The Search for Native Salmonids

Colorado 2011 - Part 3 - Wrapping it Up

2011-11-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

It's been over three months since I have returned from my trip to Colorado and I have not wet a line since. Between my personal life, professional career, and an unusually wet fall; it has been a long drought.

Picking up where I left off in Part 2...After fishing what may have been one of my favorite western streams anywhere, I took a couple of days off from fishing. I dropped my partner off at the Denver airport and my younger brother and I took in a Rockies game. I wanted a day of rest before taking another day off from fishing to hike a 7.5-mile Colorado 14er loop which included Mt. Democrat (14,148'), Mt. Cameron (14,238'), and Mt. Lincoln (14,286'). I will try to get that entry on my other neglected blog - Terra firma.

Following successfully adding three new 14ers to my personal list, I met my younger brother in Silverthorne for the drive west to Flat Tops Wilderness Area. This area has been on my radar for a while now and this trip was all about searching for big cutties.

There's no easy (or short) way to get to Trappers Lake but it was well worth the drive! Once arriving we set up camp with just enough daylight to catch the evening hatch at the Trappers Lake tail out. I immediately spotted a riser, gave my younger brother an 18 EHC to tie on, and watched him land this beautiful male Colorado River cuttie on the first or second drift.

I watched my younger brother pick up a couple more nice Colorado River cutties while I left the water smelling of skunk. What makes this worse is that he only fishes when I come out.

We had a nice fire and a nice (freeze-dried) dinner before turning in for a cold August night in the Flat Tops.

I woke up before the sun started peaking over the eastern peaks and I awoke to frost. When I checked the temperature readout in the vehicle it read 32 degrees. I slept fine in multiple layers with 35-degree sleeping bag and a silk bag liner. I'm not quite sure how my brother slept, he had on only shorts and a hoodie in his 50-degree bag! I offered the silk bag liner but he refused - that's tough!

After a nice, hot cup of java it was off toward Coffin Lake and Little Trappers Lake. The early morning made for calm water as we rounded Trappers.

We made our way to Coffin Lake with anticipation and intel there were cutties in there over 20". We walked all the way around the small lake and we saw zero cruisers. I am new to this flat water stuff and didn't feel like prospecting for deeper fish, so we checked the GPS, and made the decision to head on up to Little Trappers.

We fished the tail out of Little Trappers and we both missed a few fish in the small stream. Once we fished our way to the lake we decided to hike around to the feeder stream - neither of us care for the flat water.

We both struck out in Little Trappers, so we made another executive decision to head back down to Trappers Lake tail out stream. The late runoff also made for a late "spring" in the high country. I was amazed at the number of colors around Little Trappers.

I really like moving water! Over the next hour or so, I picked up several of the largest Colorado River cutts I have ever landed.

After a quick flurry of nice Colorado River cutties, it was time to pack up camp and a 5-hour drive back to Denver. I would spend the night at my brother's place with plans to get up at 4:30 AM and be at Roaring River trailhead by sunrise.

I've fished the Roaring River several times, up to 10K feet, and have always wanted to make it up to Lawn Lake in search of bigger greenbacks. After reading a report from my friend at Native Trout Angler when he visited Big Crystal Lake in 2010, I knew I had to go even higher!

I was at the trailhead and heading up solo by 6:15 AM. I passed several familiar sections of stream before I finally hit a a switchback and started climbing away from the stream. The stream makes a sharp westward turn here:

At a little over six miles, I arrived at Lawn Lake.

Although Lawn Lake looked very appealing, my destination was another two miles up - just below the saddle in the above photo.

Just above Lawn Lake I found more evidence of the heavy snow pack for the year.

After about eight miles and about three hours of hiking, I made it to Little Crystal (dead?)...

...then a short distance later I found myself at the tail-out of Big Crystal.

What I found there was exactly what DaveB had told me and what he reported in his blog - greenbacks easily over 20+ "! Unfortunately, they were still spawning so I put the rod down and spent the next hour photographing and filming these guys.

This pair of spawning greenbacks were easily over 20"!

The colors on some of these fish were absolutely amazing - blaze red, fluorescent orange, and the photos do not do these fish justice. This guy was an amazing red!

How many 16", 18", and 20" greenbacks can you see in this photo?

I also took several video clips of this amazing scene:

This pair (the same pair in the first photo above) may not appear that large, but I was almost ten feet directly above them. Again, they were both easily over 20".

Finally, before I packed it in for the eight mile hike out, I snapped a few shots of these future 20" geenbacks.

I decided I wasn't willing to hike over 16 miles and come up smelling like a skunk, so I would make a quick stop at Lawn Lake. This is a shot of Lawn Lake from the Crystal Lakes area:

By the time I had made it back down to Lawn Lake, the early calm winds had been replaced by the howling strong winds of high, flat water - making casting difficult. When the winds would die down, I could see cruising cutties and I could see that they were not spawning.

I finally picked up a nicely colored (appeared to be recently spawned out) greenback.

And finally, this smaller greenback, which may have been the most beautiful greenback I have ever caught.

After removing the stench of the skunk, I made the decision to pack it in for the remaining six-mile hike out. I made it back to the trailhead a little over eight hours after I started; with over 16 miles hiked, and only two greenbacks landed - but this day hike was much more than that.

I had 2-3 more days planned, but when I set up camp later that evening on the west side of the park I called to check in, and got the most devastating news of my life! Needless to say, I didn't finish the trip I had planned but I finished the 2011 Colorado adventure with an amazing fish and an amazing hike!

P.S. Although I have not picked up a rod since I left Colorado (almost four months) my life is in a much better place than when I visited Colorado. I look forward to sharing my Search for Native Salmonids in 2012 with a very special person!

Chris

Colorado 2011 - Part 2 - Cuthroat Heaven

2011-09-23T18:47:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a while since my last entry on my 2011 Colorado adventure, ttransferring back to West Virginia has been very time consuming - but worth every minute.

I was disappointed after stopping at a stream that I had good luck on in 2006. The tail water stream was nearly dry and the reservoir above was only half full. After waiting out a massive storm we headed further south to a Rio Grande cutthroat stream that I had fished in 2008. I did not do well in 2008 but later learned I had fished it too high. I fished in the high meadow section when I should have went lower, into the canyon section.

Arriving late, we found a hotel room in Alamosa, had dinner and early to bed again. We were up and on the road before daylight, but thirty miles of gut-busting gravel roads made for slow travel.

Once at the destination, we set up camp, and made the mile or so hike down into the canyon. The canyon was absolutely amazing and we were quickly into fish. As normal, I let my partner catch the Rio Grande cutthroat, and thus completing his Colorado Cuttslam.

After watching him catch a few more, I jumped in and was quickly into cutties.

I picked up several cutties in the 10" - 12" class and thought this was just another typical cutthroat stream, until we got deep into the canyon. Moving up into the canyon meant larger, deeper pools.

Deeper pools meant larger fish, and they were plentiful.

At one point in the canyon we had to backtrack as there was no (safe) way to progress upstream....

...but before we turned around my partner landed this very nice cutthroat!

As we returned to the stream, it was more of the same - high walls and deep pools....

...and better than average Rio Grande cutthroat!

There were plenty of nice cutthroat landed, including my partner's 18" and one I caught that was 20"+. Neither of us had a net (we didn't expect this!) so there were no pictures of either large fish. We were separated when he caught his and I couldn't hold on to the big hen long enough to get a photo. I tailed my big fish and could not wrap my hand around the base of my big fish's tail.

It was an incredible day: large cutthroat, large foam flies (size 12 Chernobyl hopper), and bamboo!

After waiting out the typical afternoon thunderstorm and an early dinner it was another early evening. The night was a bit chilly and I slept in multiple layers and completely utilizing my mummy bag. When I woke the next morning the thermometer in the vehicle registered 38 degrees...great wet wading weather.

We decided to hike into the canyon again this morning, but not so deep. It took quite a while this morning for the sun to make it into the canyon.

The cold air temperatures made wet-wading a challenge but we braved it. The fishing started out slow but when I finally landed my first fish, it was another beautiful 14" Rio Grande cutt.

My second fish of the day was a 16" cutty....

...and finally, the third fish of the day, an amazing 18" male Rio Grande cutthroat!

With this series of fish, and the final being the most amazing cutthroat I have ever caught, I decided to call it an early day. I figured I couldn't top it so I turned the water over to my partner and I just took photos.

This entry is not my typical entry, more photos and less writing, but I figured I couldn't describe the fish or the scenery any better. Other than Golden Trout Creek in Big Whitney Meadow, I have not fished a better native salmonid stream anywhere! AMAZING!!

Chris

Colorado 2011 - Part 1 - The Normal Haunts

2011-09-13T09:55:00.000-04:00

It's been over a month since I returned from my trip to Colorado and it has been the most devastating month in my entire life! I won't go into details (this is a fishing blog) but I am just now getting into feeling normal. I have been working on photos of my trip to keep my mind busy....on to the report.

I took another "newbie" with me again this year, as I have done every year. I love to be the guide when my friends get their first Rocky Mountain adventure and this year would be no different.

The plan was to start out at a lower elevation stream with easy access and little hiking. I had never fished it and I love to explore, so I chose the Middle Fork of the St. Vrain.

The stream was beautiful unfortunately, with the large amount of snow they received in the high country, the stream was still in runoff on July 30! You can see by the small tree on the right side of the pool my younger brother is fishing that is was quite high.

With the raging currents the fishing was tough but I still managed a couple of brookies in the dead water.

It was a beautiful stream and a beautiful area (could have done without the heavy off-road vehicles) but I don't know if I will ever make it back to fish it during normal flows....there's just too much water to fish.

After 18 hours of driving through the night and a full day of fishing, it was an early dinner and early to bed.

After seeing no ill effects of the altitude, the plan for the next day would be RMNP and the easy hike into Roaring River. As usual on the east side of the park there is always some type of welcoming committee. This year would be no different as our committee consisted of four very nice mulies.

I like this stream to put the newbies on greenbacks because after the first half-mile of the hike it is a very gentle trail....and the fish are plentiful and willing.

As I always do, I put my guests on the first fish. This stream lived up to it's name, with runoff it was roaring! We would need to target the dead water again this day and it didn't take long for my partner to land his first greenback in the first pocket.

After watching him catch a couple of cutties, and knowing my brother knows his way around this stream too, I was off on my own. The fishing was still outstanding, even with the raging conditions, and I was able to pick up greenbacks in every "fishy" looking pocket.

Again, we fished the better part of the day and we all landed several beautiful greenbacks but my brother had to get back home this evening, so we called it an early day.

I love the view at the trailhead, up the Fall River valley.

We dropped my brother off at his vehicle in Estes Park, then we headed to Kirks Fly Shop in search of a new pair of wading shoes. I found the shoes I had been looking for - Simms Rip Rap. They turned out to be an incredible shoe and if I find time I will write a review on them.

From Estes Park it was across the divide to Timber Creek campground, where we would set up camp for the next two nights. On the way across the divide we ran into what appeared to be the entire RMNP elk herd. I'm not sure how many elk were in this group but they were on both sides of the road -it looked like some of the bison herds I have seen in Yellowstone.

After setting up camp and dodging a rain shower, it was time to put my partner on his first Colorado River cutthroat, and we would do this directly across the road from the campground. It didn't take long for him to add his second species of cutthroat in this small, high gradient section of stream.

As with the greenbacks, after he caught a couple of these cutties I picked up a couple of little guys myself.

I also picked up a couple more cutties and a couple of brookies in the large culvert pool below the road.

Another early evening (we had been hitting the sack about 7:00 PM every day), the next day would be a longer hike into another must fish stream that I affectionately call "brookie heaven".

With an early evening it is always an early morning - usually sunrise. This morning would be a foggy one on the Colorado River and Neversummer Range.

After a cup of java and a granola bar it was off to the Green Mountain trailhead and the hike into Big Meadow. This would be my first outing in my Simms Rip Raps and they did not disappoint - they felt more like a hiking shoe than a wading shoe.

The early morning lighting in Big Meadow was amazing!

This stream would be up and ripping just as all of the others. The long, slow pools that usually produce several brookies produced nada. We would have to target back eddies and dead spots caused by braided currents - also big, heavy nymphs (for brookies?).

Once we patterned the brookies, it was incredible fishing.

At one point I found a large back eddy that had an incredible pod of fish. I was fishing my a stimulator downstream and stripping it back to me and I landed 16 brookies out of this pool. What does a stimulator look like after catching 16 brookies out of one pool?

My partner said he could stay in Big Meadows the rest of our trip and be completely satisfied!

With the population of brookies in this stream it only made sense to have this for dinner that evening.

Sunflower oil, cornbread mix, and Cajun seasoning made for one of the best meals I had eaten in a very long time.

Day four of our trip would find us hooking up with my younger brother again then heading north in search of grayling. He has caught all of the native cutthroat species in Colorado but has yet to catch a grayling. I wanted to be with him when he caught his (and my partner's) first grayling.

We found a KOA, set up camp, then headed across the divide in search of the grayling.

We prospected the entire stream but could not locate a single grayling. Apparently the runoff had also delayed the grayling migration from the lake. Disappointed, we headed back across the divide to fish the extreme headwaters of the North Platte.

Having never fished this stream and fishing heavy runoff, I had no idea what to expect. We split up and fished for a couple of hours. All I landed was two small cutts - no photos.

Checking the topos again, we found a high lake nearby to check out.

The hike in was only about a mile but it was straight up. Once at the lake everyone forgot about the hike as the lake was absolutely amazing!

The scenery was amazing but the fishing not so much. There were plenty of cutthroat in the lake, and plenty of large cutthroat, but they were all in spawn mode.

These guys were all in the 16"-18" range, with some larger, but they only had one thing on their mind!

With everyone dealing with the skunk, it didn't feel so bad to leave this beautiful location empty handed.

Once back at camp we actually lasted past 7:00 PM. It felt nice to take a hot shower and do some laundry so we celebrated the trip so far with a nice campfire. We also had a visitor join us around the fire when a coyote decided he wanted to check out my chair - a close encounter for sure.

The next morning we would pack in camp and head back south to drop off my younger brother so my partner and I could head to the bottom of the state for his Rio Grande cutthroat.

We stopped by a roadside stream but again, with runoff we all struck out again. The remainder of the day would be spent in the vehicle driving but the next entry will be one of the most amazing yet...stay tuned.

Chris

Day Trippin'

2011-07-02T11:11:00.003-04:00

When people ask me why I don't like Kentucky or why I want to return home to West Virginia, my answer is always the same: "It's a long ways from a wild trout stream".

One of the things I miss most about West Virginia (other than family and friends) is the fact that I can take off early in the AM, fish all day, then return home the same day - a day trip. This particular weekend I would find myself home in West Virginia again, so I made plans for my first day trip in quite some time.

I would be fishing with a former co-worker who I taught to fly fish three years earlier. I fished with him two years ago where I taught him to fish a dry/dropper rig but, with my transfer, last year we weren't able to hook up. We were also supposed to connect while I was camped out for the WVAngler campout earlier in the month. He drove within 20 feet of where I was sitting in the campground but I did not see him and he went on to another nearby campground. We shored things up for this day and at 4:00 AM I met him at our typical rendezvous location.

Three hours later we were rigging up our rods on the upper end of my favorite limestone fines brookie stream. He had never fished it but I had been on it exactly three weeks earlier as I started my 9-day brookie bum adventure. This was the last weekend in June, which last time I checked was still in the season of summer, but when we stepped out of the vehicle the thermometer read 54 degrees....still summer, correct?

From where we parked we had two options: upstream through a small canyon or downstream and fish back to the vehicle. If you choose the small canyon you are committed to a good 4-5 hour adventure, otherwise you will find yourself scrambling up a VERY steep hillside.

I've never been in a hurry to get started on this stream because it typically doesn't "wake up" until mid-morning. This was not the case on this day, it was lights out from the time we hit the water! The only problem was it was overcast and dark under the heavy canopy. I had to use the flash for some of the photos - I prefer natural lighting for taking photos of brookies.

The first of many fish on the day, from one of the first pools.

Shortly after this first photo a small rain shower started and I was forced to put away my DSLR and break out the waterproof video camera. The low light conditions remained and I was still forced to use the flash on the smaller camera. This little camera is functional in a pinch for still photography but I don't think the DSLR will even do these brookies justice. That's another reason I love this stream, the brookies hold their color year-round.

Not that I count, but I've always had better numbers on the upper end, but nothing like this day. Between the two of us, we were catching brookies in every likely spot.

Like I said, I'm not a numbers guy, and I am usually quickly satisfied to know the brookies are doing well. As was the case this day and I soon found myself watching how my pupil from three years earlier had developed into quite the fly fisherman.

I watched how well he managed his line and his drift - I was quite impressed! That is one of the things I tried to stress early on: stealth and distance is secondary to a good drift. I've caught more fish within a few, short feet of my own feet than I could even begin to count, all by minding my line and drift.

I watched him land fish after fish and I was quite content with this but he insisted I share the pockets with him - there were plenty of brookies to go around.

We soon found our self within sight of the vehicle and the rain had stopped, so I was able to put away the rain jacket and break out the DSLR again.

Just before I stepped out of the stream I saw one more good looking pocket against the bank. Sure enough, there was a good brookie in the small pocket - not much of a photo (he did have a head on him). This photo reminds me of some of those old family album photos where your mom or your aunt cuts off somebody's head. Everybody has one of those somewhere.

As I leaned my rod against the truck, I stood high above my partner and watched him pull one more brookie out of this nice, deep pool.

After a tailgate lunch we made the decision to off the mountain toward the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area and another new stream for him. I had fished this stream briefly one snowy, October day in 2009 and not again since.

This stream is another limestone fines brookie stream that, up until October of 2009, I thought was dead. We fished through the camps and we didn't pick up anything of any size until we got above the camps. What we did catch though had a very unique hue to them. For some unknown reason this stream has a yellow tint to it. The first stream had a "tea-colored tint" and I joked that this stream had a "lemon aide-colored" tint.

The brookies have apparently adapted to the stream and have developed a yellow tint to them. I joked that this is what happens when brookies and golden trout breed.

As I mentioned, once we got above the camps we started picking up some nicer brookies - with the unusual yellow tint on them.

My partner's tail-out brookie:

This nice brookie came out of a nice pool that my partner had already landed one from the tail-out.

The fishing on this stream was just as good as the stream we fished earlier in the day. Every likely looking pocket/pool produced one of these guys.

As I sat at this small pool waiting on my partner to tie on another fly, I took this shot that shows the unusual color of the stream.

We fished about a half-mile of stream before deciding it was time to call it a day. This would be my last fish of the day and really shows yellow hues of the brookies in this stream.

For some unknown reason this guy was in no hurry to return to his home, so I snapped off a few shots of him saying goodbye.

The fishing was good all day, considering this time the previous year all of these waters were near bone-dry. What a difference a year makes!

We stopped by another stream while taking the long way home. My partner missed a couple of brookies in the short, fifty yards or so, of stream we fished. It was hard to put a damper on this day.

On the way home we talked about going to Colorado and Wyoming. He said he hated to waste money by going out there and not being able to catch any fish. I re-assured him that the way he fished that day he would have no problem catching fish out west.

I got a text from him yesterday - he had just purchased his Colorado fishing license for his first trip to the Rockies. Another success from the day trip: a new partner for my trip out west.

Chris

West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure - Part 3

2011-06-26T16:43:00.001-04:00

With the backcountry adventure cut short and behind me, it was time to do some exploring. The only thing better than finding a new gem is sharing one of your finds with good friends and that is where I found myself on day six.

After having an outstanding day on Sunday on a new brookie stream and finding the browns out to play below the forks, I had to share it with a couple of good friends. This day would be a bit different as we would stop about a half-mile short of the forks in an attempt to coax some of those wild browns into coming out to play.

This section of stream is high gradient, boulder hopping, pocket water at it's finest. Can you spot my two fishing partners for the day?

Unfortunately, the water level had dropped about 6" in the previous four days and the brown trout were nowhere to be found. However, the brookies were more than happy to cooperate!

As we made our way to the forks, I let my partners do the majority of the fishing as I had already added this stream to my personal list a few days earlier. The drop in water level made stealth a little more important but didn't slow the brookies down at all.

Phil adding the left fork to his list.

Chris checking the box shortly thereafter....

...and then the double.

With a 3+ mile hike out we made it a short day, even though we fished past where I had gone earlier. The stream looked to be getting a little more gradient to it but we had done well.

On the way out Chris was able to do something I was unable to do on my prior trip to the forks - he caught a brookie out of the right fork. It was in the second pocket above where the right fork dumps in but it was still in the right fork. I may need to do a little more exploring on the right fork.

By Thursday we were already established in the USFS campground in preparation for the WVAngler campout weekend and the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade scheduled for Saturday. That evening we spent a good amount of time hanging out with the other early arrivals for the weekend, talking fishing - these events are great for gaining important intel for future explorations.

Day seven would be a whirlwind, marathon day - hitting as many brookie streams as possible in two different watersheds. We would start at the top of the North Fork, stopping only long enough for each of us to catch a brookie; then repeating the same as we drove up the South Fork. This section of the report will be as fast and furious as our fishin was for the day.

New stream #1:

New stream #2 and trib of stream #1:

We both struck out on stream #3 - many streams in these two watersheds are highly acidic and many of them have limestone fines dumps on them. We both proclaimed this stream "dead".

Stream #4:

We both struck out on stream #5, so it was on to stream #6:

The final trib we fished on the North Fork came with an asterisk - I mentally "starred" this stream as a need to fish it again when I can spend more time on it. Stream #7 - I caught these nice two brookies in back-to-back pools:

The summary for the North Fork was seven streams (all new to my personal list) and brook trout in five of them.

Next on the agenda was a repeat on the South Fork with the only difference being we would be driving up the South Fork - versus going down the drainage on the North Fork.

Stream #8:

Stream #9:

Stream #10:

Stream #11 was another asterisk stream and the biggest stream we fished on the day - it also gave up the largest brookie of the day:

The final stream of the day (#12) produced a brookie below the culvert, but nothing above the culvert or the road. My conclusion: the culvert was not "fish friendly" and the stream above the road appeared fishless.

What this stream did, however, produce was an amazing discovery - something you don't find unless you do a little exploring. As I watched Phil prospect a couple of nice pools, something caught my eye on upstream. What we discovered was an amazing 20' waterfall!

But with this beauty, there was also a "beast". Nearly the entire South Fork watershed is owned by an out-of-state paper/timber company. As beautiful as the waterfall was, this clear cut job was equally ugly!

With this we called it a day, we had real work to do the next day. The totals for the day: 12 different streams fished and brookies caught in 10 of them (all new to my list).

That evening in camp the remaining WVAnglers would arrive in camp and we would, again, exchange stories and intel. I picked up a couple of tips that I would follow-up on before the adventure was over.

Day eight started with the fourth annual Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade. I have blog entries for the previous two I had been part of, and when you think it can't get any bigger...

The first year (2008) there were just over 30 volunteers, in 2009 we had over 60, in 2010 we received partnership with Walmart and we had over 100 volunteers. Again this year we partnered with Walmart and we had over 120 volunteers. We were able to move over nine tons of limestone sand a quarter-mile into the Cranberry Wilderness Area, one 25 pound bucket at a time - and we did so through a very impressive thunderstorm that rolled across the mountain!

This is by far the single largest TU volunteer event in the state, and quite possibly anywhere in TU. This is even more impressive considering the physical labor involved.

Following the Bucket Brigade Phil had to return home, so it was soloing again in search of brookies. My plan was to follow-up on a tip I received in camp. It would be a short, 1.5-mile, flat, trail hike but when I got to the trailhead I checked out the map and thought I could cut this hike down by going through a public hunting area. Eight days of hiking, followed by the Bucket Brigade, was beginning to wear my body down so I was looking for any short cut I could manage.

The map showed the trail going completely to the public hunting grounds - I never found it!

I did, eventually, make it to water but what I found was a very low gradient stream. Had I not been told it contained brookies I would have passed it by as a fine chub stream. I did manage to pick up a couple of little guys when I found good moving water.

I continued to work my way upstream but the profile never changed, so I started fishing in and around the root balls. I missed a couple of brookies before landing this guy in the 10" range.

On dead legs with no trail, I didn't push it. I did manage to fish about a half-mile of stream, add another new stream to my personal list, and managed to have these "locals" walk up on me.

Back at camp there was many of West Virginia's finest home-made adult beverages to be consumed. There were many stories told, a guitar and a mandolin came out, and there was some good music to enjoy by the campfire. It's always a good time when the members of WVAngler get together!

I don't know what time I crawled in my tent but I was one of the first to awake - I had seven hours of driving ahead of me. I packed up my camp, said my goodbyes, and headed down the road. But before I called an end to Brookie Bum 2011, I had one more stop to make.

I added one more new (roadside) stream to the list to close out my adventure.

With the release of this final brookie, I called a closed to my West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure. Some of my totals:

24 streams fished
brookies caught in 20 streams
15 new brookie streams added to my personal West Virginia list
and over 60 miles hiked

I can't wait until Brookie Bum 2012! I'm not sure where it will be but I do know Shenandoah National Park is a leading candidate.

Chris

West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure - Part 2

2011-06-19T11:46:00.002-04:00

This is the backcountry portion of my nine-day West Virginia adventure.

I met Phil and the "czar" of the West Virginia DNR Limestone Fines program at the North Fork trailhead on the Scenic Highway early Monday morning. We left one vehicle at the trailhead and commuted to the Cranberry Glades trailhead where we would begin our Cranberry Wilderness Area adventure.

It would be a five-mile hike off the mountain to the forks of the Cranberry River, then a short hike up the North Fork of the Cranberry where we planned to set up camp for a night or two. The original plan was to fish the Cranberry watershed, then up and over the mountain to the Middle Fork of the Williams, to explore those tribs before ending up back at the trailhead for the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade on Saturday morning.

I had never been in the upper Cranberry watershed so I didn't really know what to expect. One thing I didn't expect was the size of the liming facility at the mouth of the North Fork.

There were a couple of DNR employees working at the facility when we arrived. How nice would it be to call that location your "office"?

Phil and I hiked upstream a short distance and set up camp while our partner for the day stashed his bike away for the ride out later that day. We were quick to set up camp, partly because of the weight we were carrying on our back, but mostly to check out new water.

There were brookies immediately out of camp and I was given the first opportunity to add a new West Virginia stream to my list...and it didn't take long.

After I picked up the first brookie in my second new stream of the trip it was time to allow my partners to do the same.

It sure was a beautiful piece of water!

It didn't take long for everybody to land a brookie, then it was just of matter of skipping around and sharing the pools and pocket water. Here is one of Phil's many brookies.

I love fishing high-gradient, braided pocket water. Did I mention it was a beautiful stream?

There were brook trout all over the place and there were multiple age classes....

...including young of the year.

Considering most people think the stream is dead, I would say it is doing very well.

It was typical fast action brookie fishing until we made it to a large pool that had been created by a downed, beaver-cut tree wrapped around a very large boulder. I cast to the end of the downed tree and landed this nice brookie.

So, I turn him loose to cruise the smaller water at the tail-out....

that's when I notice this little guy cruising down the edge of the pool and he literally came within a couple feet of our feet...

so, after bolting into the pool, he parked himself right (exactly) where I had caught the previous brookie. This is when the fun started. Cast to him, drift, strike, hook up, and land. I release him beside me in the tail-out, look in the pool, and here comes another little brookie to claim the prime real estate, then it was repeat: cast to him, drift, strike, hook up, and land.

I know there are prime locations in each pool but I didn't know there was a waiting list for this one. Phil said it was like a gumball machine; keep putting a quarters in and out comes another brookie.

We fished upstream a little more before calling it a day for this section of stream. It was dinner time (backpack style) and our fishing partner for the day had a 5-mile bike ride back to the top of the mountain.

The next day we decided to hike down the main stem of the Cranberry in search of resident native brookies. Phil quickly picked up a couple of native brookies and all I was able to accomplish was breaking off a couple of nice wild browns.

As we moved upstream we started getting into more and more stockers, left over from the last stocking a week or so prior. I can't tell you the last time I caught a stocked trout but it was a nice relaxing change of pace. I did complete the "stocker slam": rainbow, brown, and this nice stocker brook trout ( I refuse to refer to a stocker as a brookie).

Phil also completed the "stocker slam", including this little brown that had some tiger in him.

Stocked trout are so dumb, we caught several fish that just had us laughing at how stupid these guys were. I won't make a habit out of it but, like I said, it was a nice change of pace.

Sometime about mid-afternoon the skies clouded up and we headed for camp. It was dinner in the tent (boy does that Snow Peak Gigapower stove heat up a one-man tent), a couple chapters of the new Gierach book, and a short nap.

The rains passed quickly and we decided to try our luck on the South Fork for the evening. We fished up the South Fork a short distance, each of us picking a couple of the resident population of wild browns, before making the decision to hit the large junction pool in time for a possible evening hatch.

I don't know how many fish the DNR stocked in that hole but it was a lot! There were a few sulfurs coming off and the stockers were occasionally rising to them. Phil tied on a Usual and was picking up one here and there. Me, I tied on the largest rubber-legged woolybugger I had in my brookie box, and the dumb stockers really liked it! I had strikes or landed stockers on nearly every cast. Phil would catch one at the head of the pool while I would catch 3-4 at the tail, we would rotate, Phil would catch one at the tail while I caught 3-4 at the head. We repeated this for a while, until I got tired of catching stockers. Did I mention stockers are stupid fish? Sorry, no photos of the dumb stocked trout.

As the sun started to set, we decided to call it a day, and I didn't catch a single native brookie. At camp that night we made a decision to change our backcountry plans. We decided to make the hike out the next day and do some exploring in other watersheds.

The next morning we packed up camp and start our seven mile climb to the Scenic Highway. The trail is not a heavily used trail but it is easy to see where it was once an old railroad grade when the area was logged 100+ years ago.

Our suspicions were soon confirmed when (miles from anywhere) we found this very well preserved bridge abutment.

Shortly after this point we lost the trail and fought through a couple hundred yards of rhododendron hell. Rhododendron is tough enough to maneuver through alone and very difficult with a full pack with rod tube! We decided to split up to find the trail, I went stream side and Phil went high. Phil soon found the trail and we played "Marco Polo" to locate one another. By this point it was time for a break and as we neared the three mile mark, and the forks, we decided to drop our packs and explore the smaller water.

The water was smaller but the results were the same.

We soon found ourselves at the forks of the North Fork and now it was time for exploring for brookies again. We were informed by the limestone fines czar that the Right Fork contained brookies, so it would be the Right Fork first.

I caught one at the junction pool, but that's not the Right Fork proper, so we moved upstream and it didn't take long. Add new brookie stream number three to my West Virginia adventure.

...and one more for good measure.

After Phil and I both landed a couple of brookies, it was back to the Left Fork. The Left Fork drains off the same mountain (albeit the opposite side) as the "dead" upper Middle Fork of the Williams - of Bucket Brigade fame. We fished and stomped around for a couple hundred yards before declaring it void of brookies. They can't all have brookies in them.

We back-tracked to our packs and prepared for the four mile climb to the Scenic Highway. It was a slow gradient all the way to the top, except for the last half-mile where the North Fork trail and the North-South trail intersect. The sun was high in the sky by this time and the temperature was in the mid-80s, making for a tough climb. The post-holing in the swampy areas of the trail didn't make the climb any easier, but we made it.

A couple of bottle of water (one over my head) at the trailhead marked the end of the backcountry portion of my adventure. The next four nights would be spent in a small US Forest Service campground.

Chris

West Virginia Brookie Bum Adventure - Part 1

2011-06-16T18:49:00.001-04:00

Back in 2009 my friend Phil Smith (maker of my Vandalia Rodworks bamboo rod) hatched this idea of packing into a brookie stream for a few nights We decided to call it the Brookie Bum Adventure and after the first we decided to make it an annual event.

In 2010 Phil was building a house and I was in the process of transferring the family to Kentucky, so we had to call off the event. Earlier this year we made the decision we weren't going to let it slip by again. The decision was then - where and when? After talking with the head of the West Virginia limestone fines treatment program the decision was fairly easy - a stream in the Cranberry Wilderness Area that most people thought was dead.

I was going to extend my part of the adventure and do something I have never done before. I planned to spend an entire week vacationing/fishing in West Virginia. I have done several three or four-day weekends but I have never spent an entire week chasing brookies across the state. My vacation was nine days and started early on Saturday morning, on a stream I know very well, and later that day meet a friend from Virginia TU to show him the upper end of the very same stream.

This stream usually does not wake up until late morning, but that day was not the case.

Typically on the lower end a good day is double digits but this day I hit double digits in a couple of hours. They didn't have much size but they did make up for it in beauty - excuse the quality of the photos, I struggled with photo quality all week.

Following a great morning on a great stream I met my friend for lunch, then I took him to the upper end to show off one of TU's greatest success stories in the state.

This stream was dead twenty years ago and through the miracle of limestone fines, it is now thriving.

Streamside, we talked TU for a good while before hitting the stream. I also got to practice my field surgery skills as my friend stepped on his leader while holding a fly in his teeth....OUCH! To add insult to injury, as we were about to hit the stream a stranger came walking down the road and he had just fished the section of stream we planned to fish.

We were fishing behind somebody but my friend was very impressed with the ruggedness of the stream, which helps make stealth much easier.

He was able to pick up several small brookies on the short period of time we spent on stream.

I poked around in a few pockets and picked up a few little guys.

The bigger fish eluded us, but I blamed that on fishing behind somebody. This is one of the residents I caught in this stretch a couple years earlier.

My friend had a four-hour drive ahead of him, so we called it a day about 7:30 - just as the yellow sallies started coming off very heavy.

I told him next time we fish it would be on his "turf", which happens to be Shenandoah National Park. Brookie Bum Adventure 2012 perhaps??

I set up camp for the night along the USFS road heading to the stream and got up early the next morning to drive to my next destination.

I had fished the main branch of this trib but I had received a report a few weeks earlier that one of the forks also had brookies. This steam was also dead a few years ago but after limestone fines treatment started in 2005 the brookies have made their way back into the extreme headwaters.

The confluence of the forks was amazing, I wish I would have taken more photos! The right fork drops in with a series of small falls while the left fork drops in with a series of cascades...amazing!

The edge of where the left fork drops in.

After checking out the confluence, I decided to give the left fork the first shot. It didn't take long to start picking up little guys in every pocket. As I moved upstream I got into some higher gradient water and larger pools. Larger pools equals larger fish.

I picked up this guy in a likely ambush point, in dead water between two large boulders.

On upstream I picked up this nice brookie with amazingly blood-red pectoral and pelvic fins.

I caught brookies in every likely location and with the knowledge that the population was alive and well I backed out to try the other fork. Add new stream number one to my West Virginia adventure.

Once back to the confluence I gave the right fork a shot. The right fork is a beautiful little stream but another small trib further upstream drops low pH water into it pushing the overall pH to below levels that would support a healthy brookie population.

I fished and kicked around upstream a couple hundred yards and turned up no brookies. With this slight disappointment, I made the decision to hike down the main stem and fish back to the confluence.

The overnight rain had made the main stem very slightly off color. With the slight coloration I was pleasantly surprised that the resident brown trout population came out to play. I caught five or six of the little, cookie cutter browns.

Once back at the forks, I decided to take it all in. I climbed up on the large table rock that separates the two forks, took off my pack, used it as a pillow, and took a short nap.

When I woke, I pulled out some line, and picked up a small brookie my dapping over the edge of the table rock....life is good!

After the short three-mile hike out (GPS tracked 8.4 miles in total), I decided to have a little dinner at the trailhead picnic table. At 4:30 I thought my day was over, but that would not be the case. As I was leaving town Saturday morning, I sent an email to the head of the WV limestone fines program informing him where I would be for the weekend. Would you believe at all of the area he had to look for me he found me at the first stop?

His recommendation was either hike back into where I just came from or hit the stream we would perform the bucket brigade on six days later. I chose the latter, so at 6:30 PM we were hiking into the Cranberry Wilderness.

My partner caught one nice brookie, which I landed for him - note the watch, but it's his catch.

The fishing was slow but my partner made one amazing discovery!

For the first time in over 50 years we had brook trout young of the year in this stream - all thanks to the many volunteers who have made the bucket brigade a success!

We fished over a mile into the Wilderness Area and at 8:00 PM we were still headed in - it gets dark at 9:00 and I didn't have a light. Luckily, when I hike with this guy it is like chasing a mountain goat. The guy is a machine!

We made it out with just enough light to not need the light and it put me at nearly twelve miles of hiking for the day. By the time I made it back to my vehicle and to the trailhead where I was to start the second leg of my West Virginia adventure, it was too late to set up camp so I slept in the vehicle.

The next morning I would meet Phil with plans to pack into the Cranberry Wilderness for four nights....to be continued.

Chris

And Sometimes it Rains!

2011-05-28T09:31:00.000-04:00

April was one of the wettest months in history! In the Cincinnati metro area we were 3/4" of precipitation away from the all-time record...and it continued into May.

This weekend outing back home had multiple goals. It was the WVCTU Spring Council Meeting, the Blennerhassett Chapter Campout, the WVCTU Fly Fishing School, and my annual outing into the Seneca Backcountry with my WVU Professor friend.

It was one busy weekend and it started with a 4-hour drive to WV then, after waking at 3:15 AM, another 3-hour drive to the trailhead. Unfortunately, it had rained several days prior and was raining as I met my friend.

You can see from the USGS Water Gauge (normal flow of 300 CFS), we were 4X the normal flows!

As opposed to making the ~ 10-mile trek we chose to explore new water on the other side of the mountain. I had fished a number of streams in that area which my friend had not. The only thing better than exploring new water is sharing it with a good friend.

The first stream we stopped at has had major work done to it over the past few years, including tree plantings and livestock fencing in the headwaters. From the bridge crossing the stream has two very distinct profiles. Upstream it is a lower gradient stream, meandering through large hemlocks and open, high meadows.

This section of stream reminds me of Tonahutu Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park, just above Big Meadows. Both are equally beautiful!

Downstream from the bridge it takes an entirely different profile. It is a high gradient, plunge pool type stream that is my preference when chasing the natives. You'll have to excuse the quality of the photo, I was using my waterproof video camera...did I mention it was raining?

The water was moving pretty good and we managed to pick up a couple of small brookies (sorry no photos), so we decided to try another of my favorites in this major watershed.

We drove the short distance to the trailhead of another stream that originates in Virginia and flows through West Virginia before meeting up with the Potomac. By the time we made it to the trailhead it had stopped raining, but had the damage already been done?

Instead of hiking to where the trail meets the water, we barreled down over a steep embankment to the water and almost immediately started picking up fish. The water was up a bit and still moving pretty good but it did not prevent these small jewels from coming out to play.

Then magic struck! As we made it to this large, green pool the big boys decided to come out to play...on top!

I fished the tail out while my partner hit the head. I picked up two of these nice specimen (on top).

Then, as I was standing and watching, my partner picked up this big guy - probably pushing that 12" threshold.

We continued to pick up a few fish here and there as the water continued to rise from earlier storms. The sun also played peekaboo with us on and off and every time the sun would come out heavy hatches of yellow sallies would come off - what a great time to be on the water!

By the time we decided to call it a day, the water was up to the point the only place we could find to cross was crotch deep and ripping. It made for an interesting crossing with a DSLR camera around my neck, but I made it.

The other great thing about spring: the wildflowers are out and the critters are awakening. I found this Jack-in-the-Pulpit streamside.

This little guy also met us on the trail for the hike out.

He's a harmless black rat snake but I wouldn't recommend this trail in the heat of summer. It is one of the rockiest, snakiest trails I have ever been on and it's located in Timber Rattler Central!

Following a great evening with good friends around a campfire, day two included the State Council Meeting and the Fly Fishing School. The question was: where do I fish before the council meeting?

I had marked several tribs of the upper West Fork of the Greenbrier fr exploration, so today would be the day. I thought that with a couple of hours to fish I could hit a couple of them...until I actually made it on this first stream.

In the lower reaches the stream flows through a beautiful high meadow before transitioning into the hardwoods. Over 100 years ago this was home to a logging community and there are still remnants of this.

The recent rains seemed to have passed through this small stream already but I still only moved one fish in the meadow. Once I got into the section of stream with good canopy it was a different story.

Sometime since the logging had stopped, somebody had done some major instream work on this stream. There were standing K-dams, log dams, and log re-routing of the stream. The little brookies seemed to appreciate all of the hard work.

It's always good to see the little guys in the stream too.

The fishing was so good and seeing the amount of work done on this stream was amazing. Add another WV stream to my life list. Needless to say, I didn't make it to any other tribs before I had to head over the mountain to WV State Council...too much water, too little time.

I had been anticipating State Council for weeks now! Not for reasons you would expect, but because I would get the return of my Vandalia bamboo #003! I had broken the butt of this rod the previous summer while chasing (unsuccessfully) Paiute cutthroat on Silver King Creek. Phil Smith, the rodmaker, was replacing the reel seat with a piece of 2,000+ year-old bristlecone pine we had picked up during our 2008 Colorado Cuttslam trip.

Following State Council it was back across the mountain for a presentation at the WVCTU Fly Fishing School. What was my presentation? Travel planning and native species, of course.

It was another great evening with great friends around the campfire.

The next morning it was goodbyes to old friends and decision time again. Back to the headwaters of the WF of the Greenbrier? A couple of friends had fished another small trib the day before and recommended it and it was on my route home.

Once on the stream, it didn't take long for #003 to return to form....the return of #003!

As always, it's good to see the little guys in there.

With over seven hours of driving ahead of me, I spent only enough time on the stream to validate a healthy population of brookies. Add another stream to the WV life list, then it's Cincy bound.

Before I could make it to the hard top, I ran into one more of the natives. This grouse wanted to play chicken!

Although the rain put a damper on day one, it was a great weekend with great friends! I can't wait until my next trip "home", I'm going to do something I've wanted to do for years. I'm going to take a week of vacation and stay home in West Virginia - backpacking through the Cranberry Wilderness area.

Until next time...

Chris

Father & Son Spring Break in the Smokies - Third Annual

2011-04-30T09:24:00.000-04:00

This was the third annual father & son trip to the Smokies. In 2009 we were shut out due to high water and in 2010 we had our plans changed three times, in three days, due to road construction. What would the 2011 edition have in store for us? I had to wonder as we left severe storms in West Virginia and drove through multiple hail storms on the way to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

We left West Virginia, and the Elkhorn Clean-up, a day earlier than planned due to storms and high water but this would give us an additional half-day to fish the Smokies.

Day 1

We tried to fish this stream last year but a trailhead closed for construction changed our plans. I read about this stream in Jim Casada's book and had to fish it as it was one of a few streams he rated as "A". Most people will recognize the stream's confluence with Little River.

It is a short couple mile hike up and over the mountain to the stream, with the trail following and crossing the trail multiple times. My concerns of high water were quickly put to rest as the stream level and flow was perfect. We didn't find any brookies at the first crossing so we jumped on the trail and started again at the second crossing.

I picked up my first, little brookie just below the crossing while my friend worked the upstream section of the crossing.

After verifying their existence, it was time to focus on my son's first brookie of the trip. The next series of photos are of my friend assisting with the drift, the hook-up, and the landing of my son's first (of two) brookies on this stream.

We continued to pick up fish at nearly every access point, including one nice brookie caught by my friend (sorry no photos). We fished upstream to where it appeared to take a turn straight up - high gradient, my type of fishing!

Unfortunately, my son and friend decided it was time to head out. I tied on a small olive woolybugger and dredged one of the first, deep plunge pools while the others changed out of their waders (it was nearly 90 degrees by this time). I hooked a very nice brookie, in the 10-12" range, but I didn't get it to hand.

We stopped at one of the crossings on the way out so I could adjust my son's socks and wading boots. While I was adjusting my friend rose a brookie that he said "was as big as his boot". Why are the brookies in this stream so big? I believe it is because they are a transplanted northern strain of brook trout, planted in the early 70s.

We did have a slight mishap as we got within shouting distance of the trailhead. My son's boot laces got tangled and he went down on a sharp rock in the trail. It put a pretty good gash in his knee and covered his face in mud. When we got back to the vehicle, he was a trooper! He squeezed my hand and gritted his teeth while we cleaned and bandaged his knee. I think what really helped was the trip to Little River Outfitters. He picked up another lucky hat, a fly box, and some assorted flies to fill the box - he quickly forgot about his knee!

Following our quick stop in at the fly shop, it was over to Cade's Cove and Abrams Creek. My friend and I are a bad partnership, he likes to fish the big water and I like the little stuff. To be fair, I took him to Abrams but the water here was up and flowing pretty good, but it's always nice to make the drive around the Cove.

Day 2

Our second day in the Smokies would take us to the North Carolina side and another location we couldn't get to in 2010 due to closed roads. Our plans were to head to the Cataloochee area so my son and I could hike Boogerman trail while my partner fished Palmer Creek. I also wanted my son to see his first elk.

We dropped my partner off just downstream of the Palmer chapel and my son and I headed to the trailhead at the mouth of Calwell Fork.

Crossing the Cataloochee:

What 10-year-old doesn't want to hike the Boogerman Trail?

Boogerman Trail winds itself through some old-growth forest before meeting back up with Caldwell Fork nearly four miles later. I will (eventually) detail this hike in my other blog outlining my hikes across terra firma.

We passed an old homesite before meeting up with Snake Fork. You could step across Snake Fork but it just looked "fishy". A quick dap of an olive EHC and, yes, Snake Fork has brookies.

We eventually made it back to Caldwell Fork and the trail by the same name. We were getting pressed for time, we had almost three miles back to the trailhead, but we had time to fish at a couple (eight total) of the bridges. I expected rainbows but all we caught were more brookies - no complaints from me!

We made it back to the vehicle, loaded up, and went to meet our partner. We found him fishing Palmer along the road where my son wanted to give it a shot at the run he was fishing,

A quick debrief of my partner and I learned that all he caught were brookies, in both Palmer and Pretty Hollow. Good news but confusing, I thought all he would catch were rainbows with the possibility of a few browns.

With Boogerman and two new brookie streams under our belt, it was time to find the Cataloochee elk herd. It wasn't too difficult, and we even found another group of turkey - not that that is a difficult task in the Smokies.

We stopped on the Lower Cataloochee, just above where Little Cataloochee Creek dumps in, so my partner could try one more time for that elusive brown trout.

He struck out again but the quick stop wasn't a complete loss. I got to see my son decide he was going for a swim. It was in the upper 80s, but it was still April, and this is still a trout stream. I laugh every time I see his face when he hits that cold water.

We took the scenic route out of the Catalooche drainage, across Mt. Sterling gap to Big Creek and I-40. We made one last stop for the day, at the Cosby overlook on the Foothills Parkway.

Day 3

After low 90s on Sunday and upper 80s on Monday, Tuesday was much different. The temperature this day would not surpass 45 with a steady rain all day - even snow flurries and 37 at Newfound Gap.

The original plan or this day was Leconte Creek and a hike to Grotto Falls - another location we could not get to last year due to road closings. With the rain and the fact my son found out he is not as fit as this time last year, we decided to do some "road fishing" this day.

We decided to head up and over Newfound Gap, back to the North Carolina side, and the upper Oconaluftee River. I thought this might be another opportunity for my friend to pick up a brown.

The rain had the stream up, but fishable. It was cold, even I put on waders. We fished for a short period before my son wanted to get back in the vehicle to warm his hands. The first spot did not produce but the next stop at the Kephart Prong trailhead produced a couple of rainbows on a large stimulator stripped like a steamer at the tailout of a drift.

My partner struck out on his quest for browns (or anything for that matter) on "the luftee". We decided to head back to the Tennessee side so he could give the Little River a try at Metcalf Bottoms.

A good friend at the Elkhorn Clean-up told me he had caught little bows behind the Sugarlands Visitor Center in Fighting Creek. We had to go by there to get to Metcalf, so why not?

I caught this little guy under the nature trail bridge.

Little River was raging so he struck out there too. Even though my partner had gone fishless for the day, it was time to call it a day. We took another alternate route as I had never driven from Metcalf Bottom to Wear Valley. I had know idea it was that close! It had to have been nearly 30 minutes quicker than going to Townsend then back to Pigeon Forge.

Day 4

Day four would be our last and shortest day of the trip. It would be a quick stop at the Cosby entrance before heading back across the Foothills Parkway, then north to West Virginia.

Cosby Creek is a nice, little, roadside brookie stream. It is nice pocket water with a few small plunge pools mixed in. I'm not sure why the brookies didn't want to cooperate, they're in there, but I only picked up one brookie in the short time we fished.

After a quick hour, or so, of fishing it was time to pull the plug on the third annual father/son trip to the Smokies. We took our gear off and packed up, but before we headed north it was time for our gratuitous entrance photo.

We made the decision that every year we would take this photo at a different entrance sign.

As I took the time to go through all of the photos I realized that I did not take as many photos as I normally do. I blame it on rust from the long winter. I need to force myself to take more photos, particularly when I have my son with me!

He took a few photos on this leg of his spring break too:

It was another great father & son outing in the Smokies!

Chris

Elkhorn Clean-up 2011

2011-04-23T11:03:00.000-04:00

Well, after a very long and eventful winter I was finally able to get in some REAL fishing....and it's April!

This event is an annual TU outing for me. Unfortunately it just happened to be the first "real" outing of the year. Fortunately, though, it coincided with my son's spring break and our annual trip to the Smokies - so this would be my son's first Elkhorn Clean-up.

As with many spring outings you must dodge rain and high water, and I've only attended one (of five) Elkhorn clean-ups where high/fast water was not a factor - an this year was not one of them.

We arrived on Friday for the Saturday clean-up, which gave us a full day to fish THE best wild trout stream in the state. In the last 4-5 years, this is the only time of the year where I fish a West Virginia stream that is not a "native" stream.

The flow and the levels were up in the main stream, so it was tough fishing for my son and I. We made the decision to move up one of the tribs...and it was fish on! I caught three of these guys in about five minutes.

I picked up a few more little guys before we made it back to the campground for the annual Friday night dinner and festivities.

We almost made it through dinner before the rain started and we also got a campfire started before the real storms hit! My son and I piled in the camper when the massive storms hit: thunder, lightning, and hail! Our host said that those were some of the worst storms he has ever encountered in a camper.

The next day was the actual clean-up and the numbers were down again this year. We had ~100 volunteers in 2009, ~80 in 2010, and just over 60 this year.

The numbers were down, but it also appeared the trash was too. It may have had something to do with the high flows and storms - most likely it was swept it on downstream.

Before:

During (with my son right in the middle of it):

After:

Following lunch it is usually back to the stream but this year was different; we had high water, forecast for more storms, and plans to head to the Smokies. So, with all of that we packed up and headed south a day earlier than planned.

Next entries will be from our annual father/son trip to the Smokies but first I wanted to post some photos my son took. He likes to carry a camera too. He has already "dunked" one camera so I let him carry my waterproof and he doesn't do too bad. All of these photos were taken by a handheld, underwater, video camera:

Maybe it's just because he's my son, but I think (for a 10-year-old) he does pretty good with a camera.

Chris

Alvord Cutthroat - A Call for Action

2011-03-28T17:16:00.000-04:00

As anybody who has followed my blog knows, not only do I post my adventures in search of native salmonids I also use this blog as a platform to raise awareness on the efforts to restore some of these native species.

This is another opportunity to voice your support of an improvement effort. This time it is for the "extinct" Alvord cutthroat. My friend Gary Marston of Native Trout Fly Fishing made me aware of this effort a couple of weeks ago and today he sent me this information.

This is a phenotypical Alvord specimen Gary caught (borrowed from his website):

The Alvord cutthroat has been declared extinct for most of the past century, however in one small creek in Southern Oregon there is still a remnant of these fish left. Although it is unclear how genetically pure the fish in this creek are, some are phenotypically correct representations of the Alvord cutthroat trout and this may be the last chance to save these fish from extinction. The problem is that closely related Lahontan cutthroat have also been stocked in the creek and the greatly out number the Alvord type fish and seem to be slowly but surely replacing the Alvord type fish. For more information of these fish, please visit http://kortumofdiscovery.wordpress.com/ or http://www.nativetroutflyfishing.com/alvordcutthroat.htm.

I fished this small creek on August 1, 2010 and did not land one of these phenotypical Alvords but my partner did. All I caught were the introduced Lahontan cutthroat.

I want another shot at them and we need to ensure they survive/thrive for me (and possibly my son) to add them to my life list.

Here is some information on current efforts and what you can do to voice your support:

A number of “challenges” attempt to inhibit ODFW SE Oregon Fish Biologists—at least where the Alvords are concerned. They have a lot on their plate, and much of it essentially mandated. At this point, the alvordensis phenotype consideration is completely volitional. The remaining known streams in the Alvord Basin that can support trout have had Willow/Whitehorse Cutthroat Trout translocated to them. Other streams might be “salvageable” if riparian zone work was accomplished, and perhaps beaver reintroduced into those streams. There also seems to be an expectation that they cannot get funding for a project without genetic “proof” that these are alvordensis. Of course, this inevitably leads to the complications Dr. Behnke predicted. Like many native trout enthusiasts, we hope that action will be accomplished before it is too late…

There’s a fair amount of “mystery” involved in this situation—and some have interpreted this into skepticism. The “true believers” tend to be those that have spent some time on the stream and have experienced the trout first hand—with an observant perspective of inquiry: “what is this?” and “where did it come from?” Common sense would lead one to comprehend that there are a finite number of explanations—and what Dr. Behnke has put forward indeed is the most likely explanation. Of course; none of us would have any traction without the authority and statements published by Dr. Behnke…

There’s more we may chat about in the future providing that time and circumstances permit… We’d be interested to know the level of genetic studies that you may have undertaken in the pursuit of your fisheries biology degree (there’s some background that brings this question to mind). I’ve been looking into the prospect of furthering ichthyologic biology and genetic studies simply because it seems alarmingly evident that some genetic studies/conclusions are missing a broad element of common sense.

Currently there is a “waiting game” underway—Mary Peacock of UNR ostensibly waiting for funding from the US Fish & Wildlife Service before she undertakes the project to look at the dozens of pre-hybridization specimens, along with the more recent specimens. More could be said about this than time permits—but this is the course of “action” that TU seemed to consider logical; and partly, for lack of funding, has gone on and on. There are samples from 2004 and 2008 that may be appropriate to analyze along with the select few from 2010—but, we personally have notable concern regarding whether genuine objectivity will be applied in the thought processes involved.

As you may know; Dr. Behnke has already pretty well spelled-out reality: “The best advice I can give I borrow from Peter Larkin’s keynote address to AFS many years ago: “Simplify, simplify, simplify”. The goal is to create a population of trout phenotypically representative of the extinct alvordensis by selecting specimens from Guano Creek that most closely resemble alvordensis. These would be transplanted into presently fishless waters. If all of the proposed actions, especially “genetic testing”, were attempted to be carried out with all of the associated planning and funding, I doubt the goal will ever be attained. It’s human nature to put off until tomorrow what could and should be done today. Accept that Guano Creek trout are not pure, but retain the hereditary basis to phenotypically duplicate alvordensis. What can more and more genetic analysis tell us except that the present population is most likely the product of more than one parental population?”

Little has changed in the five years since 2006, except that remaining Alvord phenotypes may still be on the decline. Last summer, when sampling the creek—with Shannon, her field assistant, Trout Unlimited personnel, an OSU Fisheries Professor and Patrick Trotter; eleven of fifty-five trout were logged as Alvord phenotypes (for a 20% or 1:5 ratio). In reality, that number was exceptionally high. The real number of respectable Alvord phenotypes is almost certainly a notably lower percentage, and the more time that goes on, the more likely it is that there will be greater difficulty in securing meaningful phenotypes for preservation of Alvord characteristics for future generations to experience and appreciate.

Writing a positive and encouraging letter of support to Shannon would be a good thing. We believe that as well as being a tool she can utilize in requesting grant funding from the Western Native Trout Initiative, etc; she also could use positive encouragement herself in this regard.

A letter of support might ideally include the mention of a number of considerations:

Possibly changing the regulations to “catch and release” only (currently allows a take of two trout per day), or some similar restriction…
A gentle reminder of the facts as Dr. Behnke has related them, and that genetic analysis tends to be a delay—and for what purpose? And to what end?
Creating sustainable habitat for the Alvord phenotypes (riparian zone work, doubtless, should be a priority for streams that could, with help, sustain trout).
If you believe it to be the case—expressingalvordensis in the system seems to still be on the decline…

Please submit letters of support for an Alvord phenotype rescue and restoration project to: Shannon Hurn, ODFW District Office, 237 Highway 20 South/PO Box 8, Hines, OR 97738 or via email to shannon.m.hurn@state.or.us

Thanks,

Chris

It's Getting Close

2011-03-20T14:23:00.000-04:00

The long winter is nearing completion. Tomorrow is the first day of spring and my first planned fishing trip is less than three weeks away. I plan to kick off the season with the annual trip to the Elkhorn Clean-up then heading further south for our annual father/son trip to the Smokies.

I was able to get out once over the winter, with a quick trip to new water with an old friend. Due to my transfer and my friend's house building, we were unable to hook up in 2010. Last month, following the West Virginia winter meeting of TU State Council, we headed east about 45 minutes to new water for me. With heavy runoff and heavy flows, there were no trout harmed on this quick trip but it was definitely nice to just get out on the water.

The winter hasn't been a complete loss, I've been acquiring gear for the upcoming season. In addition to my son's first pair of waders and his first backpack, I also purchased a dozen unique flies from Ben of Arizona Wanderings blog. He calls them mini-hoppers and I can't wait to give them a try on some wild trout waters of the Smokies.

Here's to another great year in search of native salmonids.

Chis

Restoring Native Salmonids in Yellowstone National Park

2011-01-15T16:57:00.000-05:00

Yellowstone National Park, the nation's first national park and home to some of the world's most acclaimed wild trout fisheries, has developed a draft plan and environmental analysis addressing future protection and restoration of the park's native trout, including Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Westslope cutthroat trout and fluvial Arctic grayling.

The documents can be found at the following link:

The Native Fish Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment

The plan calls for drastic measures (rotenone) but declining populations of native salmonids in the park explain the drastic times we now find for ourselves.

The primary focus of the plan will be eliminating the lake trout from Yellowstone Lake, but there are also several smaller projects to restore westslope cutthroat and grayling to park waters. I have pulled some of the specific projects from the plan:

G.2.2.1. De Lacy Creek

Brook trout are proposed to be removed from De Lacy Creek with the use of piscicides, followed by a YCT restocking effort.

G.2.2.2. Elk Creek Complex
This project would remove BKT using piscicides with subsequent restocking of YCT.

G.2.2.3. Gibbon River (upper)
Non-natives such as BKT, BNT, and RBT are proposed to be removed in this section of river upstream of Gibbon Falls by piscicides followed by the restocking of AGY &WCT.

G.2.2.4. Goose Lake Chain
This project would remove RBT that were previously stocked in this historically fishless lake. The proposed project would utilize piscicide to remove the RBT from the Goose Lake chain, including all streams between the lakes, and replace them with a self-sustaining population of WCT.

G.2.2.5. Pocket Lake
Pocket Lake is proposed for removal of BKT by use of piscicide followed by a restocking of YCT. Not only would the entire area of the lake be treated, but the upstream tributary and downstream to the lower waterfall would be treated as well.

G.2.2.6. Clear Creek
For more than 50 years information concerning spawning YCT from YSL was collected at a weir on Clear Creek. The weir was located approximately 250 meters upstream of the confluence with YSL. In 2008, high water damaged the existing weir, rendering it inoperable. The NPS is proposing to reconstruct the weir in a fashion that would allow the weir to again monitor spawning YCT and would minimize impacts to hydrology and wetlands or waters of the U.S. and their associated values.

G.2.2.7. Grayling Creek
This project would remove non-natives such as BNT, RBT, and CTX by use of piscicide followed by a restocking of AGY and WCT. A small existing bedrock waterfall would be modified to ensure it is a complete barrier to passage by nonnative fish (rainbow and brown trout) as they attempt to move upstream. The waterfall is located out of public view in a steep canyon near Montana HWY 191, 15 miles north of West Yellowstone, MT. The waterfall is approximately 2 meters in height. A deep (1 m depth) pool (“plunge pool”) exists immediately downstream at the base of the falls. The falls is bounded by bedrock and boulders on both sides.

G.2.2.8. Soda Butte Creek
This project would protect remaining YCT in Soda Butte Creek upstream of Ice Box Canyon. In order to preserve native Yellowstone cutthroat trout in the upper reaches of Soda Butte Creek we would modify an existing bedrock waterfall to ensure it is a complete barrier to passage by nonnative fish (rainbow and brook trout) as they attempt to move upstream. The waterfall is located out of public view in a steep canyon (Ice Box Canyon) along the East Entrance Road, east of Tower Junction. Ice Box Canyon contains a series of small falls and cascades (each approximately 2 meters height) which are bounded by steep bedrock on both sides. There is one feature within this series of falls and cascades that represents a significant barrier to upstream movement of trout. However, a large crack in the bedrock has formed a chute that may be passable by fish under some flow conditions. Of particular concern is the west bank of the falls where a large crack in the bedrock ascends the falls creating a single steep (but potentially passable) cascade.
G.2.2.9. Specimen Creek
During 2006 – 2010 native westslope cutthroat trout were restored to the East Fork of Specimen Creek (EFSC) temporarily isolated from the remainder of the Specimen Creek watershed by a man-made barrier to upstream movement of nonnative trout (rainbow and brown trout). The EFSC fish barrier is a log structure placed in a remote canyon, 5 km from the trailhead at HWY 191. Although this work represents a significant advancement in the conservation of westslope cutthroat trout, the overall goal remains to restore the entire watershed (including the North Fork of Specimen Creek and the mainstem) extending downstream to near the HWY 191 road bridge. Upon completion of the watershed restoration, the EFSC barrier would be removed and the area rehabilitated to its natural condition.

To restore native westslope cutthroat trout to the entire Specimen Creek watershed, it would first be protected from invasion by downstream sources of nonnative trout (in the Gallatin River) via a permanent fish barrier constructed largely of concrete and steel. The barrier site is well within public view near the Specimen Trailhead parking area, 26 miles north of West Yellowstone, MT. The site consists of an abandoned road bed (old HWY 191) that intersects Specimen Creek approximately 75 meters upstream of the existing highway bridge and forms an existing low “dam” across the floodplain. Specimen Creek flows through a narrow notch in the embankment, where a bridge once stood. Analysis of this site using Hec-Ras hydrological modeling (White 2008) indicates that it is a feasible site for barrier construction. Bankfull widths of the creek average 9 meters at undisturbed cross-sections

You may not believe in poisoning one species to preserve another, but hundreds of thousands of miles of streams with introduced species will remain in Yellowstone and surrounding states. These planned measures represent a fraction of a percent of total fishable water.

Read over the plans and provide your comments in support of the plan by using the link below. From my TU friends in Wyoming and Montana:

Tell the Park Service:
You support its stated objective to make suppression of lake trout in Yellowstone Lake the highest priority action for native fish conservation in the Park;You support the Park's stated, measurable targets for restoration of the Yellowstone cutthroat population in the lake, as well as the objectives for stream miles to eventually be occupied by westslope cutthroats and grayling;Also, ask the Park to:Increase the time and resources it dedicates to lake trout removal to ensure the population of this non-native predator is reduced to numbers that result in a significant rebound of Yellowstone cutthroat trout numbers.

Employ rigorous monitoring to ensure the Park meets its stated objectives, and to implement important research projects that help the Park better understand where lake trout spawn and how they move about the lake. This important information will help ensure the Park achieves its objectives.

Implement the recommendations from a science panel the Park convened in 2008 to help guide its efforts on the lake. These recommendations can be viewed at: [www.greateryellowstonescience.org/files/pdf/Gresswell_FINAL_color.pdf]

Submit your comments today. Help Yellowstone National Park's world famous native trout.

Submit Your Comments Online

Thanks,
Chris

#151

2011-01-01T13:37:00.000-05:00

I recently received my certificate for completing the California Heritage Trout Challenge. Of the individuals to complete the challenge, I am number 151.

The species I submitted for the CHTC, all in their native watersheds, were:

Kern River Rainbow
Little Kern Golden
California Golden
Lahontan Cutthroat
Goose Lake Redband
Warner Lakes Redband

I also caught the McCloud River Redband, but I will save that one in case I catch the remaining species in the challenge.

This certificate will look nice with my Wyoming Cuttslam certificate.

The species I submitted for the Wyoming Cuttslam, all in their native watersheds, were:

Yellowstone Cutthroat
Bear River (Bonneville) Cutthroat
Snake River Cutthroat
Colorado River Cutthroat

Also hanging with the two official certificates will be my "unofficial", self-created, Colorado Cuttslam.

The three native species from Colorado, all in their native watersheds:

Greenback Cutthroat
Colorado River Cutthroat
Rio Grande Cutthroat

Happy New Year and here's hoping 2011 brings a Wyoming and Colorado Cuttslam for my son.

Chris

2010 Year in Review - Quality Over Quantity

2010-12-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

As the year quickly comes to a close, it's time to reflect on the adventures of 2010. With the move to the Cincinnati area, I didn't fish nearly as much but the times I did make it out were very special.

Before I get into the video portion of the recap, here are a few numbers:

I added 7 new streams to my West Virginia brookie list.
I added another state (California) to my brookie list, bringing my total to 12.
I added 2 new brookie streams in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
I caught brookies in the same stream but in two different states (West Virginia and Virginia).
I added 11 new native species to my personal life list, bringing my list to 25.
One of those new species, the Lahontan cutthroat, I ended up catching in 3 different states (Nevada, California, and Oregon).
FINALLY, I added a successful California Heritage Trout Challenge to the successful Wyoming Cuttslam, and the "unofficial" Colorado Cuttslam.

To me, the fishing is just as much about the people and places I fish as it is the fish themselves. I started out the year with the annual father/son trip to the Smokys.

We ended up hiking about 20 miles over the three days...

saw some pretty water..

my first virgin stand of timber east of the Mississippi...

and caught a few brookies.

I didn't make many trips back to the mountains of West Virginia, but when I did they all had a purpose.

There was the Elkhorn Clean-up; where, following the work, I was able to catch all three species - two of which were wild, stream-born and the third (brookie) was a mystery.

Following this trip; I made a business trip to Las Vegas where I was able to add the Lahontan cutthroat to my life list and hike a bristlecone forest in the White Mountains of California, in search of Methusela.

My next trip back home was for the Blennerhassett chapter of TU spring campout ad hanging out with a small group of great guys.

This weekend started with the second annual 10-mile (round trip) hike into the Seneca Backcountry with another good friend.

Then was the Middle Fork of the Williams Bucket Brigade, where we had over 100 Walmart and TU volunteers show up in the rain to dump over seven tons of limestone fines - one bucket at a time.

I was also able to fish following the work with the head of the West Virginia DNR's Limestone Fines program, and add the same stream to my list - five years ago this stream was dead!

Another annual outing for me is the WVAngler.com campout. It was an incredible weekend where I caught one of my larger WV brookies followed by an incredible day with two great friends.

My next adventure was an epic road trip in which I added 11 new species to my life list, including the Life-long Bucket List hike into the Golden Trout Wilderness. I also was able to spend day on Silver King Creek with Dave Balducci, one of the original Native Trout Anglers - another great highlight. However, I did strike out on the paiute cutthroat, Alvord cutthroat, Whitehorse Basin cutthroat, and the Humboldt cutthroat...looks like a return trip may be necessary.

I tried to summarize the trip in the following video, but there is no way pictures and words can summarize this amazing adventure!

I wrapped up my 2010 adventures with another annual event, the Blennerhassett chapter West Fork of Greenbrier fingerling stocking.

During this weekend I was able to catch brookies in the same stream, but two different states.

West Virginia Brookie:

Virginia brookie:

I couldn't close a 2010 wrap-up without saying goodbye to an old, reliable friend. These guys have literally been with me for hundreds of miles of hiking. They have accompanied me on multiple (6) 10+ mile hikes into Seneca Backcountry, hikes deep into the Dolly Sods Wilderness. They have made (2) hikes to Timber Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park - over 10 miles to over 11K feet, multiple trips into the RMNP altitude chasing (3) greenbacks and (3) brookies. They have also made hikes and been dunked in waters of Yellowstone NP, Smoky Mountains NP, Shenandoah NP, and Yosemite NP. Their ultimate demise was a 16-mile day hike in the New Mexico desert and the Gila Wilderness. If these guys could talk, they would speak volumes of the adventures they have covered with me!

I sure will miss these loyal companions!

Here's to a great year and hopefully another one for 2011, in which I hope to take my son on his first visit to the Rockies.

Chris

A Wonderful Fall Weekend in WV - 2010

2010-10-30T08:18:00.011-04:00

Well, it's been a while...too long!!

I haven't wet a line since I returned from my western adventure. I have been working my tail off! I worked 38 of 39 days (most were 11-12 hours), including 32 in a row, and I'm a Monday to Friday guy.

I finally got a chance to return "home" to West Virginia for the annual fall stocking with my TU chapter. This is one of three or four TU events I try not to miss every year and this one usually signifies the end of the fishing season for me.

I had received a text earlier in the week from a friend that had fished this stream earlier in the week. I had not fished this brookie stream in over ten years. How do I know that? The lat time I fished this stream my wife was in her last trimester of pregnancy with my son - he turned 10 in May.

This particular stream is a limestone fines supported stream. The acidity comes from the high, headwater bogs.

The limestone fines that give this stream life.

During my previous outings to this stream I would hike in 2-3 miles and fish back to a meandering meadow section. I thought I would repeat my previous patterns on this stream, but it didn't work out for me.

It was mid 40s when I stepped out of the vehicle, but not too cold to wet wade. When I finally stepped into the stream I had second thoughts, luckily I had enough layers on top to survive.

I fished for a good half-mile of stream and didn't even spook a brookie. I made the decision to jump out of the stream and head back upstream to the section my friend had fished earlier - this paid off.

Apparently the feeder stream at this location is highly acidic and above it the limestone dump still buffers the stream. I finally picked up my first brookie just above the junction pool and the little guy was a gem.

One thing I do remember of the brookies in this stream was the unusual amount of red coloration. The fish were still amazingly colored!

I also soon learned that it was "that time of year" on this stream, as the next few pools offered this:

At this point I stepped out of the stream again, ensuring I did not step in/on redds. I did pick up a couple of smaller fish as the bigger and older fish were getting busy.

On the drive back out of the Wilderness Area, the road crossed the extreme headwaters of a stream that I have heard held browns on the lower end. I had plenty of time so I decided I would park the vehicle at the culvert and bushwhack down over the mountain to see what the headwaters held.

I missed a couple of strikes in the trickle that I could literally step over. I soon connected in this small pool:

Another small stream, West Virginia gem and another stream to add to my list.

I really hadn't set any plans on where I wanted to fish, only that I needed to be at the DNR cabin in Thornwood to meet the other members of our TU chapter.

On the way to Thornwood I stopped on the lower end of Seneca Creek, right along Rt 33, to have lunch. I parked in the fire department parking lot for lunch and figured while I was there: why not wet a line?

I picked up two small, wild rainbows before packing it in.

Where to go next? I thought about a stream I wanted to fish but my friend had told me this watershed was extremely low. What about a stream that headwaters in Virginia but it was too high and fast to fish when I was on it earlier in the year.

That's how I made my decision. I had caught brookies in this stream where it headwatered in Virginia but not where it flows through West Virginia.

It's a little over a mile on the trail to get to the water. This is a marked trail but it is one of the most rugged, knee-knocking, ankle-twisting trails in West Virginia...and, yes, there is a trail there.

The stream and the fall colors were beautiful!

The fish weren't too bad either.

This is a first for me - brook trout from the same stream, but in two different states (Virginia and West Virginia).

After catching a few brookies, the skies started to open up. It was raining in October! I have to say these are the best fall water levels I have seen in years!

With the rain coming down, I figured I could call it a day - brook trout in three streams and wild rainbows in a fourth. Now it was time to meet up with some friends, friends I had not seen in months.

It was a great evening hanging out with friends and swapping fishing tales but it was also an early evening for me...I had another big day ahead of me.

The next day was the annual fingerling stocking on the headwaters of the West Fork of the Greenbrier. This is the last fingerling stocking of the year and a great opportunity to get the kids involved.

Although downed timber kept us from stocking the waters we normally get to, it was still another great turnout for the Blennerhassett chapter of Trout Unlimited.

Following the stocking it was a difficult decision on where to fish - we were in "trout central" with wild trout streams in all directions. We finally agreed to hike into the lower canyon section of one of my two favorite streams in the state. Both of my fishing partners for the day had fished this stream, but neither had ventured into this section of the stream.

It's a 2-3 mile hike into this section, but once on the water it didn't take long to see why this is one of my two favorite streams in the state.

I picked up the majority of my fish on the dropper but it is nice to also pick up the occasional fish on the dry - which I did with this guy.

I landed the only brookie of the day:

More beautiful wild rainbows!

From this landmark on the stream it is nearly a two-hour hike back to the trailhead. This is not a section of stream to hike into for an afternoon of fishing, particularly with the short fall days.

It was another great evening in the cabin sharing the days fishing trips. Again, it was an early evening with plans to get up and get on the road and water the next morning.

The decision was to hit my other favorite stream in the state, but hitting the upper end.

This stream is also a limestone fines supported stream, with the fines purchased by our TU chapter. The upper end of this stream is known to produce higher numbers where the lower, canyon end is known for size.

The fishing started slow, picking up only a few small brookies.

I finally figured out why we were picking up only smaller fish. My partner pointed out a large female on redds, that he said was over 12".

I started taking my time moving about the stream, looking for the paired up brookies. I wish I had a polarized filter on my video camera. I was able to video this pair, but the glare on the water makes it difficult to see - look for the white edges on the pectoral and pelvic fins.

I was finally able to entice this nice fish to the surface in a pocket that was in the direct sunlight. Maybe the warming rays of sun had warmed the water in his pool.

Regardless, it was the only decent brookie I would pick up on the day...another wonderful fall weekend in West Virginia!

Chris

Updated Personal Life List

2010-08-29T19:19:00.027-04:00

With my 2010 western trip behind me, and at least another 6 weeks before I might be able to hit the water again, I thought I would update my personal species/sub-species life list.

Because my search has turned up quite a few species in introduced waters, I have distinguished the locations I have caught salmonids between native and introduced waters.

Char

Brook Trout

Salvelinus fontinalis

Native (WV, NY, PA, MD, VA, TN, NC)

Introduced (CO, WY, MT, UT, CA)

Bull Trout

Salvelinus confluentus

Native (ID)

Cutthroat

Greenback Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki stomias

Native (CO)

Colorado River Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus

Native (WY, CO, UT)

Rio Grande Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis

Native (CO)

Yellowstone Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri

Native (WY)

Snake River Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki behnkei

Native (WY)

Introduced (CO)

Bonneville Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki utah

Native (WY)

Westslope Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi

Native (ID)

Lahontan Cutthroat

Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi

Native (CA)

Introduced (UT, OR)

Apache & Gila Trout

Apache Trout

Oncorhynchus gilae apache

Native (AZ)

Gila Trout

Oncorhynchus gilae gilae

Native (NM)

Rainbow and Redband Trout

Columbia Basin Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri

Native (ID)

McCloud River Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss stonei

Native (CA)

Goose Lake Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii

Native (CA)

Warner Lakes Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii

Native (CA)

Catlow Valley Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii

Native (OR)

Harney-Mahleur Basin Redband

Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii

Native (OR)

California Golden Trout

Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita

(CA)

Little Kern Golden Trout

Oncorhynchus mykiss whitei

Native (CA)

Kern River Rainbow

Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti

Native (CA)

"Others"

Brown Trout

Salmo trutta

Introduced (WV, NY, PA, MD, VA, TN, NC, MT, WY, CO, UT, CA)

(Landlocked) Sockeye Salmon

Oncorhynchus nerka

Introduced (CO)

Arctic Grayling

Thymallus arcticus pallus

Introduced (CO, WY)

Mountain Whitefish

Prosopium williamsoni

Native (MT, WY)

I try to acknowledge the guys (mentors) who have helped me locate many of these species/sub-species. You can check out their lists here:

Native Trout Fly Fishing

and

Native Trout Angler

Thanks,

Chris

The Epic 2010 Native Road Trip Part 5 - Heading Back East

2010-08-13T14:01:00.009-04:00

I had no idea the last three sub-species in California would be so easy to capture. Just in case, though, I had a contingency plan for southeast Oregon. Again, Gary Marsten was able to set me up with four more sub-species in southeast Oregon.

Since we were nearly in Oregon when we caught the Warner Lakes redband, why not hop across the border and pick up a couple more?

We stopped in Lakeview, Oregon to buy license and a gazetteer. The license was no problem at all, but when I asked for a gazetteer at the True Value they didn’t know what I was talking about. Luckily, another customer pointed me to a gas station on our way out of town.

We stopped to get gas, which by the way, you can’t pump your own gas in Oregon. How strange! Regardless, when I asked the gas station attendant if they had a gazetteer his response was exactly: “A gaza what?”. I probably should look elsewhere, and I did with no luck. We decided to press on without the aid of a gazetteer. I had my GPS and I had made very good notes on how to get to the streams.

Turns out we didn’t need the gazetteer. We drove right to the first stream – across 20 miles of washboard gravel road. I strung up the rod first and had my first Catlow Valley redband from the first open pocket.

When I say “open”, I mean in the sense that you can get a fly on the water through the extremely dense trees. Nathan struggled a bit but also managed to pick up his Catlow Valley redband. I was lucky enough to pick one out of the first open pocket and it’s a good thing. This was some of the toughest fishing conditions I have ever encountered. You couldn’t get into the stream, it was that tight and there were very few openings in the brush. It was amazing to even find water, as the only thing we saw going into the stream was sage – NOTHING ELSE!

One of the locals, at the hot springs, told us we could get into larger trout on upstream around the corral. We started to check it out but we wanted to get to the next stream, so we passed.

We managed, again, to drive right to the next stream too. This was a special stream and one we were both looking forward to. This stream happens to contain the only (genotypical) population of the Alvord cutthroat, which up until a couple of years ago was thought to be extinct. I believe Gary is the first individual to validate the existence of the Alvord in this stream.

Gary gave us the exact location of the stream to fish and we immediately started picking up fish, but they were introduced Lahontan cutthroat. I caught a couple of very nice Lahontans, but that was not what I was after.

Nathan did finally pick up one fish that displayed the external characteristics of the Alvord but all I caught was more Lahontans. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to catch those fish but that’s not what I was after.

I had never caught a Lahontan cutthroat until this year and now I have caught them in three different states (NV, CA, OR).

I fished the stream hard but it just wasn’t meant to be and, besides, we still had 40 miles of rough, gravel road ahead of us to get out of there. At this point I had caught five different sub-species this day and I was then 10 of 12 on my trip list. Nathan had also caught five different sub-species for the day but he was now 11 for 12 on the trip list.

As we got about two miles from where we planned to camp on the Donner & Blitzen River my low tire indicator light came on. I pulled over and sure enough one of the rear tires was flat. Like a veteran NASCAR pit crew we changed the tire with enough time to get camp set up by dark.

The next morning it was up the Donner & Blitzen above the campground for the Harney-Mahleur Basin redband.

I had the worst night sleep of the trip, worrying about another 60 miles of gravel road, only this time without a spare. I was, as normal, up before the sun for a cup of coffee and a granola before attempting to bring another sub-species to hand.

This stream was the largest water w fished the entire trip, and it was probably only ten yards across. We would have to adapt our fishing style for the larger water; I did, and picked up my Harney-Mahleur in a small pocket next to the bank.

I picked up another in a nice little pool, which was covered on both sides by overhanging trees.

Nathan fished hard and finally picked up a couple of decent fish. The count for me was now 11 for 13 (10 new species) and Nathan was up to 12 for 13 (all new).

From the Donner & Blitzen it was off to Whitehorse cutthroat water, which was 30 miles from hardtop.

Without a spare, I was "puckered" the entire drive across Whitehorse Ranch Road. From Whitehorse Ranch Road it was another five miles of first gear crawling - without a spare!

We finally made it to water, not far enough upstream according to Gary's directions, but I wasn't going any further in without a spare.

Nathan picked up a Whitehorse cutthroat almost immediately, but I struggled. My head wasn't in it and it was extremely tough fishing. Just like the Catlow Valley stream, we drove past miles of nothing but sage until we found water. Where there was water there were trees tight to it. Where we could get to the pools we were fishing ten feet above the water. I missed a couple and spooked a couple due to being directly above the water.

My only concern was getting back to civilization and getting that tire repaired, so I left without the Whitehorse cutthroat. I even drove right through Whitehorse Ranch and didn't even slow down.

Typically, I like to add a few photos of the scenery but southeast Oregon had nothing to offer but sage brush. That area of Oregon had to be the most desolate location I have ever been.

We finally made our way to Elko, NV where we got a motel room for the night. After the stress of the previous day it was nice to have a hot shower (#3 of the trip) and a soft bed (#2 of the trip).

The next morning we went to Walmart to have the tire plugged. This is where it gets interesting!

The conversation with the technician went something like this:

Technician: "What tire did you say needed plugged?"

Me: "The spare is on the passenger side rear."

Technician (pointing at the driver's side rear): "Well that tire is the one with the nail in it."

I couldn't believe I had driven over 60 miles through the middle of nowhere the day before with no spare and a nail in another tire! Talk about lucky!

After they pulled the first tire off the rim they told me the hole was too big for them to patch, due to Walmart liability rules, so they sent me to another local tire shop.

After plugging two tires we were on the road again, headed for Humboldt cutthroat water. We got about 30 miles out of town when the low tire light came on again. I pulled over and sure enough (again) the tire was flat. We changed the tire even quicker this time (we had practice) and headed back to the tire shop.

They plugged the tire again and gave me a lame excuse that the tire had another hole in it. I don't think so, they pressure test the tire after they plug it.

By this time it was 1:30 PM but we were headed back to Humboldt water. We fished two streams in multiple location but both came up empty on the Humboldt cutthroat. The problem we found when we could locate fishable water were beavers. There were numerous beaver dams on both streams and they created major siltation problems. Some of the pools created by the beaver dams had 2-3' of sediment in them.

After dealing with the tires and the tire shops, we readily admitted defeat on the Humboldts and packed up. We set up the vehicle to drive through the night with the final destination of northern Colorado for greenbacks and grayling.

Eleven hours later we were sitting at the parking lot for the greenback and grayling stream at 5:30 AM. When we crossed the pass from Wyoming into North Park, Colorado the thermometer read 37 degrees and it was still chilly at over 10,000 feet. We decided to take a little nap and wait for it to warm up a bit - two hours later we woke up and strung up.

We fished the exact same section of water I was successful on two years earlier, but caught/saw nothing. We fished probably a half-mile of stream before making the decision to head back to the vehicle.

I decided to continue my nap while Nathan decided to head further downstream in search of the grayling. The reasoning was: when I fished it last time it was two weeks later in the month and they possibly had not yet moved upstream.

Two hours later I woke up, about the same time Nathan was returning to the vehicle. He had found the grayling and was having quite the time catching/photographing them. With the information he had found the fish, I grabbed my rod and headed downstream to pick up a couple.

The first grayling, out of the first pocket, was probably my largest grayling ever.

It is so much fun sight fishing to these guys, as they stick out like a sore thumb.

I picked up another very nice grayling, definitely my largest ever. My hand measure 8" from fingertip to watch band. This fish is about 2" past my fingertip and another 4" past my watch, so I'm guessing somewhere around 16"!

The Colorado state record for grayling is 17"!

After releasing the grayling, my very next drift produced this greenback - my largest greenback to date!

I didn't fish long, I just wanted Nathan to catch some grayling. I know he wanted to get some good photos of grayling and his bamboo rod...and he did.

Following a snack at the vehicle, it was a short hike up to a reservoir the Colorado uses for greenback brood stock. We had hoped to get into more large greenbacks, but it was not in the cards. We walked almost halfway around the lake and all we saw was a moose.

It had been two years since I had been in this area and it was depressing to see the bark beetle had made it north of RMNP.

It is normal in August for Colorado's high country to produce some very nice thunderstorms during the midday hours. The skies were getting pretty dark so we decided to call it a day and call an end to our fishing for this epic road trip.

We made one last stop in Westminster, CO to visit my brother and his family. For dinner, he served bison steaks as big as my head. It was nice to visit with my brother, I wish I had more time...we had a long haul ahead of us!

By the time we made it back to West Virginia we had put in 7,500 miles of driving (through 17 states), over 60 miles of hiking, we had caught 17 species/sub-species of salmonids (10 new sub-species for me), 12 in their native watershed, repaired 2 flats, and had three plugs put in tires.

I have nicknamed this trip the road trip of a lifetime!

Chris

The Epic 2010 Native Road Trip Part 4 - The Northern California Redbands

2010-08-13T12:50:00.007-04:00

The drive across Rt 50 to Sacramento and north on I-5 was pleasant. I was amazed at the amount of agriculture north of Sacramento: the size of some of the fruit tree, nut, and grape orchards was incredible.

We made it to our destination with about an hour of daylight. Unfortunately the gazetteer and my GPS did not match the logging and USFS roads, so we made it to the campground with only minutes of fishable light remaining. Nathan caught a respectable McCloud River redband almost immediately. I caught a couple pretty quick too but mine were only 3-4”.

The decision was: do I take my 3” fish and push on toward our next destination or set up camp and hit the stream first thing in the morning? I chose both. I was not satisfied with my small redband as these were some of the more colorful redband sub-species on the CHTC, so I wanted something larger. I also didn’t want to set up camp so I slept in the vehicle.

I was again up before daylight, so I milled around and took a baby wipe bath. Does this count as shower #3 for the trip? So I was on the water with just enough daylight to see my fly and I did pick up a little more respectable McCloud River redband – about 6”.

I caught a few more but nothing larger so I returned to the vehicle to roust Nathan out of his tent and we were on the road again at 6:30 AM.

With Mt. Shasta in our rearview mirror for about 60 miles we were headed to the extreme northeast corner of California. We now had sub-species 5 of 6 for the CHTC!

This is where the intel from Gary Marsten came in very handy. He said: for the Goose Lake redband go beyond the meadow section to the higher gradient water. No problem! We both had our Goose Lake redband in a matter of minutes and both from the same pool.

We had also just completed the requirements for the California Heritage Trout Challenge.

The fishing in this section of stream was very good as we both picked up 5-10 Goose Lake redbands before we packed it in on this stream.

While planning we were told if you’re in this area you will kick yourself if you don’t go ahead and pick up the Warner Lakes redband too. So, it was down and out of one drainage then up the road ten miles and up into (and over) another drainage.

It took us a little longer to get into this stream and the road was a little rough & tight in places, but we made it in one piece. Again we found the location that was described to us and again within minutes we both had another species – the Warner Lakes redband.

The fishing in this stream was also very good as we picked up another 5-10 fish each before calling it quits.

I loved the wide open, small stream fishing. I now had three sub-species under my belt for the day and it was only 11:30 AM! We also were sitting pretty with 9 of 10 sub-species, with only the Paiute eluding us.

If I only knew what was ahead of us in Oregon and Nevada’s high desert…

Chris

The Epic 2010 Native Road Trip Part 3 - The Central Sierras

2010-08-13T11:47:00.014-04:00

Following an amazing trip into the Golden Trout Wilderness, it was down and out of Cottonwood Meadows. On the way out, I drove the hairy series of cliff-side switchbacks they call a road. I don’t think I took my eyes of the inside berm the entire length of the road.

Once we were back on flat ground, we stopped to take a few shots of Mt. Whitney and discuss when we would return to add it to “the list”. Then, it was back to the USFS to return that dreaded 5-pound sled they call a bear canister. From Lone Pine it was north to Bishop for lunch. I’m not sure of the pizza joints name but it was one of the better pizzas I have ever had – their motto was: “we toss’em, they’re awesome”.

While in Bishop we stopped in a fly shop where the older gentleman told us the story of how some hotshot jet pilot went into Golden Trout Wilderness with a helicopter and grabbed some goldens for his hunting camp in Utah. Once Utah found out they had goldens, they started spreading them to other states in the west. The older gentleman (I’m guessing about 75-years old) said he used to spend entire summers in the GTW before it was designated wilderness. He said back then that was the only place in the world to catch goldens! I laughed and told him Nathan had just told me that exact story the day before. Turns out, that “hotshot jet pilot” was also from West Virginia and his name is Chuck Yeager….small world!

Our final destination for the evening was Yosemite National Park. This park has also been on my bucket list for quite some time and I figured I would check it off while I was in the neighborhood. It would be the only day (other than driving) that I did not have fishing on the itinerary.

The drive across Tioga Pass Road was amazing enough, but I wanted to see Yosemite Valley and all it has to offer. The plan was to find a motel room some place near Yosemite Valley where we could shower (#2 for the road trip) and find a bed (first time on the road trip). I think this may have been the only leg on our trip where I should have planned better and didn’t, as it took nearly 40 miles of following the Merced River to find a hotel room in our price range. For $80/night we found a room in Muir Lodge with two beds and two TV channels – and they were the same channel. Most importantly, though, they had hot showers and beds!

The next morning we were again up and daylight and on the road early to beat the crowds in Yosemite Valley. Our first stop was El Capitan as the sun was just high enough to catch it with early rays.

The next stop was Vernal Falls.

I wish I had a dollar for every time we were asked on the way down if we had already been up and back to Half-Dome. I’ve seen pictures of the conga line going up Half-Dome, and from the crowds it looked like another busy day. However, from the condition of some of the folks we passed I don’t think half of them were capable of making it.

Following Vernal Falls, it was off to Yosemite Village and Upper & Lower Yosemite Falls.

In preparation, and in interest of his works, I have been reading a collection of John Muir works. His presence is everywhere in the valley and I couldn’t help but wonder what this valley must have looked like before it was developed.

The haze had moved into the valley early and the shots of Half-Dome did not turn out as well as I would have liked.

On the way out of the valley, it was one last stop at Bridal Veil Falls. I should have stopped on the way in! By the time we made it to the undersized parking lot it was a game of musical chairs for a parking spot. I finally found a spot along the road but by the time we made it to the base of the falls the sun was at the perfect declination that you couldn’t see the top of the falls for the glare. I made one more lap around the short loop and finally got a decent shot of Bridal Veil Falls and Cathedral Rocks.

From the valley it was back across Tioga Pass Road. Before we left, I got one last glimpse of the amazing Yosemite Valley (you can see Bridal Veil Falls in the bottom center).

Our first stop on Tioga Pass Road was the sequoia stand. I had never seen one and I could not believe how big they were.

Even the pine cones were big.

From the stand of sequoias there was only one more stop. Nathan had scoped out a small stream he wanted to fish before we left Yosemite National Park. I didn’t plan to fish; just soak my feet in the nice cold water. The first fish Nathan pulled out was a nice 10” brookie. Needless to say it didn’t take me long to string a rod up in an effort to add another state to my brook trout list.

It took me a while but I finally added state number twelve to my brook trout list. In the process I caught what I called the Yosemite Slam: a rainbow trout, a brown trout, and a brook trout.

Dana Fork in Yosemite National Park.

After completing my Yosemite Slam, it was back down to Rt 395 then north where the plan was to set up camp at the trailhead for our trip into Silver King Creek. Again, along 395 we stopped at a little road-side restaurant for a meal. This one happened to be south of Coleville and the fair was barbeque. Maybe it was the fact we had been living on college food for over a week but this was also some of the best bbq I had ever had.

With our stomachs extremely full, it was on to the trailhead where the following morning we would meet up with Dave Balducci for the hike into the native range of the Paiute cutthroat.

The next morning we met up with Dave and completed the hike into the open water section of Silver King Creek. We fished the open end of one of the tributaries that were reported to have Paiutes, and we also fished a couple miles of Silver King proper. You won’t see any photos of Paiute cutthroat in this entry as there were none caught. We did catch MANY rainbows in the 8-10” class and they were impressive rainbows at that. I don’t know that I have ever caught so many high-flying trout. I had several of these small rainbows jump three feet out of the water before they were landed.

After going five for five on our previous native quests, we were now five for six. Nathan nicknamed the Paiutes the unicorn cutthroat…do they actually exist?

We put in about ten miles in search of the Paiute in the native watershed and came up empty-handed. What made this so easy to handle was the fact that I finally met one of the “founding fathers” of native salmonid fishing. We sat around the campfire that evening to past midnight (the latest night of the entire trip) talking about streams and fish in far away places. What a pleasure that was!

I thought we would spend the following day fishing with Dave but the fact that he had just taken his foot from a cast two weeks earlier would keep him from putting in trail time on back-to-back days. We parted ways that morning, he was headed for bigger water and we were headed for Lahontan cutthroat water.

The hike into Lahontan territory was a short one – only three miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. I couldn’t believe how much snow was still at the pass into the high meadow.

The meadow itself seemed to be only in late spring with all of the wildflowers and it was actually the first day of August.

It didn’t take long to land my first Lahontan in California as I pulled this little guy from the first bend pool.

We both caught several Lahontans with the largest being about 10”. The size didn’t matter, though, this was species number four for our California Heritage Trout Challenge – we were over half-way there.

The hike out seemed short, maybe because the three miles was the shortest of our hikes, maybe it was because it was our last hike of the trip, or maybe because it was the beauty of the high meadow trail.

From this trailhead it was west to Sacramento then north to the shadows of Mt. Shasta. I’m just glad we weren’t staying in Lake Tahoe that weekend. We were going west but the traffic going east was bumper-to-bumper for over thirty miles!

Next would be our final leg in California, the northern redbands.

Chris

The Epic 2010 Native Road Trip Part 2 - The Southern Sierras

2010-08-06T22:07:00.015-04:00

After going 2 for 2 in New Mexico and Arizona, it was off to California with hopes of completing the California Heritage Trout Challenge.

We left the Apache stream at 11:00 AM and when we crossed into California later in the afternoon, the car thermometer read 115 degrees...but they say it's a "dry heat".

We pulled into the KOA at Lake Isabella just after dark. I didn't have a reservation because I wanted our schedule to be flexible. They were out of tent sites so they gave us an RV site, which meant no tent pad. I wasn't going to bend my tent spikes trying to drive them into "concrete" so I decided to sleep in the vehicle. Before I called it a night, there were more important items to take care of - like the first shower in over three days!

The next day we were up before the sun with the goal of collecting the first two species of our CHTC - the Kern River rainbow and the Little Kern Golden. We had to then make it back to Lone Pine to get our backcountry permit prior to the USFS office closing.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the back roads were paved, which made for making good time.

We made it to our first location in right at an hour of driving and within minute we both had our first species in the CHTC, the Kern River rainbow (Onchorhynchus mykiss gilberti).

Not the biggest specimens, but they count:

A short drive on up the road and we were on the stream of our next species, the Little Kern Golden trout. I took the first hole, a culvert hole just below the road and I had me next species, the Little Kern Golden (Onchorhynchus mykiss whitei):

My partner caught two very nice specimens in "pot holes" in the meadow section above the road. After briefly exploring above the meadow, we decided to head back downstream. We both picked up several more fish before calling it a day on the west side.

I think it was only about 9:30 AM when we finished our first two species of the challenge - and 4 for 4 total on the trip.

This is where I actually realized the great size of California. We were just going from above the Johnsondale Bridge to Lone Pine, not that far on the map, but a 3-hour drive.

We made it to the USFS visitor's station in plenty of time, then the big question: did they have any of the 16/day walk-in permits for Cottonwood Pass remaining? They did, and they also informed us we had to have a bear canister - we didn't but, luckily, they also rented them.

Permit in hand; we stopped at a pizza joint in Lone Pine to carbo load in preparation for our hike into Big Whitney Meadows. I also had to mentally prepare myself for the drive into Cottonwood Meadow. What an insane road that turned out to be and no guard rails!

I survived the white-knuckle ride into Cottonwood Meadow campground - just don't look down. Once at the campground, we quickly set up camp and headed for Cottonwood Creek for the first "true" California golden trout of my life.

This little guy did not count toward the CHTC, as Cottonwood Creek is not in the California golden's native range. He didn't count but he sure was pretty!

Being a few yards from the campground, these guys obviously see some pressure, as they were very skittish. I did manage to pick up five or six of these little guys, though.

Nathan caught a couple too and he met his first marmet, who called the Cottonwood Meadow home.

We didn't fish long, we had work ahead of us tomorrow and we were in our tents for the night by 6:30 PM.

We were up and packing our gear by 5:00 AM. A cup of coffee, a granola bar and we were on the trail shortly after 6:00 AM.

This trip has been one of my life bucket list items for quite some time; I couldn't believe I was actually going to check this one off!

The hike to Cottonwood Pass (11,000 feet) was tough, but not as bad the hike into gila trout water. Once you reach the pass, you still have over four miles of downhill and flat hiking remaining.

After 3.5 hours of hiking, we set up camp just inside a grove of trees on the north end of Big Whitney Meadow, with a great view overlooking Golden Trout Creek.

Once camp was set up, it was time to hit the creek in search of species number three of the CHTC. It didn't take long to add the California Golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita) as the third species in the challenge - first pool.

I could have taken photos of every fish I caught (nearly every cast), as these fish are the most beautiful trout I have ever seen!

The photos do not do these fish justice, the golden hues were nothing compared to the neon orange bellies!

Another amazing feature of Golden Trout Creek is the number of fish in this stream. Watch this video of four or five drifts, with strikes on every drift.

I also had to take a photo with my Vandalia bamboo. This rod has landed several native salmonids!

After catching goldens on nearly every cast, it was time for lunch and a nap. On the way back to the creek, after our break, we started checking out the small trickles that feed Golden Trout Creek - there are goldens in there too!

This guy came from a trickle not much wider than my hand.

Another example of how many fish were in this valley: check out the video of Nathan catching a golden from one of these trickles on the first drift.

As we fished through the afternoon we noticed heavy smoke filling the valley and a heavy smell of smoke. By mid-afternoon we could not see the peaks at either end of the valley. Had my legs not been "rubber" from the hike in we would have packed up and made this a day trip.

We were signed it at the ranger station, we figured if the fire was close we would have been asked to head out by any of the rangers that had vehicles parked at the trailhead. We talked about moving camp to the base of the vertical, in case we had to make a fast exit, but we stayed put. It was a late evening for us this day; we turned in about 7:30 PM.

The next morning we woke to the sound of coyotes yipping at each other across the meadow. We also woke to crystal clear skies - the smoke had moved out.

As much as I hated to leave this location, it was time to pack up and head out. We were on the trail before 7:00 AM again and the climb to Cottonwood Pass was again tough. I was still recovering from the hike in. I motored along pretty good on the flat sections of the trail but struggled a bit on the uphill, particularly once we reached the 11,000 pass.

I did survive though!

From here it was all downhill back to Cottonwood Meadows.

The hike out was just a bit longer (time) than the hike in, which I was pleased with. After relaxing for a few minutes, it was back down the white-knuckle road to Lone Pine.

I survived this drive again - Nathan videotaped the entire ride down.

We dropped the bear canister off at the USFS office, then headed north on Rt 395 to Bishop. We had another great pizza in Bishop! We toss'em, they're awesome!

At this point we were 5 for 5 and from Bishop it was on north toward the central Sierras and the next couple of legs on our trip, including a day of rest in Yosemite National Park.

Chris

The Epic 2010 Native Road Trip Part 1 - The Southern Swing

2010-08-06T16:58:00.014-04:00

I have to begin this series of entries by thanking a few people for making this trip of a lifetime possible. First, I have the best wife in the entire world! After all we've been through in the last year, with the transfer and all of the headaches that go with it, she told me I needed this vacation!

Second I would like to thank a few of my native angler brethren: Dave Balducci of The Native Trout Angler, Gary Marsten of Native Trout Fly Fishing, and Ned Morris whom I met on the Native Trout website: The Angler's Life List. All three provided detailed information on where to obtain 15 different species/sub-species in New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon, and Nevada. Dave even made the trip from the San Francisco bay area to help us search for paiute cutthroat.

Now to the road trip of a lifetime...After 28 hours of driving, we left West Virginia at 8:30 PM on July 22, we found ourselves at the trailhead for the first adventure: New Mexico's Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae gilae). New Mexico has done an outstanding job restoring these fish from the Endangered Species List and in 2007 they opened a few streams to angling.

This particular stream is 7 1/2 miles from the trailhead, across some of the most rugged terrain I have hiked across.

From the trailhead sign, there is a high peak immediately to the right. We passed through the saddle to the right of the peak and two more ridges beyond.

The photo above was taken from the top of the first ridge. There are four ridges in this photo; our stream would be beyond the second ridge and straight down from there.

We finally made it to the final ridge, where the downhill would begin. It is also the location where the West Fork canyon drops in - the West Fork is also the lower end of the open, fishable water.

Once we hit water, it didn't take long to land my first Gila trout.

They are a beautiful little fish in a very rugged landscape. However, they are thriving in this rugged area! My partner and I probably caught 50 fish each in the three hours we fished, including a Gila double.

It's hard to explain the appearance of the gila: maybe a cross between a brown, a rainbow, and a Snake River cutt.

The lower end of the open water was a series of waterfalls and crystal clear plunge pools.

It was hard not to tie on a woolybugger and dredge it through the pools. This method produced my largest gila of the day.

As I said, the gila trout are doing quite well in this stream!

With the long hike out still ahead of us, we fished only for three hours. The hike up and out was brutal, and I ran out of water about a mile from the trailhead in the afternoon New Mexico sun. Between the cobble-filled trails and the heat, it was one of the toughest hikes I have ever completed. Six hours of hiking and three hours of fishing, and I'd do it all again in a second.

After re-hydrating and briefly recovering at the trailhead, it was off to Arizona's Apache Sitgreaves National Forest - about 100 miles to the northwest.

This National Forest was unusually crowded. I had never been in the area before and I didn't expect this type of crowding in the Arizona backcountry. We finally found an empty campsite and set up camp in a light rain. After a long first day, it was a quick dinner of a bowl "college" noodles and an early turn in.

We awoke to the sound of a pack of coyotes yipping as the raced across the nearby fields. Dave had recommended we fish the Apache stream early to avoid the thunderstorms. With that in mind, we were on the stream before 8:00 AM. We prospected up the meadow until we reached the first feeder stream, where I picked up my first Apache trout (Oncorhynchus gilae apache) - just as Dave had predicted.

I didn't pick up any Apache trout of size but I did catch this little guy that appeared to have eaten something his own size - his stomach was quite large.

Unlike me, my partner for the trip, Nathan landed a decent Apache at the entrance to the tree line.

We had only fished for a couple of hours when the rumble of thunder ran us off the stream. I would liked to have had more time to try to land something a little bigger than six inches, but this storm was serious.

From this stream it was north to I-40, then west into California and the southern Sierras, where we would attempt to complete the California Heritage Trout Challenge.

Chris

WVAngler Campout - 2010

2010-06-30T20:27:00.015-04:00

The last weekend in June was the 5th annual WVAngler campout. In my opinion, WVAngler is the best thing to happen to trout fishing in West Virginia in recent memory. The site is a great source of information, great for coordinating/communicating conservation activities, and general all-around good people. Through this site, I have met and fished with folks who I don't only simply consider friends, I consider them life-long friends.

Each year we pick a location and gather for a weekend of fishing and camaraderie. This weekend we were located in Elkins - West Virginia trout central.

On Friday I finally met up with a fellow board member who has invited me multiple times to fish one of his "jewel" brookie streams. This isn't your typical dry fly fishing stream. This is a weighted woolybugger, dredging the bottom, monster-hunting stream. I've heard reports of native brookies pushing 16" caught out of this stream...but don't ask, because, out of respect of my "guide", I'm not telling!

I've caught my fair share of native brookies, but I may have caught my biggest to date out of this stream. From fingertip to watch band, my hand measure 8". This may have been my first 12"-class native brook trout.

My fishing partner (aptly, he goes by the handle of brookie on WVAngler) caught the fish of the day, a true two-hander.

I didn't land any of the monster brookies, but some of the fish I saw take a swipe at my woolybuggers would have been 14" easy. A truly amazing stream! Did I mention there is an old limestone quarry near the head of it?

That evening it was an incredible time with friends around a nice campfire.

The next day it was to one of my favorite West Virginia brookie streams to show a couple of good friends the canyon section. One had never fished this section and the other had never fished the stream at all.

The new guy to the stream was fellow native angler and my partner for my 2007 Native Salmonid Roadtrip. He is as passionate about the natives as me and this stream has been on his list for a couple of years, we simply couldn't coordinate it.

I did manage to pick up a few fish, but this wasn't about catching fish. This day was about spending time on an incredible stream with great friends.

It's always a good sign to pick up the little guys, particularly considering about 15 years ago this stream was dead.

I hung back, took photos, played hide-and-seek, and (on a dare) took a dive into one of the deeper pools.

Here is the pair splitting a section of small pocket water.

Everyone I take in here, I try to get a photo of him under this stream landmark.

Just above the "cave" hole are the falls.

Recently I've found that as much as I enjoy exploring new water, I enjoy sharing these waters with friends just as much, if not more.

I don't know that I have ever had a better time on the water!

On the hike out we made another friend!

I always watch the trail when I hike, but I nearly stepped on this guy. He was stretched out straight and with his dark colors; I thought it was a tree limb in the trail. We guessed him to be about 4' and he was as big around as my arm - the biggest timber rattler I have ever encountered. Turn up your speakers!

Following a successful journey into on one of my favorite streams I took them to another stream that I fished for the first time in 2009. I actually fished a little harder on this stream - it was slow going and I had to prove to them there actually were fish in there. At one point I may have jokingly offered to provide lessons.

Finally, back at the trailhead at the end of a long day.

That evening it was another round of good times, exchanging the day's fishing tales. I thought our adventure would have been the story of the day....I was wrong! There was one story that topped them all and it will be discussed at all future WVAngler campouts.

I did stop to fish one stream before heading back to Kentucky. The stream was brutally low and the fish were pooled up. One thing about the fish pooling in low water conditions, you can see what is really in the stream. Note to self: you must fish this stream during normal flows!

This is probably all of my West Virginia posts for a few months. My next entries will most likely be from my massive road trip in search of 11 new native salmonid species. Wish me luck!

Chris

Middle Fork Bucket Brigade - 2010

2010-06-19T10:23:00.006-04:00

Following a nine-hour drive from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina I unpacked, repacked, and thirty minutes later I was on the road for the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. It was the weekend for the third annual Middle Fork of the Williams limestone fines bucket brigade.

Four hours later, I had camp set up and had just enough light left to add another new brookie stream to my personal list. First drift...

The next morning I was up at daylight, made myself a nice cup of coffee, and picked up on the stream I had fished briefly the evening before.

While at Myrtle Beach I picked up a new wading shoe, the Vibram FiveFingers. It was really nice to feel like you were wading barefoot, but the jury is still out on the traction they provide.

Following a brief, successful outing on this new stream it was off to the Cranberry Visitor's Center. I will not go into the details of how the bucket brigade works, you can find them in the 2009 Bucket Brigade entry.

The details I will provide:

In 2008 there were 32 volunteers who moved about 4.5 tons of limestone fines.
In 2009 there were over 50 volunteers (seven different TU chapters) who moved 7 tons.
In 2010 we had over 110 volunteers who moved 9 tons.

Among the volunteers were representatives of six different TU chapters, over 60 Walmart volunteers (12-15 different stores across WV and VA), WVDNR volunteers, American Electric Power volunteers, Morris Creek watershed association volunteers, and volunteers from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

We also received $5,000 in grant money from American Electric Power and another $1,000 from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

The shirts worn by the Walmart volunteers:

We were rained on and the thunder rumbled, but the spirits and the energy remained high during the entire event.

I had to crop the photo to get the large number of volunteers in the frame.

I spoke with the event coordinator and one of the "founding fathers" of TU in West Virginia and, to the best of his knowledge, this is the largest gathering of volunteers in the history of WVCTU...a feat I hope we can repeat or better in 2011.

Following a fine lunch, for which the rain stopped, it was off to the water again. This would be a special outing, as I would be partnered with the driving force behind the bucket brigade and head of the WV DNR limestone fines program. Our destination would be the Middle Fork itself!

As we strung up our rods at the trailhead the skies opened up again. We tried to wait it out but it wasn't going to let up. As we entered the trail we passed what appeared to be three generations of spin fisherman - not a good sign when the locals know the brookies are back.

I'm not one to stereotype and they didn't appear to have a creel of fish but they did say all of the holes had boot prints around them. I assumed they were fishing close to the trailhead, but that's not where we were headed. We were going in at least a mile before we started fishing.

The driving rain made fishing my typical dry/dropper difficult, but I did manage one on top.

My first Middle Fork of the Williams brookie. I can't describe the feeling I had knowing I did my part to restore this stream that was "dead" for many years!

With fishing on top a little slow, I turned to my "go to" pattern - a size 12 olive woolybugger.

I started picking up brookies more frequently going subsurface, including this brookie, the largest of the day.

With the relentless rain I left the DSLR in the vehicle and took only my waterproof video camera. The downside to this camera is the lack of filters, the upside is underwater photography.

The fishing wasn't anything spectacular, but up until a couple of years ago this stream was devoid of our only native salmonid.

These guys make you wonder what the future holds for this stream.

We fished to almost the three-mile mark where there were still brookies present.

An hour hike out and it was time to dry off - even in my raingear I was nearly soaked through. I had planned to stay another night and venture into the headwaters of a stream I fished during this outing in 2009. One remaining set of dry clothes, threat of more rain, and high possibility of high water caused me to cut my weekend short.

There are a couple of TU events I look forward to every year and this one has to be at the top of the list!

Chris

This Is (And Always Will Be) Home!

2010-05-25T18:28:00.008-04:00

With my move to the midwest, I have had this weekend circled since the date was set. It is the weekend of our local TU chapter campout and it just so happens to coincide with the spring TU State Council meeting.

I haven't seen some of these friends/members since I left home in November and I was really looking forward to catching up.

I also received a call a couple of weeks earlier with an invite to revisit the Seneca Backcountry with a friend who hiked in with me last year. The previous adventure took a year to coordinate, this trip took less than five minutes.

I was to meet him at the trailhead at 6:30 AM, which meant (following a drive home from Cincinnati) I had to leave Parkersburg before 3:30 AM. When I get psyched for a trip like this, I never have a problem getting up and driving that early.

Following a nice hike up and over Allegheny Mountain, we found that the rains from earlier in the week had good flows everywhere.

I typically go small on this stream. My favorite set up is a 16 EHC with an 18 BHPT dropper, but with the flows I couldn't get the fish to rise to the small dry and the small nymph wasn't getting down. I did manage a few with this setup, but not what it should be.

I had to move to a bigger setup, with a large stimulator and a 14 tungsten beadhead hare's ear. They weren't real fond of the large dry, but I picked up a few.

What they did like, however, was the large nymph dropper! It was fishing as usual on the upper Seneca canyon - picking up brookies and wild bows in every pocket and pool.

I picked up some of the most beautiful bows I have seen anywhere in West Virginia.

The brookies were digging the nymph too!

The fishing was great all day, but as usual on a trip into this area you have to eventually realize you have a brutal hike out. Depending upon how far upstream you fish it can be almost 5 miles out.

It was a great day of fishing with a good friend and that is what coming home to West Virginia is all about.

From the trailhead it was up & over Spruce Knob and on to the next destination of the weekend; the 4H camp at Thornwood and the Blennerhassett chapter campout. It was great to be back with the gang - it doesn't get any better than sitting around the campfire with friends.

The next morning it was up and on the road early to get in a few hours of fishing before TU State Council. I was in search of a new trail and a new stream that headwaters in Virginia.

After finally finding the trailhead (after a wrong turn put me in Virginia), it was a short mile or so hike into the stream. As I was tying on a fly, I saw a rise in the tail of the next pool...first drift:

The next pool produced another good brookie and the third pool produced this fat little brookie from under some overhanging rhododendron. Notice the "gut" hanging over my finger!

As I fished upstream I thought it started looking familiar. Was I on the right stream? Believing I was on a stream I had already fished multiple times, I turned and headed to the mouth to explore the area I thought I should be in.

The stream I thought I should be fishing was quite large and with the recent rains was too big to fish with my 2wt bamboo. I did, however, find this: my first lady slipper.

On the hike out, I ran across this guy in the trail. He posed very nicely on the bamboo.

Once I made it back to the vehicle; I made me a nice cup of coffee on my backpack stove, changed into some dry clothes, and double-checked my gazetteer. It was true, I did actually fish a stream I had on my life list - I hate not having my GPS. I also couldn't believe how large the stream was that I should have been fishing. I'll need to fish several miles upstream (in Virginia) to add this brookie stream to my list.

Following a very nice State Council meeting, it was back toward Thornwood. Before I headed out, I double-checked the gazetteer again for another route into the stream I had checked out earlier in the AM.

I crossed the state line at the top of the mountain and headed back down the other side, into Virginia on a narrow dirt road.

Once on the water, I found it was also ripping (but again not off-color) from the recent rains. I walked downstream a very short distance and fished my way back to the bridge where I had parked.

As I made it back to the bridge pool, the skies had turned black and looked like the rains were eminent again. But what the clouds also brought out were the BWOs and rising fish everywhere. I had to dig deep in my box to find a BWO parachute, so I tied it on - game on!

First drift:

I picked up several more small brookies before the driving rain forced me off the stream.

I had added another stream to my life list, so satisfied that I had found the stream I should have fished in the AM, I headed back to camp.

It was another great dinner and another great evening around the fire with friends. The next morning we posed for a group photo before heading our separate ways. This is a great group of guys - the same guys that treating my son like one of the guys the year before.

I headed to a small trib on the top of Cheat Mountain with another good friend, whom I typically am lucky to fish with only once a year.

This is another new stream for me and another stream, which contains both brookies and browns.

I picked up a nice little wild brown and a couple of YOY brookies. This little brookie was a bit camera shy.

Size does not make a trophy to me and it's always a good sign to catch the little guys. My partner for the short time on this stream picked up one nice little brookie on a woolybugger, so we know there are at least a couple of different age classes of brookie in there.

This is a beautiful little stream and I wish I had more time to fish it but I had a 3+ hour drive to Parkersburg and then another 4-hour drive to the Cincinnati area.

As I drove home, I realized that no matter where my travels in life take me the people and places in West Virginia will ALWAYS be home to me.

Chris

The Search for Methuselah

2010-05-25T18:15:00.011-04:00

This is a continuation of my trip into the Nevada desert in search of Lahontan cutthroat...there were no trout harmed in the making of this entry.

From the Lahontan stream I drove to Bishop, California in preparation for my hike into the bristlecone grove - my first time to California.

I rose early the next morning to get some nice shots of the Sierras in alpenglow. I was amazed at how much snow remained up high. This snow is what pointed me to Bishop when I wanted to go to Lone Pine in search of my first true golden.

Due to snow, the road into the bristlecones was closed two from the trailhead, so I parked at the gate and the Sierra overlook.

You can see why the road was closed, but it probably won't be long before it opens.

I had the 4.5-mile loop trail all to myself, didn't realize until later that this may not have been a good idea.

Shortly into the trail, the sign says, "stay right", so I went right. I soon found that all north-facing slopes had a good bit of snow remaining. After about 1/4 mile of intermittent searching for the trail and post holing, the trail disappeared.

At this point I turned around and decided to take the left fork of the trail. As I made my way around to the east and south facing slopes the trail opened up and became much easier to follow. I soon found myself among the ancient ones.

These California bristlecones (Pinus longaeva) are a different species than the bristlecones I visited in Colorado (Pinus aristata) and much older. This loop and this grove is said to contain the oldest tree in the world Methuselah, which has an estimated germination date of 2832 BC - and this is why I made this journey.

I didn't know the exact location, all I had were GPS coordinates and a photo. Unfortunately, my GPS is in dire need of a charging cable, so I was "flying blind".

I started the hike with three layers (it was in the upper 30s) but as the sun rose higher it turned into a beautiful day.

I believe Methuselah is somewhere in the vicinity of the next photo, but without my GPS I couldn't pinpoint it exactly.

As I made it to the 3.5-mile mark of the trail, I knew that I would soon be encountering the section of the tail that remained buried beneath a few feet of snow, so when I intersected the Schulman cabin trail I made a very good decision. I was now out of water (1.5 liters) and solo, so I made the decision to take the shortest route back to the vehicle.

The cabin trail took me up several switchbacks to a saddle where I could see the road to the trailhead.

From the saddle, I abandoned the trail (I normally abide by the off-trail restrictions) and headed straight downhill to the road. I stopped one last time to take a shot of this solo tree....

...and this unusual remnant.

One last note from my first adventure in the Sierras: it amazes me to see cactus around 10,000 feet!

This specimen was somewhere around 8,000 feet on the way back to the main road.

Finally, this guy that just screams "Do Not Touch", were quite common in the California and Nevada desert floor.

I did not find Methuselah but it was a nice hike (8-10 miles) and it was nice to be back up in altitude. I'll take 50% on a short trip like this!

I plan to revisit the Sierras later this year, but next time I will be packing a fly rod and (hopefully) there will be a few trout involved.

Chris

Desert Trout - Lahontan Cutthroat

2010-05-11T20:55:00.012-04:00

My company sent me to the Nevada desert in order to train on fuming acid spill mitigation. Most "normal" people would spend a couple of free days on the Vegas strip, but not me! I checked around for something to do away from the Las Vegas strip and thanks to friends at The Angler's Life List and the Nevada DOW I found this...

The Nevada DOW agent gave me the exact directions to find this stream. I have never been in the desert and what I didn't realize going into this was how rugged it would be.

I left the 4 Queens casino at 5:00 AM and by 6:00 I was in the town of Pahrump picking up plenty of water - I also carried my water purification filter. I turned off the hard top and soon found that it would be slow going. These weren't the gravel roads of Wyoming, where 30-40 mph is possible, this was 5-10 mph and that was pushing it! I assumed I would be heading somewhere in the vicinity of the snow (in the desert?).

The desert itself was incredible! Apparently they had a wet winter and it was green and some plants were in bloom.

Beavertail cactus in bloom:

I was a bit late for the yucca bloom, but there were still a few out there:

As I gained altitude, the Joshua tree became more prevalent and I took this shot of a fine specimen in the low light of the early morning.

After nearly an hour of off-road driving, I had made it to the first part of my destination (I was beginning to wonder).

The canyon stream would eventually be back and to the right of the USFS sign, but it would be an adventure in itself. The road turned to a cobble trail and I spent another thirty minutes crawling.

I finally made it to water and made one stream crossing. When I made it to the second crossing, a little deeper, I decided to get out to inspect the crossing a little closer. I think I could have crossed but on the other side the road turned to a second channel of the stream. I was almost 90 minutes from hard road and solo, so I decided discretion is the better part of valor and I parked and made the final hike to the trailhead on foot.

Once at the trailhead I found myself at a very nice looking pool, so I strung up my 6' 4-piece pack rod and thought to myself: what do desert trout eat? I tied on a small stimulator and on the first drift I had three fish inspect my fly...were these the fish I was in search of? Another drift and this guy was brought to hand.

My first desert trout, a Lahontan cutthroat, and my 8th cutthroat species added to my life list.

I picked three or four more cutties from the trailhead pool before I moved on. I eventually switched over to my "bread and butter" rig of an EHC on top with an 18 BHPT dropper. I soon found out this set-up works everywhere!

I picked up numerous fish of multiple age classes.

When I got to a section of stream where the canyon choked down, I sat on the pool at the bottom of the canyon and picked out cuttie after cuttie. I probably landed over ten fish from this pool - and missed nearly as many...typical cutthroat fishing.

The last little Lahontan from this pool had an unusual dark color to him.

The DOW agent informed me to be very careful when working along the stream banks as it was nearing snake season. With this warning and no easy way to move on up the canyon, I decided to call it a day. I had completed my goal, with several Lahontans landed, and I had another adventure ahead of me with the drive out.

I stopped and worked the trailhead pool one more time and picked up a couple more beautiful cutties before calling it a day.

After an hour plus ride back out to the hardtop; it was on to Bishop, California in search of the Bristlecone pine tree called Methuselah...

Chris

Elkhorn Cleanup 2010

2010-05-02T12:04:00.008-04:00

It would have been a 6-hour drive from my new location to this event; luckily I had business in WV the two days prior to the event. Either way I don't plan on missing this event anytime in the coming years. This is one of the best TU events going as far as the comaraderie of the weekend goes.

As with 2009, I was able to hit some brookie water on the way down.

I fished this small stream during Thanksgiving weekend, 2009. This is what it looked like last time I was on this stream:

I had a new fishing partner on this visit and the fishing was still very slow. In a couple of hours of fishing I brought one brookie to hand and missed another small fish - he gave me a couple of opportunities.

The one brookie was all I had to show but it was another new stream to add to my personal list.

The following day was the cleanup and the numbers for 2010 were about half that of 2009.

I helped clean a new section of stream this year and we could have used the numbers from the previous year, as you can tell by the before and after photos.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Following the work we all gathered back at the Ashland Company Store to exchange stories of rare finds. During my work that morning I discovered the area "rich" in sports. Among the items I picked up were: a baseball, football, multiple basketballs, soccer ball, and a boxing glove. I believe the winner of the rare find went to the individual that found a parking meter.

After a nice fried chicken lunch, it was time to hit the water. Over the last three years, I believe this is the only stream I've fished not in search of native salmonids. The closest brookie water is over an hour away, across the state line, in Virginia. What this stream does hold is some of the nicest colored 100% wild rainbows and browns...and on this day I caught plenty of both.

The blood-red adipose fins on the wild browns are amazing!

After a nice day of fishing, I finished off the day with a great surprise. I was dredging a woolybugger through a deep hole when I felt a tug on the swing. Much to my surprise, and my partner's surprise, I landed this guy.

My fishing partner has been fishing this stream for over 15 years and has never caught a brookie. I'm not sure where the closest stocked water is or if a "bucket biologist" has tried to introduce brookies, but I do know there are currently ZERO "natives" in these coal-country waters.

I have since received reports of others catching brookies in this stream and the possibility of brookies in one of the tribs, of the tribs...so who knows??

Chris

Save the Paiute

2010-05-02T11:46:00.004-04:00

While I have yet to add this species to my list (yet!), one of my fellow native trout enthusiasts has ask me to post this information.

Please do a little research to educate yourself on this very rare species and send your comments.
There is an open public comment period to the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed restoration of the Paiute cutthroat into Silver King Creek below Llewellyn Falls until May 10, 2010. I strongly recommend that everyone write in support of this as this will be the LAST chance to get our voices heard before the final decision comes down!

For more information:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-7952.htm

To see the EIS:

http://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/pct.html

You can address your comments to:

Robert D. Williams, State Supervisor
Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office
1340 Financial Boulevard, Suite 234
Reno, NV 89502

Telephone: (775) 861-6300
Fax: (775) 861-6301

Thanks,
Chris

In Search of the Wild, West Virginia Slam

2010-05-01T09:36:00.005-04:00

I fished this stream in 2009, during the Elk River cleanup and caught wild browns and rainbows. At the time, the stream was chocolate milk so the fishing conditions weren't optimum.

2009 Photos:

Reports were this stream held all three wild, West Virginia species and I had to find out. I've never caught "the slam" from the same stream and I thought this was my opportunity.

I have a new addition to the arsenal in the form of a 7'6" 4wt Thomas & Thomas "Caenis" taper bamboo.

SugarKane Rods Ltd.

I needed to meet the rodmaker on the Elk, so I thought while I was in the area I would give the small stream another shot at the slam.

Recent rains had the stream only slightly off color this day, but still in good shape. I started off with my usual set-up of a 16 EHC with an 18 BHPT dropper. I quickly picked up a couple of browns.

It's never a good thing when you pull the camera out to turn it on, and it's already on. I don't know how long it has been on (probably days) because the battery indicator showed "empty".

I was able to snap off a few pictures of the wild browns.

I fished the stream to the extreme headwaters, where it split into two very small trickles. I caught ZERO rainbows and saw no sign of brookies. I did, however, speak with a friend who fished it a couple of weeks earlier and caught all rainbows. I also spoke with the individual who thought verified brookies a few years earlier and he said he caught ZERO brookies.

I would still love to catch the wild, West Virginia slam but it appears I won't do it on this stream.

Chris

Father & Son Easter Weekend in the Smokies

2010-04-14T18:48:00.014-04:00

With this transfer and a severe winter, it had been over 140 days since I last had a salmonid on the end of the line...and it happened to be in the Smokies as well.

The weekend plans changed a couple of times: we were going to WV, we were taking the family to the Smokies, and finally it ended up being just father & son weekend - because Ross said so!

We pulled out of the gas station in Parkersburg Friday morning at 5:30 AM and by noon we were at the Bass Pro Shop in Sevierville, Tennessee. The plan was to gear Ross up with a pair of waders and wading boots. With the cost of both nearly $130 and an April forecast of 80 degrees, Ross decided he would wet wade with dad.

After checking into the hotel in Pigeon Forge and making a quick stop at Sugarlands Visitor Center, our first destination was Meigs Creek trailhead at the Sinks on Little River.

I should have done a little more homework, but I didn't decide on the Smokies until Thursday night. When we got to the trailhead we found it was closed for construction work on the trailhead parking area. The closest pull out on Little River would have added over a mile to the already planned three mile round trip hike. We decided to hit more new water in the area so we headed for Elkmont and the Little River trailhead.

In 2009 we fished Jakes Creek from this trailhead, but this day we were headed up the trail to fish the upper Little River proper.

Ross checking out the history of Elkmont.

We hiked up the trail about a mile or so - until we thought we were above most other fisherman. I strung up my new 7'6" 4wt bamboo with hopes of christening the new boo with a wild rainbow.

I waded in up to about mid-calf and Ross followed. I remained in the water while Ross was quickly back up on the bank, changing into his dry shoes. "It's too cold!"

I missed a few short strikes and had one long distance release (LDR) but ultimately ended up with a skunk on Little River. My first thought was: here we go again! Ross and I got skunked on our 2009 Easter trip to the Smokies but the water/weather was too nice to be shutout this year.

While we were in the Smokies in 2009 Ross picked up a visitor's guide full of pamphlets for park features. One of those features was Laurel Falls, so with a couple of hours of daylight remaining we decided to do the 1.5-mile uphill hike to the falls.

It wasn't a difficult hike at all, I've done many that were more difficult, but it has been a long inactive winter. In addition, Ross has been playing basketball all summer so I couldn't have been happier when I felt Ross setting the pace up the mountain.

We made it to the falls in what felt like no time at all.

My first attempt at HDR photography.

On the way back to the hotel room I explained my personal philosophy on exploring to him. Whether it be fishing or eating, you never know if there may be something better out there if you don't constantly try new things. So, for dinner we tried something different. He said he wanted to try someplace for dinner he had never tried - he picked Popeye's. He listened!

After a round of goofy golf it was back to the hotel room where Ross would study his maps and waterfall guidebook. He found where he wanted to go the next morning. What kid wouldn't want to hike Boogerman trail! Ross had never seen an elk so he also wanted to check out the herd in the Cataloochee area. Unfortunately I-40 is closed at the TN/NC border so there was not an easy route to get there from Pigeon Forge, so we opted for plan B.

The next day we would head to the virgin stand of timber on the Albright Loop trail. I'm 42 and I've never been amidst a virgin stand on the east coast, so this would be a first for me too. In addition to the Albright Grove, the trail crosses Indian Camp Creek and Jim Casada's book rates it as an "A".

After a quick continental breakfast we headed for the unmarked Maddron Bald trailhead. We stopped in the office of the campground that hides the trailhead to ask for directions. While in the office Ross found what he had been looking for - a coonskin cap. Once he had his new lucky fishing hat we were off for the trailhead.

The trail was three miles up hill again and Ross did great again! We did stop a couple of times to rest.

About 2.5 miles up, we finally hit Indian Camp Creek and time to prospect a new stream for brookies.

I quickly picked up a brookie below the footbridge....

...and one above the bridge (with my lucky fishing hat).

After picking up a quick two brookies, it was onward and upward.

About another half-mile we were in the land of giants (east coast speaking). I'm in my early 40s and I've never seen a virgin stand of timber - on the east coast. These trees were massive! A couple of them Ross and I tried to wrap are arms around and couldn't even get a 1/4 of the base.

After taking a short break we made the decision to make to head back down instead of further up. While we were taking a rest, the sound of running water got the best of me. We bushwhacked through the rhododendron to another small stream (Dunn Creek).

Wouldn't you know it, it held brookies too!

While I was working one of the plunge pools, Ross decided he was going to wet wade with me. However, his wading was unintentional. Next thing I knew he was on the rock with me - bare foot!

I worked another pool or two and decided it was time to head back out so I helped Ross twist his socks dry and head back up through the rhododendron jungle.

On the way back down we stopped at the bridge crossing and scrambled our way about 30 yards downstream. I nearly hit double digits in the handful of pools and pockets I worked.

Ross releasing one of the nicer brookies...in his new, lucky fishing hat.

Nearing the bottom of the trail, we decided to take time to visit one of the original homesites (circa 1880s).

Back at the trailhead, I'm not sure if this is a look of relief or accomplishment.

After a quick lunch, we studied our books and looked at the watch. We made the decision to head for Porters Creek. Ross found another waterfall he wanted to hike to up Porter Creek trail.

When we got to the trailhead we discovered that he didn't have dry socks or shoes to hike in - sandal time!

I never miss an opportunity to try to educate a little on our fishing trips. Early spring is the perfect time for wildflower education. The trailhead had several common species of spring flowers and a couple of not-so-common species.

Bloodroot (all I could show him in 2009 was the namesake root):

Also at the trailhead, yellow trout lily:

It didn't take long before walking past very "fishy" water and kicking gravel out of the sandals before we were heading back to the car for wet shoes and fishing gear.

We settled on one of the nicest pools I have ever witnessed on a high gradient stream and there were rainbows rising all over the place. I don't know what they were feeding on but they didn't want anything to do with my 18 EHC! Once I put on the dropper (18 BHPT soft hackle), I started getting strikes. I missed several strikes on the nymph before I finally hooked this small rainbow.

The first fish landed on my new custom-made 7'6" 4wt bamboo - a small, Porters Creek wild rainbow.

While landing this little guy, I put everything else down. Then, for the first time all weekend, Ross asked to try his luck with the fly rod.

Ross working a beautiful pool with the new bamboo rod, and wet wading just like dad.

The one rainbow was all we managed out of Porters, so as it was getting late in the evening, we decided to call it a very successful day.

Before grabbing something to eat, we made a visit to the strip in Gatlinburg where Ross took some time to pan a bucket of dirt in search of minerals. We also made a stop at The Day Hiker, one of the nicer specialty stores on the strip.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel room to watch WVU "play" in the Final Four. It was a sub-par performance but it was great to see them on the big stage. One of the most heart wrenching things I can remember in sports was watching the third leading scorer in WVU history (behind Jerry West and Hot Rod Hundley), Da'Sean Butler end his career with a blown ACL. Coach Huggins also earned a great deal of respect, in my book, with his interactions with Da'Sean.

The next morning it was up early to beat the crowds to Grotto Falls before the six-hour drive home.

Again, if I had done my homework, that weekend would have been so much smoother! The road to Grotto Falls was closed for paving. Ross checked his waterfall book and found one right behind the Sugarland Visitor Center.

Cataract Falls is located about 1/2 mile behind the visitor center on a nature trail that begins directly behind the building.

From the falls, it was breakfast at Flapjacks - Ross had been eyeing this place all weekend. So, with his fourth meal of pancakes in three days in his belly, it was time to hit the road for this year's version of Easter in the Smokies.

Ross is already planning our next trip to the Smokies and he also asked about a trip to Yellowstone...that's my boy!

Chris

Book Review: An Entirely Synthetic Fish - How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World

2010-03-24T18:55:00.005-04:00

This review has been a long time in the making...I wish I could say the delay was due to fishing. Sadly, it's been over 120 days since I've had a salmonid on the end of my line.

This is a book I highly recommend, regardless of your preference for salmonids. Anders has done an outstanding job going full circle with the rainbow trout history. From the first rainbow captured for transport from the headwaters of the McCloud River to currently being stocked on every continent but Antarctica. For every person born each year in the US there are 20 rainbow trout stocked in US waters.

The history of the rainbow trout goes full circle, from the poisoning of the upper Green River and streams in GSMNP (to make room for the sporty rainbow), to the current efforts to re-establish native species in both locations.

Lynn Camp Prong in GSMNP was recently poisoned to remove the rainbows and re-establish the brook trout.

Anders also captures a great deal of history in between. He outlines how Montana developed their no stocking policy to increase fish numbers and how whirling disease nearly devastated the hatcheries. I found it interesting that, somewhere out there, there is a database of all of the hatchery strains of rainbow trout...fighters, colors, temperature tolerance, and whirling disease resistance.

West Virginia even gets mentioned for the development of the golden trout.

Anders has put his time in on this book, with a list of reference material over 20 pages long. If you have an interest in the history of fishery development across the US, I highly recommend this book.

You can find more information on Anders' website:

http://andershalverson.com/home

Hopefully I can soon return to posting reports on my continuous search for native salmonids, but now I have a new respect for the occasional wild rainbow I encounter.

Chris

Book Review - Fly Fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: An Insider’s Guide to a Pursuit of Passion

2010-02-03T18:53:00.005-05:00

While I haven't bee fishing in 80 days, I have been able to maintain sanity by reading. My last day on the water in 2009 was in Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I'm sure I will spend more time there in 2010, as it is the closest "real" trout water to my current location.

I saw this book advertised on the Little River Outfitters web site, so I placed an order from the author's personal web site.

The author, Jim Casada, has sixty years of experience fishing/exploring the Smokies and after reading this book it is quite apparent he knows the Smokies like his own backyard.

You can find his full biography on his website: http://www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com/

You can also order the book directly from his site. I sent him an email to ask if he would sign a copy and I had a response within the hour.

I loved the layout of the book; he breaks each chapter down into each watershed. Within these watersheds he includes bases of operation (hotels & campgrounds), backcountry campsites, and trails for access. He also includes the minor tributaries and an "A" through "D" rating system. Where this book differs from most "guide" books is: he includes a great deal of history, both researched and personal knowledge, as well as the origin of some very unique stream names.

The book also includes a park trail map, which I found myself pulling out from time to time to "follow along". I probably would have finished the book in half the time had the map not been included.

The book was also written with a very nice addition of southern dialect scattered throughout. My favorite, which he used several times to indicate a difficult hike, is "mare's shank". I actually had to Google this phrase.

Bottom line: If you've ever fished Great Smoky Mountain National Park or plan to some day as part of your "Life List", I highly recommend this book. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

I also now know that I need to somehow find my way above this landmark:

Next up is a newly published book from the founder of Angler's Life List, the great web site for the native trout/char fanatic, Anders Halverson. His book: An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World.

Chris