Browntooth Offensive

The Browntooth army was out in full force today, mounting a full scale assault on helpless chernobyl ants. They even sent out the big guns, but the seemingly helpless foamies held the trump card, with a couple of very motivated anglers on the other end of the line. A temporary cease-fire has been called for the night, giving both sides time to formulate their battle plans for tomorrow...





On a sad note, we did stumble upon a very nice 22" brown that was just rolling along with the current. On closer inspection, it appeared to have been smacked by an osprey or eagle, and despite a long time spent trying to help it recover, I eventually pulled the plug. And by pulled the plug I mean it's now in my freezer. I've never knowingly killed a brown before and I hope it's a long long time before I do it again. I rarely eat trout and when I do it's usually a laker or high mountain brookie. I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to eat this one, I might have to donate it to some friends who will.

The Evening Hatch

Snuck out this evening with Kit P. to check out a couple of small-water spots. Once again, staying off the Green paid off with a pile of spunky bows, browns, macs, and even one very confused-looking sucker. Hey, it ate a fly and tugged on the line, what more can we ask for?

We did have one big letdown though. I got wrecked by some unseen force in heavy water. One second my indicator was bobbing along a foam line, and the next it was streaking downward. I tried to stop it, turn it, something, anything, but whatever ate my bug decided that it was going to put all it had into a nosedive and blast directly upstream. After ripping all the line through my fingers and screaming my reel for a few seconds, it was gone, leaving my completely intact rig drifting back downstream toward me. Neither of us saw the fish, but two things are certain: It had to be huge and I know where it lives.

Fish!

Two days of floating without seeing a single other boat on the water. Huh? Weird. Oh, and there's fish there? Interesting....

Crowds?

Aah yes, it's that time of year again, when hordes of Jackson boats descend upon the Pinedale area. Have fun, fellas, I'll be somewhere close by, sight fishing to some seriously aggro rainbows. Here's a taste of a typical 16" brawler giving me a workout on the 7wt with 2x. Note the distinct lack of boats. And yes, that's a 5wt in my pack that an earlier fish decided to have its way with and snap in half.