Chasing Rainbows and Gold

[Big Sky]

With a 7 mile round trip of hiking in mostly steep country, I did question my sanity a time or two as to whether I really needed to be chasing rainbows and gold colored spawning West Slope Cutthroat trout. However the fishing was so good, I quickly decided that yes indeed I was sane and the effort was worth it.

Here is one of the few level spots on the trail.

One the way in I ran across this fresh track that reminded me I was not alone.

On my very first cast this beautifully marked chunky little rainbow hit.

He was followed by countless West Slope cutthroat like this one. I honestly lost count of how many of these feisty little fish I caught.

The creek was tiny and crystal clear. It was hard to not spook fish. I only caught two rainbow trout, but this second one was pretty darn decent considering the tiny skinny water I was fishing. He measured right at 15.25".

I knew when I saw this hole that it would produce.

It took my a couple of cast to get my presentation just right, but once I did, it produced one of the prettiest cutthroats I've ever seen.

Eventually I knew I had to leave and make the long steep ascent back out. I decided to catch one more fish and then go. This pretty little cutthroat obliged me.

I huffed and I puffed, I berated myself for not losing that 30 lbs I'd promised myself I would. My legs and lungs burned, but finally I reached the top of the summit and new I was going to be okay because the remainder of the hike would be down hill. About 250 yards from the truck I turned around and took one last photo of the trail that led me to great fishing I had just experienced.

As I turned back around I heard a rustle in the tree near me and saw this little fellow bidding me a farewell. All I can say is, WHAT A GREAT TRIP!

 

[HighDesertSage]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Muskeez]

I always enjoy seeing your fishing pictures, nice work! Can I ask what you catch these small stream fish on? They obviously like your presentation!

 

[HighDesertSage]

What kind of lures are you using? I may go after some cutts down this way next week.

 

[duckhunt]

looks like a great way to spend the day.

 

[smarandr]

Looks like a day you'll remember for the rest of your life--most definitely worth the hike.

 

[Big Fin]

Your pics and stories are some of the few that give fishing its full effect without actually doing it. Cool stuff.

 

[Big Sky]

Big Fin, thanks that actually means a lot to me.

For those of you that asked what I was using. First let me just say upfront when I fish or hunt I always try to reduce things to animals basic needs. When I coyote hunt I consider the time of year and whether they are hungry or if being territorial is more a concern for them. When fishing I consider the time of year as well. Are they hungry, passive, feeding deep or shallow. Most importantly is anything spawning, and if so, how will they act differently than the rest of the time of the year? For trout, they become quit a bit more aggressive. With that said I either use a fish imitation like a Rapala or a crawdad imitation to agitate them into striking. The other factor is that with spawning trout eggs are suddenly abundant and trout can rarely pass them up. With that in mind I chose to use a single salmon egg on a number 14 scud hook, with a single or double super tiny flyfishing split shot. Would a night crawler work just as well? I don't know, probably, but who wants to carry night crawlers in that far? I'm sure an egg imitation would work, as well as some kind of streamer, but I'll stick with my ultra light spin cast outfit rather than pack in a fly rod. If there is one thing I've learned over 5 decades of hiking and packing it is that lighter is better. For that matter, sometimes if the hike or pack out is long enough, even your underwear feels heavy!

 

[dcopas78]

Awesome stuff! It really sucks being stuck in Ohio..

 

[kenton]

awesome pics and story as usual Big Sky

 

[theat]

Some of my most memorable days of fishing have been in small mountain streams most guys would walk right by...thanks for bringing back the memories!

 

[Rocky176]

Great pictures.

 

[kansasdad]

That hole screams fish to me. Be-ee-ay-you-tee-eye-eff-you-el fish pictures.

Are you generally casting upstream or downstream with your lures?

 

[Big Sky]

Upstream, but that particular hole required a down stream cast to get up under the over hanging brush.

 

[dcopas78]

Big Sky, can you recommend any lures for spincast fishing? Dad wants to do a little fishing when we are out for elk/deer and he doesn't fly fish much so he wants to take a spincast.

 

[Big Sky]

dcopas78, Panther Martin spinners. Generally anything with a gold blade. Though I also have a lot of luck with their holographic rainbow trout colored spinners as well. Stick with 1/16 or 1/8th oz. I catch a lot of trout with marabou jigs as well with an 1/8th oz black/red jig being my favorite. Kit's Tackle in Helena is who I buy most of my jigs from. You can order them from their website. Other than that the old standby night crawlers or salmon eggs with still put fish on your line. Just think light line and light tackle. Ten to twenty pound test line has no place on these little creeks.

 

[Southwind]

Thanks for taking me there, beautiful!

 

[dcopas78]

dcopas78, Panther Martin spinners. Generally anything with a gold blade. Though I also have a lot of luck with their holographic rainbow trout colored spinners as well. Stick with 1/16 or 1/8th oz. I catch a lot of trout with marabou jigs as well with an 1/8th oz black/red jig being my favorite. Kit's Tackle in Helena is who I buy most of my jigs from. You can order them from their website. Other than that the old standby night crawlers or salmon eggs with still put fish on your line. Just think light line and light tackle. Ten to twenty pound test line has no place on these little creeks.

Thanks! I somehow missed your earlier post until reading back through just now. I have a few lightweight outfits spooled with 4-6 pound that would probably work well.

 

[noharleyyet]

Alprazolam w/o side effects Troy. Thanks for the sensory stimuli.

 

[JLS]

Thanks for sharing Troy.