocking survey. This section of the watershed has probably had the most data collected than any other trout stream in the state.</div>
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With the thought that this watershed is only going to improve, what a feeling that is! A main stem that could potentially be a thermal refuge when the tribs start to dry up, that would be a huge improvement.</div>
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So, on to my adventure...the next trib (stream #7) holds a special place in my heart. This is where my obsession with brook trout started. I caught my first native West Virginia brook trout in this trib in 1999.</div>
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On that day, my partner and I easily landed triple digits between us! We returned four years later and found 4-wheeler tracks everywhere and a significant reduction in numbers. However, my partner did land a very nice little fat brown trout.</div>
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What would it be like now?</div>
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I stored my pack again and headed upstream from the mouth. Again, it didn't take long to get into the healthy brookies.</div>
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This is the largest of the tribs (stream #7) I would fish on this adventure and the average fish is larger too.</div>
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I did recall a certain "bend hole" and anticipated reaching it. When I found that hole, it was just as I had remembered it in my head. I made a few good drifts through the tail of the hole, with nothing to show.</div>
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When I made a good drift through the head of the hole, I landed another nice fish. This guy bull-dogged me so I knew it wasn't a brookie. When I got him to hand, I was very happy to see a beautiful wild rainbow.</div>
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I fished a short distance upstream from the bend hole, when I ran out of water in my hydration bladder, I turned back. By this time it was approaching mid-day and I didn't want to be a couple of miles from fresh water in the heat.</div>
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I made it back to my backpack and followed the main stem a short distance back to the tracks. This was the first structure I saw when I hiked in two days earlier and it would be the last one I saw as I hiked out. It also meant I was only two miles from the vehicle and fresh water.</div>
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I made it back to the vehicle but I was spitting dust by the time I made it. A fresh bottle of water hit the spot!</div>
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I had a couple more tribs on my list for this watershed so I set up camp for the night within sight of the vehicle. I would be "car camping" for the remainder of my trout bummin adventure.</div>
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I set up camp with this trib (stream #8) between the tent and the car....let's see what's in this trib. The first little pocket produced this little guy.</div>
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In a little larger pool, that appeared to be the stream crossing, and directly below my vehicle, I landed the largest brookie of the trip - with an opening in the canopy and the sun high overhead.</div>
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I landed a few more brookies in this low gradient trib but they all appeared healthy. This stream will only get better as there was a massive amount of work put in where it goes under the railroad tracks. They had build an incredible fish-friendly culvert, which will reconnect this population back to the rest of the watershed.</div>
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Day 2 summary: brook trout in 3 streams (2 new) and wild rainbows in 2 new streams.</div>
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I had another freeze-dried dinner, another early evening and another early morning. The difference in this night was NO RAIN and I would find out later this would be the only night of the adventure with no rain.</div>
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I was up early, packed up camp, had my coffee and Clif bar, then headed back out the 11-mile road to hard top.</div>
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On the way out, I stopped at two culverts to explore two more tribs. Just as nearly all of the tribs had done so far, the first trib (stream #9) produced brookies in short order.</div>
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Although I was glad to see brookies in another trib, I never like to see brookie "snakes". It's never good to see a brookie with a disproportionately-sized head. </div>
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I only fished the first trib a very short distance before heading back to the car and the second trib (stream #10) of the day. This trib was tannin-stained and higher gradient than any I had fished so far but it also produced brookies in short order.<br />
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I landed a couple of brookies before I came to what appeared to be an impenetrable wall of cascades and rhododendron. missed a brookie in the pool but I did not miss the opportunity for a nice photo opportunity.</div>
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From this stream, I would hit the asphalt and head for a USFS campground in preparation for the annual Bucket Brigade on the Middle Fork of the Williams River - an annual outing for me.</div>
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It was a great adventure for me on this watershed! I caught brookies in seven new streams, rainbows in three new, and I visited the stream where this personal obsession started 14 years earlier...what an adventure!</div>
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Chris</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-72375913164249576922013-07-21T10:23:00.000-04:002013-07-21T10:23:12.114-04:00West Virginia Trout Bummin - The Town of Spruce<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This trip has been on my West Virginia bucket list for quite some time. This week was initially planned to take place in the Smokies, but when that fell through, I was searching for plan B.<br />
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A few years ago I saw a report that mentioned this section of water was one of only a few in the state that has reproducing populations of all three species (brooks, browns, and rainbows).<br />
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Then, two months before this trip we had a presentation at a monthly TU chapter meeting that showed quite a bit of remediation work being done in the area. That sealed the deal! I was headed to Spruce.<br />
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The week started off with a WVCTU State Council meeting and as soon as the motion to adjourn was agreed upon, I was headed for Spruce. This solo trip mas made up of a drive to the top of Cheat Mountain and out an 11-mile (dead end) dirt road, then I backpacked six miles up the railroad tracks to my destination.<br />
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Here is a link with more information on this abandoned logging community: <a href="http://www.cassrailroad.com/spruhist.html">SPRUCE</a><br />
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The tourist train makes occasional stops at this location, beyond the rail station I didn't know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to see these markers throughout the area.<br />
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This is where I chose to set up camp for the (planned) three day adventure, along the Shavers Fork of the Cheat at the end of the concrete slab that was once the rail car repair shop.</div>
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I set up camp, went to the stream to pump water for my dehydrated dinner, and that's where the adventure took a negative turn. My water filter had apparently lost a seal that allowed it to pull vacuum - no filtered water! I would have to boil all of my water and I had only packed in two fuel canisters. This was going to cut y pack trip short but I would make the best of it. It was an early evening with anticipation of a smorgasbord of wild trout to come the following day.<br />
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I woke up sometime during the night to a heavy rain pounding on the tent. The rain didn't last long but I wondered what it would do to the streams.<br />
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As is usual when I'm in a tent, when the sun is up, I'm up. I had my cup of coffee and Clif bar, while boiling water for my hydration pack. I was burning a lot of fuel!<br />
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Regardless, I packed up and headed upstream about a mile to the first tributary on my list - I had several tribs on the agenda.<br />
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The water was slightly off-color from the rain but it didn't take me long to land my first brookie. <br />
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I didn't know what this stream had in store for me as I started picking up a few more small brookies.</div>
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There was definitely a good brook trout population and I wasn't too surprised when I landed this little guy. I thought, at first, it was a lightly-colored brookie but when I got it to hand I realized it was a small wild brown trout.</div>
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I caught a few decent-sized brookies as I fished further upstream. This guy would be my largest brookie from trib #1.</div>
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As I pushed upstream, I came to the largest and deepest pool in this small trib and it was still stained from the rain. I made a long cast to the head and on the first drift, I hooked this next fish. I knew this wasn't a brookie as it bull-dogged and held to the bottom. </div>
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When I finally got it to hand, I had completed my slam on the very first trib of the trip - and my first slam on any stream in West Virginia!</div>
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With several other streams to explore, when I completed the slam, I headed to the next stream on my list. My next stream would be in an entirely different watershed. I crossed the low gap at the railroad switch on Cass Scenic Railroad. Down the tracks is Whitaker Station, up the tracks is Bald Knob, and the spur takes you back to Spruce.</div>
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I crossed the tacks and bushwhacked into a tributary of the Greenbrier River drainage. I was on the extreme headwaters of Leatherbark Run, which empties into the Greenbrier River at the Cass rail yard.</div>
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It was a beautiful, high-gradient section of water but I struck out on trib #2.</div>
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I returned to camp for lunch. While I was taking a break, I did a little exploration of Spruce. This is the site of the old mill, with the abutments still standing.</div>
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Of course I didn't explore the old town without my fly rod and I landed this wild rainbow while drifting a nymph against the old mill abutments.</div>
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Near the mill were the remnants of the sand and water towers for the Shay locomotions - which are still in operation today.</div>
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I dropped back into the stream and fished the short distance back to camp. I landed this little guy in the main stem (stream #3) right below my tent. Species number two in the town of Spruce.</div>
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The main stem had some unique in-stream structure in remnants from times gone by.</div>
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After lunch I headed up another section of rail, into my third watershed of the day. It was a short, two mile hike up the tracks, through the Big Notch, into the Tygart Valley watershed.</div>
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As was my adventure in Leatherbark, I struck out in the extreme headwaters of the Tygart Valley River (stream #4). It was, however, nice to see the origins of the stream that I have followed many times on my adventures in The Mon. </div>
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When I got back to camp, I boiled more water for another freeze-dried dinner. I had used up one of the two fuel canisters. Then after dinner, I hit another trib, that dumps in right above Spruce. </div>
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I fished a very short distance (stream #5)but landed a few of these little gems.</div>
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The summary for day 1: 5 streams in 3 different watersheds, brookies in 3 new streams and my first WV Slam.</div>
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It was another early evening, another night with rain, and another morning up with the sun.With only one fuel canister remaining, I made the decision to pack up camp. I hated to leave this location but when I'm solo I always err on the safe side.</div>
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You can see why I hated to leave. With the early morning mist hanging low in the valley, it was beautiful.</div>
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With those final few photos, I said goodbye to the town of Spruce. I had checked off a few more streams on my personal list and added another bucket list adventure to my list...but I will be back!</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-14313199518959888322013-05-29T10:33:00.000-04:002013-05-30T17:23:20.432-04:00Why I Fish - Reason 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On day two of my weekend I found myself solo, which I've found is sometimes best for what I had planned.<br />
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I know of only one or two other guys who enjoy "Reason 2" of why I fish. I'm a list guy, a bucket list guy, one who just likes to check streams off. I like to pick out a drainage on the topo and prospect it for brookies and I don't know many other folks who like to do that.<br />
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I've lost some of my records beyond 2009, but since then I've caught brook trout in 53 new streams (to me) in West Virginia. If I were to estimate the five years prior to 2009, I would say double that number...and I'm sure I haven't even scratched the surface of West Virginia's brook trout streams.<br />
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With that being said, when I left camp I had one (new) stream in mind, but within a couple of minutes I had changed my mind and decided to prospect the tribs of a nearby blue ribbon brookie stream. I plan to hit that original stream when I do some West Virginia trout bummin' the first week in June. This day I would hit one particular little trib that had been on my radar for a couple of years - and check off a couple more while I was in the neighborhood.<br />
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The first stream is about mile hike along a USFS road, past a handful of private camps, then another mile of bushwhacking along an abandoned trail. I say "abandoned" because I could see the blue spray paint trail markers on the trees, but there was no trail.<br />
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When I finally made it to the mouth, there were brookies rising everywhere in the junction pool. This was a good sign - however the main is top notch by itself.<br />
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I crossed the main stem and picked out the first likely looking pool and...add another stream to the list!<br />
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He was a sign of reproduction, which is always good. The next likely looking pool produced another age class.<br />
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This section of stream was a series of small runs and riffles but when I found a decent pool I landed the largest brookie from my short adventure on this new stream. This guy also appeared to be a third age class.</div>
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I landed one more for good measure and with the assurance this is a healthy brook trout stream, I headed back out toward the camps and another small stream I crossed on the way in.</div>
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I mentioned the main stem is a blue ribbon brookie stream, so when I crossed the stream and saw a good looking pocket, I couldn't resist. I was on a tight timeline, but I can always make time for these guys! </div>
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I could fish this stream all day, every day, and be perfectly content - it's that good. I don't like to do that though. Remember, this is "Reason 2" as to why I fish.</div>
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The second little trib of the day was much smaller and the damage from Superstorm Sandy was still evident on this little stream. </div>
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However, it didn't take me long to land another young-of-the-year brookie. </div>
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The fishing was tight but I did manage to land another small brookie from the 2012 brood. Again, a good sign!</div>
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Check two streams off, with one to go.</div>
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I had waded across this last stream on previous trips, including this day, but had never taken the time to properly prospect it - today that would change.</div>
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Just as I had done on the previous two tribs, in short order I added a third stream to my list, and another small brookie.</div>
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I stepped up a couple of small runs and picked up my final brookie of the day, and another age class. The brook trout population is strong in this watershed.</div>
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I typically don't like staged photos, but when I saw this red-spotted newt perched on the edge of the moss-covered rock where I landed my last brookie, I couldn't help ,myself.</div>
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My brookie fly box, 000wt, and Mr. Eft.</div>
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In a short, 2-hour span I added three new streams to my list and re-enforced the second reason why I fish.</div>
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Reason 1: I fish for the camaraderie, I fish to share amazing places with good friends.</div>
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Reason 2: I fish to explore the unknown. Everyone likes a sure thing but there have been books written about "around the next bend". I'm an explorer, that's what I do!</div>
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In four days I leave for a week of West Virginia trout bummin'. I'm strapping on a pack and headed to the headwaters of another watershed that has been on my radar for quite some time. Who knows what I will find but one thing is for sure, it will be new water (for me)!</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-10522535683422277802013-05-26T10:23:00.002-04:002013-05-29T19:58:38.700-04:00Why I Fish - Reason 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently took my annual trip for our local TU chapter campout. For the last five years, the Friday of this outing has been spent with my good friend and WVU professor, Rick. <br />
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The first two years of this (now) annual tradition was a 10-mile trek into the Seneca backcountry. The third year water was up so we didn't make the long hike, instead I showed him a couple of my other favorite waters. Then, last year, he decided he would rather fish one of those streams. It was hard to believe it had been three years since Rick and I had been in the backcountry.<br />
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This year, we found ourselves planning the Seneca backcountry trip again. This year we would shuttle a vehicle to the top of the backcountry, make our usual gruelling hike over Allegheny Mountain, then fish our way out the gentle grade trail to the top - avoiding the brutal hike out after fishing all day. <br />
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Also different this year, we would have a couple of friends joining us. One of these friends would be (Don) an old college friend that I've only seen a few times over the last 25 years. <br />
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We were up early, took care of the shuttle vehicle at the top, and soon found ourselves heading up the mountain on Horton trail. It's been a long time since my college friend and I have actually just talked and the hike in was all conversation - it was nice to catch up! However, things did get pretty quiet when we got near the crest of Allegheny Mountain, as the final quarter mile feels straight up.<br />
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More good conversation ensued on the downhill section of the trail and before we knew it we were unloading our packs and getting ready to hit the water. Don and Rick getting the day started:<br />
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I took the first good looking run, while the others spread out upstream. I always catch a nice rainbow or brookie here - not this day. Although I struck out in the first run, it didn't take long to land my first brookie of the day.<br />
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After I got the day started off right with a nice, little native brookie, I caught up to Don and he invited me to share a nice pod of rising rainbows.</div>
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Don landed a nice little rainbow, stepped to the side, and allowed me to do the same. The day was looking good early!</div>
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This day was going to be outstanding,sharing one of my favorite sections of stream (anywhere) with two good friends.</div>
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We had five miles of stream and trail to cover, and even with four of us "hop scotching", that's a lot of water to cover - so we moved fast. However, I couldn't pull myself away from probably my favorite spot in West Virginia - the upper falls of Seneca Creek.</div>
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I snapped off several photos of the falls, caught a few wild/native fish, then moved on to catch the crew. When I finally caught up with them, they were watching Rick's brother-in-law working a nice pool. He landed one of the nicer fish of the day, a beautiful Seneca wild rainbow.</div>
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Over the next few hours I took more photos on the stream than I have in years. I found myself watching my friends work the water as I trailed with the camera out. </div>
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I could help but wonder when the three of us would be on the water together again. Rick and I seem pretty committed to making our annual outing happen every year. I hope we can get Don out with us again in the future.</div>
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When I wasn't snapping off photos of Don and Rick in the same frame, I was taking shots of some amazing water.</div>
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I didn't only take photos, I did pretty well with the rod too!</div>
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When we got to Judy Springs, a primary source of Seneca Creek, I knew we had three miles to the trailhead. It was new territory for Rick and they took turns heckling me as I fished for a couple of risers below the foot bridge.</div>
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After I whiffed at a couple of strikes, we took Rick over to see the springs. It's one of the largest spring heads I know about in West Virginia.</div>
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This was all new territory for Rick and it's nice to introduce friends to the sites that you hold near and dear to your heart. I've personally only fished above the springs on one other occasion, so I was going to hit new water myself.</div>
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The fishing didn't slow down above the springs. I walked up on another pool of risers, and in back-to-back drifts I landed these two guys.</div>
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The rainbow was my largest of the day and he was very dark - his mouth was actually black.</div>
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Then I made a couple more drifts for good measure and landed another little brookie.</div>
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By this time of the day we were covering water quickly, with a couple of miles still remaining to the trailhead. I was nearly done for the day, just watching everyone else work the water.</div>
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I caught Don landing one in this nice pool. On the tail of a drift, he landed one as he was about to lift his fly for another cast. I told him it almost looked like an accident.</div>
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I picked a nice little run next to the trail and landed one more little rainbow on the day.</div>
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Nobody in the crew wanted to end this day but when the skies opened up, they all packed up their rods and prepared for the final hike out. We had another two miles to the trailhead but everyone had commitments they had to meet that evening - as we all do in life.</div>
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Once we got to the trailhead, it was time to just hang out and laugh at each other. The day seemed to fly by but we had actually been out for nearly ten hours. It was also nice to just sit around and talk. I enjoy that almost as much as the fishing - ALMOST.</div>
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Why do we fish? </div>
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One of the main reasons I fish is the camaraderie. I enjoy sharing the water and scenery of where we find wild and native salmonids with friends. I particularly like it when it is new scenery for my friends. </div>
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I hope I have many more outings with Don and Rick - and all of my other fishing friends!</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-13087076521370311872013-05-02T16:54:00.001-04:002013-05-02T16:54:39.418-04:00Just Cleaning Up Around Here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After fishing western Maryland a couple of weeks earlier, I thought what better way to give back to a resource than to participate in a stream clean-up on the main branch. It's also a good (justified) excuse to go fishing again.<br />
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This trip would also be the first outing of the year for my son, Ross. He always looks for opportunities to get out on the water - even if there is a little bit of work to be done first. He also doesn't mind the 4:30 AM wake up call because he can sleep for the almost 3-hour car ride.<br />
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We met a couple of friends in Morgantown, then it was on to the river for the clean-up.<br />
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The Youghiogheny chapter of Trout Unlimited sponsors this clean-up every year. The turnout was low, but so was the trash - of course I'm comparing this to the Elkhorn clean-up.<br />
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After walking a few miles of road and maybe collecting a bag of trash (that's a good thing), Ross commented that, "compared to the Elkhorn clean-up, this is more like a scavenger hunt than a stream clean-up".<br />
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We had a nice lunch, provided by the hosting TU chapter, but I could tell Ross was getting anxious to hit the water. While our friends decided on a nearby delayed harvest stream, Ross and I decided to hit a new brookie stream.<br />
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We only took one rod in - I wanted Ross to do most of the catching!<br />
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I was wet wading and I could tell by the water temperature that they were still feeling the effects of the heavy snow two weeks earlier. I guess what I'm saying is the fish weren't cooperating for Ross.<br />
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I started him out on a dry fly, then switched him over to a small green woolybugger - both with no luck. I let him fish the first few runs by himself, then I grabbed the rod to give a nice pool a second go at it. I knew he wanted to get his hands on some fish!<br />
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Sure enough, we landed our first brookie of the day, and I let Ross release him.<br />
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We continued this operation as we worked our way upstream. I would let Ross work the pool over pretty good, then I would grab the rod and give it a try.</div>
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It worked out several times as we landed several nice brookies. Ross seemed alright with this - he enjoys handling the fish and releasing them.</div>
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We fished as late as we could, keeping in mind it was a Sunday, we had a 3+ hour ride home, and Ross had school the next day. </div>
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He was very patient but I could tell he was disappointed he hadn't landed any by himself when I told him we had to start the hike out. I did tell him we would hit a few more pools on the way out and we did.</div>
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The first nice run I spotted, we stopped to check it out. I spotted a nice brookie feeding actively in the tailout and while I found him, Ross spotted another one on up in the pool - and he didn't have the benefit of polarized sunglasses. I was impressed!</div>
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I put on a dry/dropper rig and let him try for the first fish in the tailout. The fly line got caught on some woody debris and put the fish down, so he moved on up the run. </div>
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His first drift through the run and he hooked his first brookie of the day/year! With the excitement of Ross landing his first brookie of the year, I didn't get any photos.</div>
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This was also Ross' first Maryland brookie - to go along with West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. He's only a few states behind me but I have a few years on him.</div>
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I look forward to returning to this clean-up next year and Ross made a recommendation for next year. He wanted to know if we could clean up along this stream, which is maintained behind locked gates at both ends. The TU chapter is looking into it!</div>
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So, with this clean-up on Sunday, I also had the annual Elkhorn clean-up the following Saturday. I was tired of driving (which doesn't happen often) but I owed it to my mentor and friend who recently passed and was the coordinator of this event.</div>
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I was on the road at 4:30 AM again but this time I didn't even pack a rod. We knocked out the clean-up in no time. I heard comments that things are starting to look up in the area - but it's all relative. In the same amount of time we filled maybe a truck bed full of trash on the Savage we filled up 2-3 roll-off dumpsters on the Elkhorn. We also had many more volunteers on Elkhorn - a true reflection on a great man. Ernie Nester will be missed!</div>
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I had a nice lunch, chatted fishing and fishing trips with some good friends, then it was on the road for the 4-hour ride home.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-52398615070876571912013-04-19T14:20:00.000-04:002013-04-19T14:20:50.949-04:00This Crazy March Weather - Part Two<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had planned this Good Friday trip a few weeks in advance so when Maryland received nearly twelve inches of snow earlier in the week, there was no backing out. In addition, I hadn't fished this area of western Maryland in almost nine years!<br />
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It's hard to believe just two weeks prior to this I was wet wading in near 80 degree weather. What do they say about March coming in like a lamb?<br />
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When we got to the stream, there was still 6"-8" of snow on the ground - and it was cold! Other than the Elkhorn Clean-up, I hadn't worn waders in three years.<br />
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I hadn't fished this area since the cicada hatch of 2004 and since that time there was a 5-year brook trout "no kill" study completed.<br />
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We fished the main branch first but the cold temperatures and some snow melt kept us from moving any fish.<br />
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After fishing a short section of the main branch, it was off to the tribs.<br />
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Rick was the first to strike with a nice two-hander brookie on a small olive woolybugger.<br />
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After Rick picked up the first brookie of the day, he gave me the lead on several nice runs. I know there were brookies in there but the cold water temps gave them a bad case of lockjaw.<br />
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I knew it was only a matter of time and, sure enough, I soon caught my first Maryland brookie in nine years. A nice, dark specimen was my first of the day.<br />
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After getting rid of that skunky smell, I soon picked up another brookie. This one was a little bigger, had much better coloration, and had a unique defect.<br />
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In all of the thousands of brook trout I have seen, I've only witnessed this on one other fish - he was blind in one eye.<br />
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You can see it better in the next photo. The only other blind brook trout I have encountered was actually blind in both eyes.<br />
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These guys are survivors!<br />
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After both of us picking up a couple of brookies, it was back to the vehicle for lunch, then off to one of the other tribs in the vicinity.<br />
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The second trib we fished was much smaller. The air temps had increased enough to where I could stop dredging the woolybugger across the bottom and switch to my favorite rig of stimulator with a pheasant tail dropper.<br />
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The brookies were digging the small pheasant tail.<br />
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This stream was mostly runs and riffles versus the plunge pools in the previous stream.<br />
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I spooked a few brookies before I finally landed another nice brookie under a root ball in one of the larger (albeit small) runs in this stream.<br />
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We fished only a short distance on this small stream, but it was nice to add another new stream to my list.<br />
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We returned to fish the main branch one more time before calling it a day. I moved one fish off the bottom a deep run, but by this time the increase in air temps had added a good bit of snow runoff to the stream.<br />
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I did buy an annual Maryland license so I will be back to explore more of this watershed to see what a 5-year no kill regulation does for a fishery - even though this was an outstanding fishery to begin with.<br />
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Chris</div>
Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-23692374258433839342013-03-25T16:56:00.001-04:002013-03-26T19:17:19.878-04:00The Passing of a Mentor and Friend<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is not an entry I want to make but I can't think of a better way to pay my respects to one of my Trout Unlimited mentors and a good friend.<br />
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I received an email yesterday informing me that my TU mentor and fishing friend Ernie Nester passed away after a short battle with cancer. Ernie was one of the founding fathers of West Virginia Trout Unlimited, he was the first state chairman and the first chapter president of the Kanawha Valley chapter. The Kanawha Valley Chapter was recently changed to the Ernie Nester Chapter of Trout Unlimited and he was affectionately referred to by many as "Johny Troutseed".<br />
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I referred to him as friend and mentor. If it were not for mentors like Ernie, I never would have accepted the position of state chairman or even NLC representative. I knew I could always count on Ernie to answer any concerns.<br />
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What I think I enjoyed even more than his support in TU were his fishing reports. I was lucky enough to be on Ernie's distribution list for his fishing reports. This was (to my knowledge) his last report from his beloved Middle Fork of the Williams:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><em><strong>On Sept. 7, 2012 I fished the very lower section of the Middle Fork of the Williams from 12:50 until 3:10. The water was very low and the Williams at Dyer was running about 70 cfs. The water temperature was 64 degrees at 1:15 and 66 degrees at 3:10. I moved 22 brook trout, hooked 5 of them, but only landed 1.</strong></em></span></span></div>
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I will miss these reports and I will miss his leadership and direction at two TU events I attend every year. If you go back through my blog entries, you can find multiple entries for both the Elkhorn Cleanup and the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade - both of which he coordinated. I don't fish Elkhorn except following the clean-up. I don't assist with the clean-up to give back to a resource that provides enjoyment for me, I do it purely out of respect for Ernie.</div>
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The stream I fished a couple of weeks ago, and my last blog entry, was the first stream I fished with Ernie in 2005. I thought of Ernie several times as I fished that day, remembering taking turns fishing holes - several of which remain unchanged.</div>
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I also had the pleasure to complete the Wyoming Cuttslam with him and Josh Parks in 2007. One of the memories of that trip was when we were fishing a brook trout stream in the Colorado River drainage. Josh and I were catching 6"-8" brookies for dinner when Ernie landed this 18" Snake River cutthroat.</div>
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A couple of days later we were fishing another stream in the Colorado River drainage. Again, while Josh and I were landing 6"-8" Colorado River cutthroat, Ernie landed another 18" fish!</div>
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I appreciated the lessons and Ernie even gave me a couple of his "gray" nymphs that he landed both fish on.<br />
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During the same trip, Ernie led us to a lake in Yellowstone (not Grebe) where I caught my first grayling.<br />
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I was eventually able to return the favor, putting Ernie on one of my favorite western streams on his last trip out west in August of 2012. He made the hike into Big Meadows on Tonahutu Creek in RMNP and he agreed that was indeed "brook trout heaven".<br />
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Also on his final trip west, I was able to direct him to greenbacks and Colorado River cutts in RMNP. He had caught greenbacks on a trip to RMNP in 2007 but it appears as though he caught his first greenback again.<br />
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Greenback Cutthroat</div>
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Colorado River Cutthroat</div>
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Ernie and his fishing partner put in 48 miles of hiking on that trip, hard to believe he was diagnosed with cancer a little over a month after that trip.<br />
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After receiving 12 reports from that trip, I suggested Ernie and I coordinate another trip out west together - I had a few more streams and species I wanted to share with him. His response to me was: "That is a nice thought, but I cannot keep up with you". I don't need to worry about him keeping up with me on my adventures now, HE WILL BE WITH ME EVERY STEP AND HE WILL BE WITH ME WITH EVERY NATIVE SALMONID I LAND.</div>
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Not knowing Ernie was early in his battle, I sent Ernie a report from my last trip of the year for 2012. He responded by requesting higher resolution photos of my brookies - which he did often when I sent him reports.<br />
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Trout Unlimited has lost a great advocate and I have lost a great friend/mentor. I look forward to the day when I can again join Ernie on brook trout heaven as I'm sure he is already there waiting.<br />
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I will miss you Ernie!<br />
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Chris</div>
Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-67789322773190119942013-03-17T14:10:00.002-04:002013-03-17T14:10:48.277-04:00This Crazy March Weather<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After looking back on my blog entries for 2012, I noticed one thing: I did not fish nearly as much as I had in the previous few years.<br />
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I did, however, add a few items to my personal list:<br />
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<li>A new species in the Paiute cutthroat</li>
<li>Eight new brookies streams in Virginia</li>
<li>Only one new brookie stream in West Virginia</li>
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Looking forward to 2013, I have a few tentative plans on my radar.<br />
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<li>TU National meeting in Madison, Wisconsin: catch brookies in 4 new states (Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula). This will also be the 2013 edition of Brookiebum</li>
<li>Backpacking trip in the Smokies in June, finishing up with the Bucket Brigade back in West Virginia.</li>
<li>Another visit to the Smokies with my son at the end of July.</li>
<li>I've also been invited to backpack into the headwaters of the North Fork of the Big Thompson in Rocky Mountain National Park.</li>
<li>A visit back to the brookie streams of the Savage River drainage in western Maryland -haven't been there since 2004.</li>
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I also hope to get in a few more day trips to explore West Virginia's brookie streams, similar to this past weekend when the March weekend temperatures reached the upper 70s. Just five days prior to this day trip it was snowing and the mountain areas to the east received several inches.<br />
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Because of the snow and possibility of snow melt, I put off the decision to go or stay home as late as possible. I made the decision to go at 8:00 AM and by 9:00 I was on the road. By 11:30 I was parked and gearing up for my first outing since late October. The temperature had already climbed to above 60 degrees so I made the decision to leave the waders in the vehicle.<br />
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It was March 10 and I was wet wading! This March weather is crazy! Four days prior the mountains of WV received several inches of snow and three days after this trip it snowed again - crazy!<br />
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I tied on my usual cold water fly, a size 12 olive woolybugger, and in the first pool I caught my first brookie of 2013.<br />
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Being a little rusty from the long winter lay off, I soon lost the bugger in a nearby downed tree. I will say this:if this stream is any indication of the damage super storm Sandy left behind, the small stream fishing is going to be difficult! West Virginia received three feet of snow in some location, combine that with trees that had yet to drop leaves, and you have significant damage.<br />
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Enough excuses, I tied on my most popular set-up: a size 12-14 stimulator with a 16-18 bead head pheasant tail. Soon after re-rigging, I caught my first brookie on a dry fly for the year.<br />
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As the sun rose higher, the water temps raised a few degrees, and the top water action was outstanding - it is March, right?<br />
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I only landed one small brookie on the dropper, combine that with high numbers of downed trees, and I soon removed the dropper. I was fishing strictly a dry fly in early March, this was great!</div>
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This brookie stream is the closest to Parkersburg which makes it a great candidate for a quick road trip. However, it is NOT the most aesthetically pleasing stream as it happens to be the local "dump". The hillside is littered with tires, appliances, and general landfill material. If you keep your eyes focused on the water, it's just like any other brookie stream, except for the washer/dryer hole.</div>
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I landed brookies both above and below the log jam at the washer/dryer hole.</div>
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A nice brookie from above the log jam.</div>
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As I moved up stream, I could feel the water warming and the dry fly action rose with the temperatures.<br />
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Having told people I would be home by 5:00, I soon found myself looking for a good pool to call it a day. I didn't find a good pool but this next brookie made for a great ending to a quick road trip. A very nice brookie in the 8-10" range.</div>
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There was much more good looking water ahead of me but if I was going to be home on time, I had to pull myself away from the stream.</div>
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On the short hike out, I heard another sign of spring. The sound of mating amphibians filled the air. I wish I could remember back to my vertebrate zoology classes in college and the distinct sounds of each species. I believe these may have been wood frogs and the puddles were filled with both frog and eggs. As I neared the puddles the frogs headed for the woodlands but their eggs filled the small pools.</div>
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I look forward to 2013, just like I do every year, and I hope this crazy March weather holds out for my next planned trip. If the weather holds, I plan to be somewhere on a stream on Good Friday - possibly my first trip to western Maryland in eight years.</div>
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Chris </div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-80750883860690331452012-10-27T09:40:00.004-04:002012-10-27T11:41:37.258-04:00Brook Trout Therapy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
For the past three months I have been absolutely buried at work! I even cut my California trip in half due to my workload. I'm sure that my situation is not much different than many folks and this is a fishing blog, not a forum to whine about my lack of time on the stream.<br />
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When a break in my schedule coincided with a late-October forecast for near eighty degree temperatures, I knew it was time for a day trip! I was due too! I had not fished in my home state of West Virginia in almost five months. That might be acceptable over the long winter months, it is not acceptable during the summer/fall months.<br />
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A few months earlier I had been reviewing the topo maps of a stream I had fished on a few other occasions and I noticed there was quite a bit of water I had not touched. With that thought in mind, after I dropped the kids off at school, I was headed east with plans to explore deeper into that particular stream.<br />
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By about 10:00 AM I was wet wading (in late October) on a familiar stream. The leaves had already dropped so I had missed the peak of the fall foliage, but that wasn't the purpose of this trip. I hiked in along the trail-less stream to the point which I recognized as the deepest I had gone on previous trips.<br />
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The water was not cold and the flows were great for late October.<br />
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I tied on a fuzzy dry fly and started prospecting the small pockets. It wasn't long before I landed a long lost friend. He wasn't large but he was exactly what I needed - a native West Virginia brook trout.<br />
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Shortly after that little guy, I caught a slightly larger little brookie. Both were too young to be doing what they need to be doing in late October.<br />
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Then, I caught what I was looking for, a brookie in those wonderful fall colors!<br />
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I started to realize, with each advance into the unknown, that this was a special stream. What is a small stream of runs and riffles where I had fished previously, soon turned into a stream of nice pools and higher gradient.<br />
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With each pool (like the one above) came multiple brookies. The warm air/water temps and the post spawn made for very active fish. I was in for an amazing day on the stream!</div>
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By the time I made it to this large, deep plunge pool my stomach was telling me it was time to eat and I couldn't have picked a better place to have lunch on this day.<br />
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Before lunch, I spent a few minutes dissecting the hole. I fished the tail - right, center, then left. I fished the middle of the pool - right, center, then left. Finally; I fished the head of the pool - right, center, then left. This pool provided me with double digit (numbers) in beautiful little brookies!</div>
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After a quick lunch overlooking that wonderful pool, I pushed on into the unknown. As I moved upstream, it was more of the same - beautiful little brookies.</div>
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I can count on one hand the number of times I have caught so many fish that I just decided to walk along the stream and just observe the brookies. It has been a few years since this has happened in West Virginia.</div>
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What I noticed was 10-15 brook trout in nearly every pool. When I walked up on this couple, I decided to hind behind a tree and just observe.</div>
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It was very relaxing just sitting stream side and reflecting how lucky we are in West Virginia to have resources like this that can cleanse the soul when you are in need...and with the situation at work, I needed that therapy.</div>
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After observing the happy couple for a few minutes, I continued my trek upstream. It was nice to see several other couples and it was also nice to see the high number of brookies in this stream.</div>
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When I came upon this next large, deep pool I decided to dissect it just as I did the "lunch pool". </div>
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The method was the same and the results were the same - double digit (numbers) brookies from one pool...a rare occurrence!</div>
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Finally, one last brookie from the pool and I was satisfied with my day on the stream.</div>
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I called it a day (fishing), and it was a very satisfying day, but I did walk a bit further upstream. Everyone always wonders what's around that next bend but eventually you need to turn for home.</div>
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I'm glad I decided to explore deeper into this stream. I can't remember the last day I had like this on a West Virginia brookie stream. Numbers, size, and colors - it would be hard to beat!</div>
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I felt very refreshed! Exploring and brook trout - GREAT
THERAPY!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris<o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-18658630393347540642012-10-14T10:12:00.001-04:002012-10-14T10:13:02.922-04:00California 2012 - There's Gold in Them There Hills<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The main reason for my trip to California this year was to climb Mt. Whitney on my 45th birthday. I did and you can find that report at this link: <a href="http://shocchris1.blogspot.com/2012/09/mt-whitney-45th-birthday-celebration.html" rel="nofollow">Mt. Whitney</a>.<br />
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My secondary goal was to add the elusive Paiute cutthroat to my personal life list - I did that too!<br />
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While I was filling in the time between those two objectives, I made a couple of trips into the Golden Trout Wilderness.<br />
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The first short trip occurred when I came down out of the Schulman Grove of bristlecone pines to check on my Mt. Whitney permit at the United States Forest Service headquarters in Lone Pine, California. I was a two days early to pick up my permit but when you look out the west end of the visitor's center and see this...<br />
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...the wicked set of switchbacks up and into Golden Trout Wilderness, it's tough to not make a quick trip!<br />
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So, after a quick (white knuckle) drive up the switchbacks I found myself back in Cottonwood Meadows and the eastern trailheads of the Golden Trout Wilderness. I made my first and only visit here when I visited in 2010 to complete the <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2010/08/epic-2010-native-road-trip-part-2.html">California Heritage Trout Challenge</a>. It was good to be back!<br />
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I didn't plan to do a long hike today, simply to check out the local goldens in Cottonwood Creek. Cottonwood Creek is a non-native stream for the California golden trout, but I didn't care, I just wanted to see those beautiful salmonids again. <br />
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Cottonwood Creek isn't the easiest stream to fish, most likely due to the pressure it sees being right next to the trailhead campground. I did manage to pick up a couple of small goldens, but the colors here do not compare to the colors on the fish in the native waters. They were very thin too.<br />
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After landing a few more goldens, I satisfied my urgent need to see these little guys again, so I packed up my gear and headed north to search for my white whale - the Paiute cutthroat.</div>
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I successfully added the Paiute cutthroat to my list but it was one of the most brutal hikes I have ever done to add a species! I had planned to add another 14,000' peak (White Mountain Peak) to my list after the Paiutes but I was in no condition to do 14 miles on this day. Instead, I drove back to the Golden Trout Wilderness trailhead with plans to do a slightly shorter hike.</div>
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Instead of going up and over Cottonwood Pass, I would make the hike up and over Trail Pass - a much shorter route into the native waters of the California golden trout. The destination would be Mulkey Creek in Mulkey Meadows and the California golden trout of the South Fork of the Kern drainage.</div>
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Just a short distance from the trailhead, the trail splits - right to Cottonwood Pass and left to Trail Pass. </div>
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Even though I was still struggling from the brutal hike a day earlier, in what felt like no time at all I found myself standing at the top of Trail Pass looking into the native drainage of the California golden trout.</div>
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Shortly after starting the descent into Mulkey Meadows, I caught my first glimpse of my final destination.<br />
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Again, after what seemed like no time at all I found myself standing on the trail at the edge of Mulkey Meadows. <br />
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Considering the condition my feet were in from the previous day, the 4+ mile hike (1 hour and 45 minutes) seemed to heal me - I felt great!<br />
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I took a break and had lunch on what seemed like the only rock in the meadow. While chasing my lunch and trying to string up my rod, I couldn't help but notice how strong the wind was.<br />
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After chasing down all of my lunch wrappers and getting the rod strung up, I was headed for the water. The fish seemed to be much more easily spooked than what I remembered from Golden Trout Creek. Regardless of the wind and the spooky fish, I soon had my first California golden trout from the South Fork of the Kern drainage.<br />
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These little guys were much more colorful than the Cottonwood Creek goldens I had caught a couple of days earlier. As usual, pictures do not do these fish justice! No camera can capture the bright, fluorescent yellows and oranges!<br />
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One difference I did notice between the Mulkey Creek (South Fork of the Kern drainage) and the Golden Trout Creek (Kern River drainage), was the blood red lateral stripe. These fish were absolutely beautiful!</div>
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I continued to "fish" through the wind. I was glad I brought my Sage 000wt versus my bamboo, I don't know that I could have loaded the bamboo rod in that wind. Between the wind and the narrow pocket of a stream, about one out of every five casts hit the water. You can see in the next photo what I had to hit in the wind.</div>
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The forecast was for 0% chance of rain but the wind was blowing in some dark clouds. I didn't want to get caught in a thunderstorm in a high, open meadow or even the hike back over the pass. I caught a few more small goldens then packed up my gear for the hike out.</div>
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It was nice to add the California golden trout from a new watershed to my life list - one of these days I will make it all the way into Volcano Creek!</div>
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On weary legs and beat up feet, I made the 4+ mile hike up and over Trail Pass in 1 hour and 45 minutes again. I didn't want to do a 14-mile hike this day but nine miles felt pretty good for a day hike.</div>
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One last photo, a panorama of Mulkey Meadow with my iPhone.</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-74871853604226097352012-09-16T12:53:00.001-04:002012-09-16T12:55:40.084-04:00California 2012 - My "White Whale"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a while since I have added a blog entry. There is a very good reason for that - I haven't been fishing since my Brookiebum trip to Shenandoah National Park in June.<br />
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After I hiked my first 14er for my 40th birthday in 2007, I had been dreaming of the highest 14er in the lower 48 for my 45th. This trip to California was to climb Mt. Whitney (14,508 feet) on my 45th birthday but I figured, I'm here, I might as well fish.<br />
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I made a trip to California in 2010 to (successfully) complete the California Heritage Trout Challenge. The only salmonid I struck out on in California was the Paiute cutthroat when I went into the Silver King Creek watershed. After the California golden trout, this was the species I most wanted to catch. I caught several beautiful, invasive rainbow trout in Silver King but I was unable to add the fish I most wanted to catch. I remember when I left California I was extremely disappointed because I didn't know if I would ever make a return trip.<br />
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When I won the Mt. Whitney lottery earlier this year, the first day trip to plan was to catch the Paiute cutthroat. This time I would take the chance out of it and hike into a stream I new contained the elusive Paiute. It is a stream outside of their native watershed but I knew this stream contained only Paiute cutthroat.<br />
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So the day came and I found myself in the campground at Devil's Postpile National Monument. Working on only three hours of sleep from the drive from Las Vegas, I got a late start on the trail - an hour later than I planned. The hike would be seven miles in on trail, then another 1+ miles of off-trail bushwhacking. An early start was much needed.<br />
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After crossing the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin, it was a short climb to the top of the first ridge. While climbing, I crossed the John Muir Trail...<br />
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...before entrering the Ansel Adams Wilderness.</div>
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It was obvious this area had previously been hit with forest fires but, this June, it wa also hit with a major wind storm. There were downed trees the entire length of the seven miles of trail. The United States Forest Service personnel had done an outstanding job clearing miles of trails! These were not small trees they had to clear, some were four or five feet in diameter!</div>
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Regardless, the trail was in excellent shape and the views of this rugged area were amazing.</div>
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After crossing the first (low) ridge, I crossed a stream then sarted a nearly two mile climb to the top of the second ridge. The effective use of switchbacks made this climb much easier than it would have been otherwise.</div>
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After descending from the pass, I started looking for my first off-trail GPS waypoint. After seven miles (2.5 hours of hiking) it was time to leave the trail. Solo, off-trail hiking in a rugged wilderness is not something I was too keen about doing but I was prepared. I had my GPS (with SPOT communicator), extra batteries, water filter, head lamp, and plenty of food.</div>
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The next mile (plus) of hiking was a simple matter of following the GPS waypoints into the mini-canyon section of this stream. It was a fairly uneventful descent until I got to the second from last waypoint, at that point it was clear why my friend had marked this waypoint.</div>
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If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the next fifty feet or so was straight down over the rocky point I found myself standing on. Did I mention I was hiking solo? When I hike alone, I try not to take unneccesary risks - this one was necessary! There were Paiute cutthroat down there somewhere and I had gone too far to turn back.</div>
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I took my time descending this wall, being very careful with every foot placement.</div>
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I successfully descended this obstacle but the reality of it was I would eventually need to climb it to get out!</div>
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I put that thought out of my mind because I had one more waypoint to hit and that was where the Paiute cutthroat were located.</div>
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I found the last waypoint and, sure enough, I got my first look at my "white whale" - the Paiute cutthroat.</div>
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After watching the cutties swim about in every little pocket and pool, it was time to string up the rod and try to add this species to my life list.</div>
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With the obvious healthy population in this stream, the first pool I decided to cast a fly produced my first Paiute cutthroat.</div>
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Fishing in this stream was much like fishing in Golden Trout Creek - overpopulated. I landed 3-4 cutts in every pool or pocket of water. The population is doing great!</div>
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In the short time I fished, I landed probably close to 30 little Paiute cutthroat.</div>
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After catching my share of Paiutes, I decided to have lunch before I started the climb out. What a great place to have lunch!</div>
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With the daunting hike out ahead of me; I topped off my hydration bladder, packed my rod, and started heading up/out. </div>
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I climbed up the rock wall and continued the mile plus climb up to the trail. The bushwhacking was a simple matter of backtracking the GPS waypoints because (as you can see) there was NO trail.</div>
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The first two hours of the hike out was a continuous climb. Finally I reached the pass and could see my final destination in the distance. If you can see the small granite knob about halfway up the right side of this photo, the trailhead was down the back side of that small ridge.<br />
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If I had remembered my spool of tippet material I would have stopped to wet a line in this stream as it was absolutely teaming with little rainbows.</div>
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It was probably for the better though as my legs were quite fatigued and I still had one more small climb to make.</div>
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Finally, nearing the trailhead I could see the area namesake, Devil's Postpile (just because I was there).</div>
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When I finally reached the trailhead, my feet were quite sore and my hydration bladder was empty again - I was glad to be back to the campground!</div>
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Of all of the native species and sub-species I have chased all over the west, this species (although not in the native watershed) has to be the most difficult to catch. A very difficult solo hike of over 16 miles, including over two miles of off-trail bushwhacking. This, and the fact it has always been one of my most sought after species, also makes this one of my most rewarding adventures.</div>
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Now that I have addded my "white whale" to my life list, I now have only three cutthroat species to complete the list: Coastal, Whitehorse basin, and the "Alvord".</div>
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Chris</div>
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Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-16053914176523494532012-07-12T19:53:00.000-04:002012-07-13T19:30:03.710-04:00Brookiebum 2012 - Shenandoah National Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Every year Phil and I do a multi-day backcountry adventure that we call Brookiebum. It's our annual trout bum adventure where we search for our beloved native brook trout.<br />
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Previous years have had us backpacking into the Cranberry Wilderness but this year we decided to switch it up a bit and head out of state. We debated between Smoky Mountain National Park or Shenandoah National Park. I do an annual outing every year with my son in the Smokies, so we settled on Shenandoah. The original plan was to backpack in, set up camp, and explore one watershed. I've only fished SNP one other time and my list of streams was too long to just fish one, so (again) we changed the plans and decided on a central campground where we could hit multiple streams.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 1</span><br />
The day finally arrived, I met Phil in central West Virginia, and it was Rt. 33 all the way to Shenandoah National Park.<br />
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On the way over we stopped at a roadside brookie stream that Phil had fished a few years earlier. Once on the stream, I fished in jeans, and spooked a couple of brookies without picking one up. I took my shoes & socks off, rolled up by jeans, and moved upstream barefoot. It wasn't easy but I finally picked up one small brookie and added another West Virginia stream to my personal list.<br />
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A mile or so up the road we stopped at the spring head, only to see some of the biggest native brook trout I have seen anywhere. There they were, finning in the current, just off the edge of the underwater vegetation. I couldn't get them interested enough to even look up but it sure was nice to see something that size swimming in West Virginia waters....No photos of either the brookie I caught or the big boys swimming at the spring head - SORRY!<br />
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After this quick stop, it was on over the state line to Harrisonburg, Virginia and the gateway to Shenandoah National Park. <br />
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After FINALLY finding a campsite in the park, it was a quick dinner and a quick turn-in. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 2</span><br />
The plan for this day was a short hike off the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Hoover Camp and the Rapidan River. From the trailhead, we were on the Appalachian Trail for about 20 yards before heading down off the mountain.<br />
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It was a short two miles to Hoover's Camp on the Rapidan, then another half-mile beyond the camp, we jumped into the famous Rapidan River. This stream has been on my list for several years!<br />
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What do you tie on when you are fishing the Rapidan River? A Mr. Rapidan, of course.<br />
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It didn't take long, the first small pool, produced my first Rapidan River brook trout.<br />
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What I failed to mention was that about thirty minutes into our hike, Phil stopped dead in his tracks, and asked me "Guess what I forgot?" He had remembered his reel but forgot his rod! The options were: Phil hike back to the top of the mountain and give up an hour of fishing or we could take turns fishing my bamboo rod. We chose not to give up fishing time and split time with my rod - Phil made the rod after all.</div>
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It didn't take long for Phil to pick up his first Rapidan brookie either.</div>
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We continued upstream taking turns on the rod. After you land a brookie, it was time to give up the rod. We were switching up quite often as the fishing in the Rapidan was outstanding and it continued to be outstanding. <br />
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On one of my rotations on the rod, I picked up the big fish of the day. This guy was a handful on the 1wt bamboo.<br />
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Having no experience on the Rapidan, I have to assume it always fishes this well, and the Mr. Rapidan got quite a workout.<br />
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I also forgot to mention I picked up a nice fly box at a fly shop in Harrisonburg - where we also picked up the Mr. Rapidan flies.<br />
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As I took my turns behind Phil, I was able to take a few shots of the beautiful Rapidan River.<br />
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We fished to the forks of Rapidan, the location of president Herbert Hoover's camp. At this junction, Mill Creek goes to the left and Laurel Creek go to the right. Above Mill Creek is the cabin that Herbert Hoover had built for the prime minister of England.<br />
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It was amazing to add another stream to my life list and in the shadows of history. If you look closely in the next photo, beyond Phil's celebration, you can make out the Prime Minister's camp.<br />
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After Phil also added this stream to his list, we decided it was lunch time and time to check out Hoover's camp.<br />
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The camp is open to visitors and there were National Park Service volunteers there to answer any questions.<br />
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I couldn't make out the maker on the bamboo rod, I wanted to think it was an original that President Hoover actually used to fish the same waters Phil and I had just fished.<br />
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Then there was Hoover's camp at the forks. The history of this location was amazing!<br />
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We could have spent hours checking out the camp, but we had new water to explore. There is nothing like catching brook trout in the shadow of greatness...add another stream to the personal list - Laurel Creek.<br />
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The tribs of Rapidan were small and heavily choked with downfall and brush. That doesn't bother me, I love extreme small stream fishing.<br />
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The water was small, the pockets were small, but the little brookies were all fat and healthy.<br />
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As with the main Rapidan, as Phil took his turn on the rod, I snapped off a few shots of this beautiful little stream.<br />
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We fished upstream to the stream crossing and this small cascade, where Phil picked up one last brook trout in the Rapidan watershed.<br />
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From here, it was about 1.5 miles (all uphill) to the trailhead. As we hiked up and out, there was one small trickle of a stream the trail crossed. I wonder if....<br />
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Yes, this stream you could step across without extending your stride contained brookies. Although this is an unnamed stream, add another one to the personal list.<br />
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Once on the Parkway, we stopped at an overlook to check in. While there Phil surprised me with an award on behalf of the West Viginia Council of Trout Unlimited - The Silver Trout Award.<br />
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That evening was a nice evening in camp, but cold for June. I wore a toboggan and a fleece jacket up until the time I crawled into my tent. The toboggan stayed on all night long...was it June or March?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Day 3</span><br />
The evening before we made a decision to "run and gun" this day, as opposed to hiking off the Parkway again and hitting only one or two streams. The plan would be to drive off the east side of the Parkway and work our way south to north and hit 2-3 different watersheds.<br />
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The first watershed was the Graves Mills area and the Conway River. Once on the Conway, it was a short downstream hike to a small tributary with a great name - Devil's Ditch.<br />
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Devil's Ditch quickly produced brook trout, as Phil caught one at the trail crossing. I picked up three little brookies in no time and I added another stream to my list.<br />
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With several streams on our list that day, it was back out to the main branch of Conway - run and gun!<br />
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Phil, again, was the first to add the Conway to his list, and he did it with his own rod. The Conway was a beautiful stream that reminded me of several of my favorite streams in GSMNP. The major difference was it fished much tougher. I know I fished for about an hour before I finally picked up a camera shy brookie in the Conway.<br />
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By the time I landed that guy I was already to get off that stream so as soon as I landed it, we were done!<br />
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Next stop was another Rapidan trib, the Staunton River. To get there it was back to Graves Mills and the Rapidan River trailhead. Before making the turn up the Rapidan, we stopped at the Graves Mills post office, which was established in 1828.<br />
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Reading the Civil War it was easy to see how several of the area streams got their names. On this marker were men of the Conway, Graves, Rose families.<br />
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The history of the east side of the park is amazing, I could spend days in the area just checking out the Civil War landmarks.<br />
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Continuing with our running and gunning, the Staunton River was next. A short hike along the Rapidan, the trail split and we were following the Staunton. <br />
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It didn't take long and I added stream number three for the day to my personal list.<br />
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The Staunton was different than the other streams, in that it was a much higher gradient. There were several pools where we fished at eye level.<br />
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I picked up several brookies in the Staunton, no size, but healthy brookies. Not only were the individual brookies healthy, the population was healthy too. I saw a few very large broods of young of the year brookies. <br />
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The Mr. Rapidan worked well on this stream too!<br />
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By this time it was lunchtime again. I picked up this little box lunch in a park visitor's center/supply store. It was made by Go Picnic and it was the best box lunch I have ever eaten on the stream: multi-grain crackers, turkey pepperoni, asiago cheese, dried cranberries/pineapple, and an almond roca cookie. I'll order more of those off the internet before my next pack trip.<br />
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With a couple more watersheds on the list for the day, we decided to call it a day on the Staunton. On our last bridge crossing of the Rapidan I looked up and saw another amazing site. A bald eagle on the Rapidan, could it get any better?<br />
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Our next destination was the Rose River, so we were off to Syria, Virginia. We drove up the Rose to the park boundary and the Rose Rive trail. We hiked up the trail a half-mile or so before bushwhacking over the hill to the stream.<br />
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The stream was a beautiful tumbling stream with beautiful pools. <br />
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The fishing was not equal to the appearance of the stream. We fished for a couple of hours and we landed three between the two of us. We each caught one of these beasts!<br />
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Talk about extremes! I caught one aggressive two inch brook trout, then the only other brookie I caught was a true beast! The largest brookie of Brookiebum 2012.<br />
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That brookie would also be the last brookie of Brookiebum 2012.<br />
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We had plans to fish the Hughes, but with the trailhead parking closed, it would have been a half-mile hike up the road just to reach the trail. We both had enough miles on our legs for the day so we decided to call it a day and head back to the campground.<br />
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I finished Brookiebum 2012 by adding nine new streams to my personal life list - one in West Virginia and eight in Virginia. <br />
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It was a nice closing evening to our annual trip.We talked around the campfire about Brookiebum 2013. It's looking like Great Smoky Mountain National Park will be the destination for Brookiebum 2013, and it looks like my son Ross may be along for his first Brookiebum.<br />
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Looking forward to next year!<br />
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Chris</div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-36737387887059313822012-06-02T13:39:00.002-04:002012-06-02T17:13:09.277-04:00Fishing with Friends<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
Every year my WVU professor friend (Rick) and I try to coordinate a backcountry day trip. This wouldbe the fourth consecutive year, with the first two being in the Seneca Backcountry. Lat year's rain and high water forced us into a different watershed - he really liked it, so this year we would return. We were also able to get our good friend (Phil, bamboo rod maker and current West Virginia Council of Trout Unlimited chaiman) to join us. I hadall of the makings f an outstanding day trip!<br />
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My alarm went off at 2:30 AM and 3.5 hours later I was at the trailhead with my friends. The plan was to hike about a mile up the trail, to the mouth of another very nice brookie stream, start fishing from there and fish our way well into Virginia.</div><br />
By 6:30 AM we were headed up the trail. The forecast was for mid-80s, but the early morning temperature was in the low 40s and it would be hours before the sun would reach the water in this deep valley.<br />
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There was very good conversation on the hike in regarding the controversy a couple of individuals in TU "National" created on this stream last year. I won't go into details except to say the actions of these individuals cost TU several members and caused me MANY hours of public relations work as the WVCTU State Chairman at the time.<br />
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We soon reached the mouth of the feeder stream, so I rigged up my 000wt with my favorite prospecting fly; a mini-hopper from Ben at <a href="http://azwanderings.com/">Arizona Wanderings</a>.<br />
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The air was a bit chilly and when I stepped in the water (wet wading) I discovered it to be a bit cooler than the air. Regardless, the first run produced my first brookie of the day....it's going to be a good day!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With three people fishing a small stream you can cover a lot of water. You can also slow down, admire the scenery, and enjoy watching friends work the water. Here Rick works a nice, deep pool with one of his deadly rubber-legged woolybuggers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We each took turns fishing the nice runs and deep pools, with each picking up the occasional nice brookie. The mini-hopper was working well that early morning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Phil is not only a fine bamboo rodmaker but he is also an incredible photographer! I think one of his secrets are the angles he uses. Here he shoots a nice brookie "blind", without using a viewfinder of any kind. He posted several of his photos from this day on his Facebook page. I'm not sure of his privacy settings, but you may be able to view his shots at this <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.3128327738424.2113399.1571614533&type=3">link</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbjzY6U1vJc/T8pD9xu3qGI/AAAAAAAACO8/g-QtumnqZtU/s1600/DSC06414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbjzY6U1vJc/T8pD9xu3qGI/AAAAAAAACO8/g-QtumnqZtU/s320/DSC06414.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another talent of Phil is cinematography. He has made two videos for trout and coldwater conservation:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/38685551">Vandalia Angler</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/35285013"><span style="font-size: large;">Vandalia Angler 2: Backing the Brookie</span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Phil brought his video camera with him on this day and he took several clips. I can't wait to see Vandalia Angler 3! Phil at work, filming Rick working another nice run.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYui7NnUOXA/T8pFPT5XqMI/AAAAAAAACPE/ps94lyDUEfk/s1600/DSC06415.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qYui7NnUOXA/T8pFPT5XqMI/AAAAAAAACPE/ps94lyDUEfk/s320/DSC06415.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It would be a couple of hours before the sun started hitting the water deep in this valley. As the sun starte peeking through the trees, it made for some very nice shots, and reminded me of one of my favorite narratives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><em>But when I am alone in the half light of the canyon all existence seems to fade to a being with my soul and memories. And the sounds of the Big Black Foot River and a four count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.....A River Runs Through It</em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0kYJhnjLCc0/T8pGNilwOnI/AAAAAAAACPQ/a47osb0UQPc/s1600/DSC06417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0kYJhnjLCc0/T8pGNilwOnI/AAAAAAAACPQ/a47osb0UQPc/s320/DSC06417.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I don't kow of very many streams where you can fish across a state line.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-smkM_wtHpKU/T8pGkjIjXqI/AAAAAAAACPY/z_vCSx0dtFY/s1600/DSC06424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-smkM_wtHpKU/T8pGkjIjXqI/AAAAAAAACPY/z_vCSx0dtFY/s320/DSC06424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As the sun continued to rise, it made for some interesting shadows. Rick was fishing from the shadows while Phil was capturing it on video.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6weqoaLTjf8/T8pHDRNlsTI/AAAAAAAACPg/1fAgqytcyko/s1600/DSC06427.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6weqoaLTjf8/T8pHDRNlsTI/AAAAAAAACPg/1fAgqytcyko/s320/DSC06427.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Phil would put the cameras down from time to time and take his turn fishing this outstanding stream...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X6cdfKrtjjM/T8pHeXscMXI/AAAAAAAACPo/C_nSm5J16gI/s1600/DSC06428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X6cdfKrtjjM/T8pHeXscMXI/AAAAAAAACPo/C_nSm5J16gI/s320/DSC06428.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...and when he did, the result was usually this: a very nice brook trout. This legitemate 12" brook trout had a very nice kipe!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_tPNIXKHr7g/T8pH6TYw0yI/AAAAAAAACPw/T73umY8cmns/s1600/DSC06436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_tPNIXKHr7g/T8pH6TYw0yI/AAAAAAAACPw/T73umY8cmns/s320/DSC06436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The air and water temperatures were rising but some of the deeper canyon sections had still yet to see the sunlight. Not a good time (or place) for Rick to take a swim - note he is wet from the waist down. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Oh1vy29VWA/T8pIaHcUzvI/AAAAAAAACP4/e3fsJ0Fy114/s1600/DSC06438.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7Oh1vy29VWA/T8pIaHcUzvI/AAAAAAAACP4/e3fsJ0Fy114/s320/DSC06438.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fishing continued to be good and I continued to pick up several better than average brookies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOQyD9xjO6s/T8pI1_wOkKI/AAAAAAAACQE/xq62Q6pSGEo/s1600/DSC06442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOQyD9xjO6s/T8pI1_wOkKI/AAAAAAAACQE/xq62Q6pSGEo/s320/DSC06442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Occasionally we would find stretches of water in the direct sun and the resident brookies were very active in these sections. Rick and I both picked up brookies under the overhanging rhododendron.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLNIzOeChsg/T8pJXXbKICI/AAAAAAAACQM/TNCRwuyVUUc/s1600/DSC06444.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uLNIzOeChsg/T8pJXXbKICI/AAAAAAAACQM/TNCRwuyVUUc/s320/DSC06444.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This stream has very good bug life and the bugs were coming off all day. There were caddis, yellow sallies, midges, and a few different species of mayfly...including the very large eastern green drakes. The green drakes looked like small helicopters coming down the stream and there were also a few coffin flies around.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I dug deep into my pack and found an old match the hatch fly box. Phil tied on a green drake dun and I tied on a coffin fly pattern. I picked up 5-6 brookies on the coffin fly - brookies on a coffin fly was a first for me. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This guy came completely out of the water twice, from a back eddy at the head of a very nice pool, before I finally landed him.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j9zqfhEGR7U/T8pNC6KHEMI/AAAAAAAACQY/tfm-7RaBdYY/s1600/DSC06452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j9zqfhEGR7U/T8pNC6KHEMI/AAAAAAAACQY/tfm-7RaBdYY/s320/DSC06452.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I thought, being deep into the Virginia backcountry, we would be alone on the stream. I was wrong and in the early afternoon we ran into a father and son that had made there way into the stream from a spur trail further upstream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Having spent nearly eight hours on the water and having a 3+ mile hike out, we decided to call it a day - a ver successful day on the stream with two very good friends. It's not every day you can catch brook trout in two different states but in the same stream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was approximatly a 90 minute hike out and Rick had supplies ready for the tailgate when we made it out. It was very nice relaxing on the tailgate, hanging out with my friends, but we had other engagements for the evening. It was also the weekend of the Blennerhassett chapter spring campout, the WVCTU fly fishing school, and the WVCTU Spring State Council meeting - all at Thornwood Science Camp.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really enjoy sitting around a campfire with good friends, but having been up since 2:45 AM, I was in my bunk by 9:30.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next morning it was breakfast and a quick 1.5 mile hike into a trib of the stream we had fished the day before. The State Council meeting started at 10:00 AM, so I hike downhill for 30 minutes, prospected for 10, then hiked back out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, I was able to add another stream to my personal list of brook trout streams.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gkoKV_kKR4o/T8pPW62TL3I/AAAAAAAACQg/5yrZGneccqw/s1600/DSC06460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gkoKV_kKR4o/T8pPW62TL3I/AAAAAAAACQg/5yrZGneccqw/s320/DSC06460.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I would have loved to have stayed for the entire weekend, but I had commitements at home. Until next time...my next entry should be Brookiebum 2012 - Shenandoah National Park.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chris</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-27644356530078234742012-04-15T10:44:00.000-04:002012-04-15T10:44:00.145-04:00Father & Son Spring Break in the Smokies - Fourth Annual Editon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">After knocking the dust off my fishing gear at the beginning of the week, On Friday we headed south for a long weekend in the Smokies. This would be the fourth consecutive year my son and I have made this spring break adventure and this year (3 of 4 years) our close friend would be joining us.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Day 1</u></span><br />
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After a quick stop at Bass Pro in Sevierville and a check-in at our hotel, we were headed for the park. With a late start to the fishing day, we decided to stay low in the park on the West Prong of the Little Pigeon. the difference this year: Ross would be carrying his own fly rod for the first time - a 9' 4wt TFO. I would be carrying the 000wt alongside him.<br />
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The water was up a little bit, from rains earlier in the week, and cold from low 40-degree nights but it didn't take long to land that first fish, a nice wild rainbow.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rkYNQyA5M4/T4rHVwyM4nI/AAAAAAAACHs/uQYQTL6ZtaE/s1600/DSC05998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0rkYNQyA5M4/T4rHVwyM4nI/AAAAAAAACHs/uQYQTL6ZtaE/s320/DSC05998.JPG" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We fished for a couple of hours, landed two wild rainbows, and quickly figured out that a 9' rod was too long for Ross. After removing flies from tree branches multiple times, Ross had enough, and it was time to clown around with our friend - who was still hard at it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NhOz_maJkiY/T4rIbmFxjoI/AAAAAAAACH0/HzppsTFt0Z4/s1600/DSC06000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NhOz_maJkiY/T4rIbmFxjoI/AAAAAAAACH0/HzppsTFt0Z4/s320/DSC06000.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Day 2</u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That night the temperatures dropped to the low 40s again so we decided it was best no to get in a hurry to be on the water. We had a big breakfast, went to the outlet mall, then headed for the park about 10:00. We were headed to my favorite section of water in the entire park - a section high on the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon where I caught my first brook trout in the park.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a short mile (or so) uphill hike, but worth every step! Deep runs and plunge pools filled with brookies and wild rainbows! It is also a section of stream that was closed for 25 years to the affects of angling pressure on brook trout in the park.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We switched up Ross' rod this day and armed him with a 6' 4wt to help keep him out of the trees. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I would attempt to help Ross land his first trout of the trip while our partner started landing fish right away. Ross learned very quickly that he wanted the "fresh" water, he didn't want to fish behind anybody - I couldn't slow him down!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As he took off upstream...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tx2hOdHMhBw/T4rKyBMoQUI/AAAAAAAACH8/485BfH8zNnk/s1600/DSC06007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tx2hOdHMhBw/T4rKyBMoQUI/AAAAAAAACH8/485BfH8zNnk/s320/DSC06007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">...I picked up my first brookie of the trip.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TU1vNbGpSh4/T4rLAeIOpsI/AAAAAAAACIE/EkGhxUS0iZI/s1600/DSC06006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TU1vNbGpSh4/T4rLAeIOpsI/AAAAAAAACIE/EkGhxUS0iZI/s320/DSC06006.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After landing my first brookie, it was time to catch Ross. The problem with him fishing ahead of us is that he has no fear! I had to constantly remind him to not wade so deep or be careful as he scrambled over car-sized boulders to stay ahead of us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><br />
Fishing beside him, I was able to pick up another nice brookie - first one on top.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pkW1EVvsftY/T4rMFy8XbeI/AAAAAAAACIM/q37nnbdrKSs/s1600/DSC06010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pkW1EVvsftY/T4rMFy8XbeI/AAAAAAAACIM/q37nnbdrKSs/s320/DSC06010.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We fished/boulder hopped upstream until we all decided it was time to head back down. There is no trail here, so we had to go out the same way we came in - boulder hopping.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I hated to leave this stream but we didn't pack lunch in and everyone was ready for food. I try to visit this section of water as often as I can.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NaxJuD8r92o/T4rNR9eJ13I/AAAAAAAACIU/UxS17vNKABk/s1600/DSC06016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NaxJuD8r92o/T4rNR9eJ13I/AAAAAAAACIU/UxS17vNKABk/s320/DSC06016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once back to where we could climb out to the trail, I couldn't get Ross to stop fishing. He wanted badly to catch his first trout of the trip!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a6IRVMr0y4k/T4rNkJAVWiI/AAAAAAAACIc/JxsRnhUT_tE/s1600/DSC06019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a6IRVMr0y4k/T4rNkJAVWiI/AAAAAAAACIc/JxsRnhUT_tE/s320/DSC06019.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>I finally got him out of the water and we hiked back to the vehicle for lunch. After a quick bite to eat, we decided to try another stream in the area - Porter's Creek.<br />
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I decided to leave my rod in the vehicle and concentrate on getting Ross on a fish. Porter's Creek is a smaller creek, but just as rugged.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vAYmI0odkc/T4rOlqUq2FI/AAAAAAAACIk/lFtZ3NeuiQk/s1600/DSC06029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4vAYmI0odkc/T4rOlqUq2FI/AAAAAAAACIk/lFtZ3NeuiQk/s320/DSC06029.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ross and I concentrated our efforts on the large runs but with the sun quickly slipping behind the mountains, the light got low and the air grew cold. Ross was getting very frustrated because he hadn't landed a trout yet, time to call it a day!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before we finished, Ross decided to get a little daring again with how deep he was wading...he makes me very nervous!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6hS-bg02RI/T4rPoylxMQI/AAAAAAAACIs/kgFkGNN3vkA/s1600/DSC06030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-l6hS-bg02RI/T4rPoylxMQI/AAAAAAAACIs/kgFkGNN3vkA/s320/DSC06030.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once back at the vehicle, Ross and I had a very nice conversation about fishing and frustration. I explained to him that fishing is supposed to be relaxing. If you're getting frustrated it's time to put the rod down, sit down on a rock, and just listen to the water. We could still hear the stream from the vehicle and he agreed that the sound of the stream and the birds in the trees was actually very nice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Day 3</u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next day would start the same, a big breakfast while we waited on the air temperatures to recover from the 40-degree overnight low. We couldn't wait until 10:00 for the stream on the agenda for the day as the trailhead parking fills up quickly. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another favorite stream of mine is Road Prong, a very rugged brookie stream high in the park. The trailhead is along the main road in the park and also a popular trail for day hikers headed for Chimney Tops.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's a shorter hike than the day before but this trail has a few sections that are more like climbing stairs than hiking a trail. Regardless, we soon found ourselves at the fourth bridge on the trail and Ross was quickly looking for resident brookies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUNBx3fuJLA/T4rRpW6W20I/AAAAAAAACI0/cj0DfzZUP2Y/s1600/DSC06040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUNBx3fuJLA/T4rRpW6W20I/AAAAAAAACI0/cj0DfzZUP2Y/s320/DSC06040.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just like the previous day, Ross had to have the fresh water. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cv2sOurI82A/T4rSCbckYxI/AAAAAAAACI8/7IMhr8MTxWY/s1600/DSC06049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cv2sOurI82A/T4rSCbckYxI/AAAAAAAACI8/7IMhr8MTxWY/s320/DSC06049.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The difference this day: we would not be rock hopping, we would be scrambling in a very rugged section of stream. This may be one of the highest gradient streams in the park and I stayed very close to Ross.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I also happened to be with him when he landed his first trout of the trip. He landed a nice brook trout while high sticking a dry fly in a back eddy. He was so excited to land his first brookie of the trip that he released it before I could get a photo.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After he landed one, I asked him if dad could try to catch one. It didn't take me long!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-ozBXYj4pE/T4rTBjc1ZwI/AAAAAAAACJE/cYCeRQxx7Fc/s1600/DSC06055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E-ozBXYj4pE/T4rTBjc1ZwI/AAAAAAAACJE/cYCeRQxx7Fc/s320/DSC06055.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After I landed a nice, little brookie it was back to Ross leading the way upstream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ykUVZbW6oEw/T4rTUA_UItI/AAAAAAAACJM/kMG8nhCwu80/s1600/DSC06060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ykUVZbW6oEw/T4rTUA_UItI/AAAAAAAACJM/kMG8nhCwu80/s320/DSC06060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We continued to slowly scramble upstream and when Ross and our partner decided to take a break, I slipped ahead of them and picked up my biggest brookie of the trip.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7GaX8oYH88U/T4rT0toHoyI/AAAAAAAACJU/tb_oQeDOgaA/s1600/DSC06068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7GaX8oYH88U/T4rT0toHoyI/AAAAAAAACJU/tb_oQeDOgaA/s320/DSC06068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><br />
After I released him, he decided to hang out around my feet for a while, allowing me to take a few additional photos.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7xfGa_bzdw/T4rUQIz7kwI/AAAAAAAACJc/AjMtKh9dXyE/s1600/DSC06078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7xfGa_bzdw/T4rUQIz7kwI/AAAAAAAACJc/AjMtKh9dXyE/s320/DSC06078.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LCHR7R_xvv4/T4rUdtDrz-I/AAAAAAAACJk/OnOcwgacqc4/s1600/SANY0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LCHR7R_xvv4/T4rUdtDrz-I/AAAAAAAACJk/OnOcwgacqc4/s320/SANY0677.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">One of our traditions of these Smoky Mountain trips is a group photo at a different park entrance sign every year. This year we decided to take out group photo on Road Prong. I think it was a wise decision and maybe the beginning of a new tradition.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-URxB6w4kJug/T4rV2h7Y3bI/AAAAAAAACJs/Tsny4SpmNtE/s320/DSC06079.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From this point we found a dry bed to climb back down, climbing back the way we came up would have been very difficult and dangerous. When we made it back to the trail, I told Ross how proud I was of him for scrambling in places that many adults could not go!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once back at the bottom, we decided to quickly fish a couple of very nice runs we saw on the hike in. I picked up a nice wild bow in this section - hope they don't make it upstream with the brookies.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSjT2qDPhtI/T4rW9OaCuWI/AAAAAAAACJ0/Fw5boywopog/s1600/DSC06093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSjT2qDPhtI/T4rW9OaCuWI/AAAAAAAACJ0/Fw5boywopog/s320/DSC06093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After another quick lunch at the vehicle we made the decision to head to the west side of the park and the Little River watershed. The scrambling must have worn Ross out because he slept as we drove across the park and when we arrived at the trailhead of Lynn Camp Prong and Sam's Creek, he decided he was done fishing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The water was ripping in this watershed so I decided I was done fishing too, so Ross and I decided to just hike along Sam's Creek while our partner fished.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a new stream for me, which includes Thunderhead Prong (which I've always wanted to fish), so it was nice to just hike/relax and check out the stream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lower Sam's Creek</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P1QRQyBnLMs/T4rYQDPQuFI/AAAAAAAACJ8/Q4j2z9lHzuk/s1600/DSC06100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P1QRQyBnLMs/T4rYQDPQuFI/AAAAAAAACJ8/Q4j2z9lHzuk/s320/DSC06100.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We hiked up the trail about a 1/2-mile or so, to where Thunderhead Prong and Sam's Creek join.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Upper Sam's Creek</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rJPgZ2ESqLg/T4rYypf_l0I/AAAAAAAACKM/HkLnJq0J8kA/s1600/DSC06113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rJPgZ2ESqLg/T4rYypf_l0I/AAAAAAAACKM/HkLnJq0J8kA/s320/DSC06113.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center">Thunderhead Prong</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jcLrR5C68W4/T4rZFJ06ezI/AAAAAAAACKU/7Ik1NYWCMqA/s1600/DSC06121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jcLrR5C68W4/T4rZFJ06ezI/AAAAAAAACKU/7Ik1NYWCMqA/s320/DSC06121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ross taking dad's advice and relaxing to enjoy the sound of the stream at the nice pool where Sam's and Thunderhead join.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Af2heEVSHyo/T4rZfDvgt1I/AAAAAAAACKc/Mx7GtWySCj0/s1600/DSC06120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Af2heEVSHyo/T4rZfDvgt1I/AAAAAAAACKc/Mx7GtWySCj0/s320/DSC06120.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a quick moment of relaxation, we decided to head back down the trail to find our partner...we were also getting hungry! We were all getting psyched for our annual dinner at Huck Finns and an Easter dinner of catfish, frog legs, and gator tail.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our partner was unsuccessful in the high water of Sam's Creek and was equally as eager to head toward our dinner destination. We made one last stop on Little River so our partner could fish for brown trout in the park. He successfully completed the Smoky Mountain slam when he landed this nice little brown - all the while Ross and I heckled him from the banks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ITlfdLvuUc/T4rbjEqFlLI/AAAAAAAACKk/iPMfN-0VIJ0/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ITlfdLvuUc/T4rbjEqFlLI/AAAAAAAACKk/iPMfN-0VIJ0/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We had a very nice Easter dinner, knowing our next day would be our last. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Day 4</u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The next morning we would need to be on the road early, so it was another stream low in the park. We decided to drive the Roaring Fork motor trail - which I had never done.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When we made it to Roaring Fork, I decided I was done fishing and Ross made a couple of quick drifts before deciding it was too cold to enjoy the fishing. Our partner, however, decided to give it a try.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-meSWTEFoZ24/T4rciv3b6NI/AAAAAAAACKs/HBBU0PImyFM/s1600/DSC06125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-meSWTEFoZ24/T4rciv3b6NI/AAAAAAAACKs/HBBU0PImyFM/s320/DSC06125.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He was unsuccessful on Roaring, just as he was on Sam's, so it was time to put this trip in the books and make the long 6-hour drive home.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The fishing was difficult this year but Ross landed his first solo Smoky Mountain brookie. I added a couple more streams to the list for next year's trip - Sam's Creek, Thunderhead Prong, and Roaring Fork. We also decided next year we would wait until Ross finished school in June before we make this trip. In June the nights/streams should be warmer and we would probably be able to throw a tent down somewhere.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's to next year!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chris</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div align="center"></div></div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-40109298357723950822012-04-13T22:04:00.001-04:002012-04-13T22:09:09.352-04:00I'm Back!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After eight very long months, I finally made it back on the water. The last trout to grace the end of my leader was a greenback cutthroat in Lawn Lake (RMNP) on August 9, 2011. I have been fishing all of my life and eight months may be the longest period of time I have gone without fishing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Due to work I had to pass up several opportunities to fish earlier in the year, including multiple 80-degree days in March. I finally found a window at work where I could slip away for a day...and I was off!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We left Parkersburg at 5:00 AM and by 8:30 we were wet wading in 40-degree temperatures. The fishing started out slow and it took me nearly an hour to land my first fish of 2012 - a nice, little (less than spectacular) wild rainbow. I landed one other wild bow before we decided to try a few miles upstream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First drift in the first hole produced this pretty little wild bow.</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ysq1pgEcd2E/T3zQ0irlOhI/AAAAAAAACFU/_JmqvN9IcoA/s1600/DSC05914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ysq1pgEcd2E/T3zQ0irlOhI/AAAAAAAACFU/_JmqvN9IcoA/s320/DSC05914.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
By this time the sun was high in the sky and you could feel the slight increase in water temperature. With the air and water warming, it was as if somebody flipped a switch and the fishing was lights out for the remainder of the day.<br />
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This section of one of my favorite streams gets pounded with both C&R and "meat" fisherman, but with outstanding water quality it still produces excellent numbers of brookies and wild bows....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ncey7Ay9KPg/T3zRCRVkjQI/AAAAAAAACFc/DZFrmTuE3-E/s1600/DSC05919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ncey7Ay9KPg/T3zRCRVkjQI/AAAAAAAACFc/DZFrmTuE3-E/s320/DSC05919.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
...and some decent size to boot!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3q8MqhuTZEw/T3zRPzhL5RI/AAAAAAAACFk/Fn8kP1yyE3A/s1600/DSC05934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3q8MqhuTZEw/T3zRPzhL5RI/AAAAAAAACFk/Fn8kP1yyE3A/s320/DSC05934.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXigafy0Zo4/T3zRfvTJbRI/AAAAAAAACFs/mwtfbwBG5Ns/s1600/DSC05936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXigafy0Zo4/T3zRfvTJbRI/AAAAAAAACFs/mwtfbwBG5Ns/s320/DSC05936.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5KBMPQAeQVU/T3zRzPR2J5I/AAAAAAAACF0/mtEPQrfydKM/s1600/DSC05941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5KBMPQAeQVU/T3zRzPR2J5I/AAAAAAAACF0/mtEPQrfydKM/s320/DSC05941.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
We fished until shortly after noon, when we decided to hike out for lunch back at the vehicle. On the way out I noticed several spring wildflowers were already blooming - two days into April!<br />
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I checked the dates on photos I have saved of these same wildflowers and they are over a full month ahead of normal bloom.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Red Trillium<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9eaQVIPxjO4/T3zSH2i3ZVI/AAAAAAAACF8/roaa9jdnPU0/s1600/DSC05944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9eaQVIPxjO4/T3zSH2i3ZVI/AAAAAAAACF8/roaa9jdnPU0/s320/DSC05944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Jack-in-the-Pulpit<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQOAvGNAYGc/T3zSOfvBQdI/AAAAAAAACGE/9fNzcQHdkYU/s1600/DSC05947.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xQOAvGNAYGc/T3zSOfvBQdI/AAAAAAAACGE/9fNzcQHdkYU/s320/DSC05947.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Squirrel Corn</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yQXS7_36-3c/T3zSVoxpOhI/AAAAAAAACGM/S2I1A_76Cb4/s1600/DSC05948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yQXS7_36-3c/T3zSVoxpOhI/AAAAAAAACGM/S2I1A_76Cb4/s320/DSC05948.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
Dutchman's Breeches</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fnM2YEvWFQQ/T3zSc2LyhZI/AAAAAAAACGU/XTEamDxHIbk/s1600/DSC05950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fnM2YEvWFQQ/T3zSc2LyhZI/AAAAAAAACGU/XTEamDxHIbk/s320/DSC05950.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
Bloodroot</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-trbEtk6j2G0/T3zSj0vdKcI/AAAAAAAACGc/y_FOikPmnNM/s1600/DSC05954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-trbEtk6j2G0/T3zSj0vdKcI/AAAAAAAACGc/y_FOikPmnNM/s320/DSC05954.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><br />
Trout Lily</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98mkM94jNvc/T3zSoB77wEI/AAAAAAAACGk/v-c-4um4pRA/s1600/DSC05956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98mkM94jNvc/T3zSoB77wEI/AAAAAAAACGk/v-c-4um4pRA/s320/DSC05956.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><br />
Following a quick lunch, we decided to head back to where we started early that morning, but instead of fishing the main branch we headed up one of the smaller tribs.<br />
Different stream, same watershed, same result...brookies and wild bows.<br />
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We fished about a half-mile of new water before calling it a day on this stream, with plans to quickly hit one more small trib before heading back home.<br />
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One the way out, we saw this nice set of cascades. If you look closely, you can see the cascades originate somewhere high up the mountain.<br />
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On the last stream I took time to snap a few shots of my new 000wt, which had made a very successful inaugural trip.<br />
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I was very impressed with the action! The brookies and bows in the 8' - 10" range bulldogged just like my 1wt Vandalia bamboo but the extra 2' made mending and high-sticking much easier. I give it an A+ !<br />
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In short order I was able to pick up a brookie and a wild bow in this small trib too.<br />
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The sun was dropping behind the mountains, and the light faded fast inside the steep walls of this stream. After picking up a brookie and bow in this stream, I decided to call it a day - a very successful beginning to my 2012 fishing season.<br />
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As I stood on the bank above my partner, watching him finish his day on a nice plunge pool, I looked down at my feet and spotted this:<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm not a superstitious person but I sure hope this is a sign of things to come during my 2012 fishing season.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chris</div></div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9079340392566673347.post-55786100963541587232012-02-05T10:46:00.000-05:002012-02-05T10:46:53.692-05:00Prepping For a New Season and a New Chapter in Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">It's been quite a while since I made an entry and even longer since I have been on a trout stream - August 9 to be exact!<br />
Coming out of a year where I only made five fishing trips (quality over quantity), a divorce, and a transfer back to my home state of West Virginia - it's time to start looking forward to a new season and a new chapter in my life.<br />
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I am now gearing up for the upcoming season and waiting on a day when opportunity meets preparation. I've picked up a new toy that I can't wait to try out, a Sage TXL-F in 000wt!<br />
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My primary rod of choice is my Vandalia 6' 1wt bamboo, but if I'm packing in my weapon of choice is a 6' 2wt Orvis Superfine Trout Bum. This rod may be my new favorite pack rod, who knows?<br />
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Both the Orvis and the Sage come in under two ounces! The Sage, however, is a 7'10" rod where the Orvis is a mere 6'. The bamboo comes in at just over five pounds - I fish it because I love the very slow action and the fact that an 8" brookie feels like an 18" rainbow.<br />
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Here are a couple of comparison photos. The photo does not provide a decent comparison but this is the Sage Quiet Taper in 000wt (top in olive) next to Sage Performance Taper in 4wt (bottom in yellow).<br />
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The rod tubes of the Orvis and Sage. The Sage is longer, but not long enough to be an issue when strapped to my pack. However, the Sage is smaller in diameter.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When you compare the butt sections of all three, there's really not much difference in size.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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When you compare the reels: Orvis BBSII on the Superfine, Orvis CFOI on the bamboo, and the Sage Click on the 000wt; the Sage Click large arbor is larger in diameter. Although larger in size, the Click weighs in at 2 oz, where both the CFOI and the BBSII are over 3 oz... I'm not sure I can tell a difference of one ounce.<br />
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Bottom line, I can't wait to put the Sage to a field test! Will I retire the Orvis to the closet with my 4wt? Who knows...stay tuned!<br />
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One other item that I will put to the test in West Virginia is my (fairly) new pair of Simms RipRap wading shoes.<br />
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I picked them up last year at Kirk's Fly Shop in Estes Park, Colorado. The previous 3-4 years I had gone through two pair of Korkers Torrents and I was in desperate need of a new hiking/wading shoe. The Torrents were discontinued and their replacement had been giving failing reviews by a couple of good friends.<br />
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I put too many miles on my wading shoes to suffer through poor quality. I had another good friend that had bought a pair of RipRaps and gave them a glowing review. Here's my review after almost ten days in the Colorado high country.<br />
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Their maiden voyage was a 1.8 mile hike into Big Meadows on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. My initial thought on the uphill hike into "Brookie Heaven" was that these shoes felt more like a hiking shoe than a wading shoe. The forefoot support was amazing - very sturdy, like my hiking shoes I wear when there is not a trout stream in my destination.<br />
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The quick lace system is nice, as was the system on the Torrents.<br />
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You can see the Vibram sole is extended to the top of the toe, where the Aquastealth on the Torrents stopped at the insert - an inch or so before the end of the shoe.<br />
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On the stream and in the water, there was no difference in traction between the Aquastealth and the Vibram soles. I don't wade in past my knees on most small streams I fish, but traction is still a must on any stream.<br />
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You can see the sturdy build of these RipRaps, which give them such good support on the trail.<br />
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The first REAL test came on my last day in Colorado when I wore them on a 16+ mile hike to Crystal Lakes via the Lawn Lake trailhead. You can see the report <a href="http://shocchris.blogspot.com/2011/11/colorado-2011-part-3-wrapping-it-up.html">HERE</a> but I finished the day hike with no blisters or black toe nails.<br />
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I have not had these shoes on since I finished that hike and (like the 000wt) I cannot wait to put them to the test, back home in a West Virginia brookie stream.<br />
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Chris</div>Chris S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/06075784523677241304noreply@blogger.com1