[Trout Traveler]

I went to a mountain freestoner yesterday.

I knew it was a risk since the overnight low temperatures were in the low 40s. I hoped for good action and to possibly catch a big trout or two.

That stream has produced some big trout for me over the years.

I started near the parking area and fished a long way upstream. The fishing was very slow as I feared. The water temperature was 51. I only caught one in the first hour, a 12 inch wild brown.

The next hour was better, yielding 7 trout, but it slowed down again. I continued to catch trout, but the action was never fast. Normally I would walk out and go to another stream, but I continued upstream to two spots where I've caught big trout before. Unfortunately, the two spots only produced small trout.

I fished that stream for 6.25 hours and only caught 30 wild browns, all on spinners. The biggest was 13 1/4 inches.

I left there and went to a small freestoner that I had never fished until last year and had quite a bit of action there. I caught 15 wild browns and lost 5 or 6 more in an hour and a half. The biggest trout was a brown just over 16 inches, which came as a complete shock to me.

Overall, I caught 45 trout in 7.75 hours. I would normally expect to do better than that in May, but I was very happy in getting a big trout in such a small stream.


Scenic Stream


Upstream view


Colorful 13 1/4 inch brown


A fat brown with a full belly; not full enough apparently


Miniature waterfall


Biggest trout of the day


Brown with bright red spots

 

[grousedog20]

Wow, that looks like an awesome day!

 

[RyanR]

Nice job, beatiful fish and stream. I'd suggest being a little more careful and try to avoid putting a wild trout like that onto dry ground. I'm sure it wasn't for long and all that but it's better to avoid it altogether if you can.

 

[Trout Traveler]

Thanks, it was on a ground for just a few seconds, but point taken.

 

[hunter-trapper21]

very nice

 

[Kwright032]

Another good day trout traveler!

 

[Moss]

 

[oksus]

Very nice.

 

[bjb2799]

Very nice pictures.

Question: In most of your posts, it looks like you switch spinners throughout the trip (gold bead, bluefox vibrax, etc.). Any reason behind this? Just curious.

 

[Trout Traveler]

When I'm not getting a lot of action, which was the case in my last trip, I often try different spinners, as well as plugs, and spoons. It doesn't always work, but on some occasions, switching colors or spinner types has worked. I tend to use larger spinners than other anglers but will go to smaller spinners on small streams or in low water conditions. I often use larger spinners on big streams or in cold water conditions.

 

[.257]

Nice job, beatiful fish and stream. I'd suggest being a little more careful and try to avoid putting a wild trout like that onto dry ground. I'm sure it wasn't for long and all that but it's better to avoid it altogether if you can.

 

[Trout Traveler]

See earlier reply.

Nice job, beatiful fish and stream. I'd suggest being a little more careful and try to avoid putting a wild trout like that onto dry ground. I'm sure it wasn't for long and all that but it's better to avoid it altogether if you can.

Thanks, it was on a ground for just a few seconds, but point taken.