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ursus fontinalis

840 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  nomad_archer 
#1 ·
There has been some nice weather recently. I saw the clear sky forecast overnight and the corresponding forecast low of 42 degrees. I waited to start my hike in until 7am but it was just 39 degrees out.

The plan was to hike along a stream I have fished a few times to get to one of its tributaries that I have never fished.

When I started fishing at 8am, the water was just 47 degrees and fishing was slow. During the first hour, only 10 fish were caught with a lot of stream covered.






Bear tracks were persistent along the bank. You can see a bobcat track near the top-center of the photo for a size comparison.








The second hour started painfully slow and it was on pace to be slower than the first hour. However, the sun finally peaked over the mountainsides near 10am and the fishing picked up rapidly for the last 10 minutes allowing me to finish the 2nd hour with 11 additional trout.






The 3rd hour started just as the last hour ended but fizzled out as I hit a long stretch of flat shallow riffles with no cover as the tributary ascended its valley. 25 trout were caught in this hour.
This section of stream went from a deep, narrow run to a wide, staircase type streambed. It amazes me that trout are able to move up and down these obstacles.





Just as the 4th and final hour of my trip started, I rounded a bend in the stream and saw this massive hole. It was about 15 yards across, 15 yards long, and roughly 3-5ft deep.



On my first cast to the back left corner of of the pool, I hooked one immediately, with a handful of other trout following it in. 13 trout were brought to hand from this pool. There were quite a few large "breeders" in there.


Just a hundred yards later this large pool gave up 8 brookies.





The waterfall-pool pattern continued for another half mile.


After the loss of a few smaller tributaries, the stream started to get skinny and the trout were getting smaller. This trout darted out from under a rock and by his coloring, looks like he may spend most of his time there.


As I was nearing the 4 hour mark where I planned to stop, curiosity led me 20 yards up a tiny trib where I could not see anything deeper than 3in of water. My curiosity was satisfied with this monster.


At this, I turned around and hiked back to the mouth of the stream where I had skipped a stretch of water when I realized that the cold start was keeping the action suppressed.
The small section that I left untouched was productive.






After 4 hours and 10 minutes of fishing. I took my spinner off to make my way out. My fish counter was at 86. During the last 1 hour and 10 minutes, 40 trout were caught. I thought about making a run at 100 but I didn't have time. I covered 1.51 miles of stream while fishing according to satellite imagery.


I was walking back full steam ahead not being extremely attentive to my surroundings when a mother bear with 2 cubs came barreling across the stream in front of me. One of the cubs attempted to use a log to cross but fell off. By the time I got my camera out, they were up on the hillside. This isn't the greatest picture, but you can see the mother and one cub.
 
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