irrigation is slowly being cut off so with certain sections of river dropping down i took a drive to check one out. the water could still be a little lower but it was fine. the only issue really was the copious amounts of vegetation in the water. really made it challenging in places. i was only gonna fish a short piece there and then move elsewhere but in between locations i had to call it a day and take care of shit at home. managed to land a couple, nothing big but i saw a couple studs
Glad I started packing an extra pair of boots. The ones I usually wear have been pretty used and abused so like my jeep I don't trust them. Put my boots on and had no issues walking the road. Within maybe 10ft or so in the water something didn't feel right on my left boot, took a look and the side seem blew out. Glad I brought an extra pair and Glad it happened right away and not miles away from the truck. Swapped out boots and was all good to go (G2G). Took 1 spill aways up when a branch caught my boot while walking in the water. Down on the rocks I went. A few bumps and bruises including on my bad knee which I'm already getting cortisone shots in. Was just happy I didn't break my rod. After a shitty day of fishing and a long ass walk back stumbling and fumbling over river rocks, got back to the truck and started gearing down, my right boots boa wouldn't unlock. The damn boa lace got frayed and wouldn't allow the system to unlock. Oh well had to water them and cut the laces with wire cutters. Get I gotta see what other boots I have serviceable
After work i dipped out for a couple of hours. the fishing was good during the tailend of the storm but then fizzled once the sun came out.
Havent seen nate in a minute, dudes always traveling around. he met up at a spot aways upstream and the water was looking good. the weather was great but the fishing overall was pretty slow. i did manage a 20 and a 22 but the fishing was still slow. one lady came down to see what we were up to and make sure we were following the rules, yes we were. nate had a rough go at it but thats the way it goes sometimes.
Myself and matt got some information on a pay to play stretch of ranch access. i hate to pay to play but sometimes you just got to give it a go. this access is actually right below and somewhere above ranch access that i used to have before it was sold to a californian who decided no one is fishing his property. anyway the weather was chilly in the morning but ended up being a gorgeous day. matt started with a streamer and i started with a mouse. as it turned out the mouse was on point and i never even had to retie the knot. me and matt both caught about 50 fish each is what our guess was and that was even with about a 2hr lull in the fishing that had us contemplating going upstream to the upper piece of access. then all of a sudden it turned back on and it was lights out.
Took another chance with taking my jeep farther then i should've, i mean its only 3hrs, but she got 395,593 miles so its always a risk. drove over 2 passes, one being dirt. got to the spot and right away noticed all the vegetation growth in the water. i walked around and fished a handful of spots including a couple feeder streams but not anything happening other then a couple 16 inch browns on a cricket. there was no wind in the morning but by about 1030 the wind was cooking. i decided to head upstream and maybe hit a couple spots on the creek. i stopped to look at some water and due to the gradient and gravel on the road my tires were just spinning while trying to back up. i just put it in 4 low, knowing there be no problems getting backed up. the problem was a i felt a clump while backing up. was free and clear i went to put my jeep in 2wd but my 4wd shifter was flopping in the breeze, snapped the shifter linkage and was stuck in 4 low. i was over the fishing at that point so at no more then 25 mph i drove on. luckily the 1st pass was a dirt road with zero cars on it. a 20-25 mph road anyway. after 2hrs in 4 low i found a mechanic in town that took about 5 minutes to get my 4wd disconnected and back in 2wd so i could drive the rest of the way home and not have to call a tow truck. twas a shit day all around, except being on some water
Got permission from a dude who owns a portion of river i used to fish years ago. met him thru someone that i know and the dude reluctantly let me fish thru his property. surprisingly it did not fish well at all for me. i expected better since i know it doesnt get touched much anymore due to land owners but maybe it was just the day or maybe it was my fly choices, not sure but it was nice to fish it again.
Took a drive last week figuring the water was gonna be a little low, it was. the fishing was pretty shitty as the temps continue to scorched. managed a few small fish but finally bailed after i snapped off my 4th cricket pattern, 3 on fish, due to forgetting my pack with my stronger tippets.
