Wyoming Beauty....

This was my 4th trip back to this remote stream in South West Wyoming and I truly love this river. The water is crystal clear and almost resembles aqua blue tropical ocean water. There are big fish here. These big fish will take big hoppers. The hole Jon is standing in above is a prime example of where a big fish will hit a big hopper.

Ten minutes into our fishing Jon floated a hopper behind a boulder in deep water. We both watched as a massive 21-23 inch cut throat followed his fly down stream (time stood still...) and proceeded to smash his bug. The fish seemed stunned and didn't put up much of a fight (at first). When it saw me trying to scoop him into my net it made a mad dash and he was gone. Jon screamed. I felt his pain but I assured him the day was young and we would have other opportunities. What a strike that was though. We caught 40 fish with a combo of hopper droppers and one nymph rig. The nymph rig brought lots of white fish but also the occasional trout. We would canvas a run with hoppers and then finish it off with some drifts with the nymph rig. It seemed to work well. 

Enjoy a few shots of this Wyoming beauty....

 Partly cloudy, lush mountains and aqua blue water.

 Looking down stream.

 First Brown of the day.

 "I think I will try a different hopper heh?"

 Can't get enough of this river....

 Biggest brown of the day.

 A close up.

 Wild cut throat on a hopper.

 Nice color on this cut.

 Another beauty.

 Close up.

 Jon nailed three cutty's along this bank on a hopper.

 Healthy fish for sure.

One more...

Ashley packed a great lunch and we had a great day. It is safe to say that we will be thinking about the one (several) that got away though.

Get out for some hoppers. They are finally here!

Chris Giles

Big Cottonwood and Beaver Creek

Last Monday night McGuinn and I went and explored Big Cottonwood Creek. He works close by the mouth of the canyon so he knows all the good stretches. After we hit his usual haunts we decided to drive up further and see what we could find. Mostly browns with the occasional Rainbow. Everything was pretty small but they readily hit big dries.  Tight casting and tough drifts.

Jon with a typical BCC trout.

 This little guy had a go at my hopper.

 Close up

 Nice red spots heh?

On Friday night I went had a look at Beaver Creek in the Uintas. I found a nice size creek with beaver dams, lots of brush and lots of dry fly action. On this stretch I only found wild cut throats and lots of them. Most of them being to small to physically eat a hopper but they sure try and drown it and break it into smaller bites they can swallow. When I came across deep enough runs the bigger trout came out though. I would float the hopper close to the cut banks and I would watch as aggressive cut throats would come and smash my fly.  I only had a couple hours but it was great to get on some new water...

 Example of water fished

 Caught a few in here...

Not bad for small water.

Happy hunting!

Chris Giles

Current Creek

Dalton and I decided to go check out Current Creek on Friday afternoon. We took the dogs and the camper and struck out for rising trout. 

Mcguinn had recently guided a group up there and he told us he was having success on hopper dropper and dry dropper! That was enough to get us excited. We pulled in and and rigged up and hit the river. It took a few minutes but I got one to take my dropper and it was a healthy brown... We fished hard from 4:00 until 9:00 and we caught 10 between the two of us. Right towards the end of the day they started hitting the dries...

I can't express how fun it is to catch big browns on big dry flies... We cooked foil dinners (thanks Ash) that night and played guitars and banjo's into the night.

The next morning our troubles started. I heard Dalt try to start his truck and there was a single click. Dead battery. That was at 9:00 and we found someone to jump us and things were looking up. A half hour later the car still wouldn't turn over. After several rational discussions on our next move we decided that Dalt would hitch hike into Heber and I would stay with the dogs and the gear. 5 hours later he returned with his wife's car and kids in tow (thanks Kathy). We then dropped the new battery in and the engine roared to life. I drove Dalt's truck home and he drove his family.

Later that night at my brothers wedding party we shared some good laughs and the story quickly circulated. That's the way it goes some times.

Over all Current Creek is a great spot. Crystal clear tail water with some large fish. Browns, Cutty's and Rainbows can be found in the many pools.  Although we strictly caught browns... We didn't see any other fisherman out and it is a pretty remote stretch. The west side of the canyon is covered with rugged pines and aspens and the East side is almost all sage brush.

Great Getaway. Enjoy some photos.

 Nice camp spot.

 First fish on the dropper.

 Banjo poised for some fishing.

 Nice big brown.

 This one wiggled loose at camera time. You can see his good size and my kung foo grip.

 Another smaller one.

 Example of water fished.

Dalt does battle with a nice brown caught on a small caddis. Of course the camera battery dies before I can get a close up.

Chris Giles

Fly Fishing In Mexico-

After realizing I was going to Mexico for my Brothers wedding I knew I would have to wet a line but I had no idea what I was doing. I was sitting in Quentin's office at Fish Pimp in Boise Idaho and I was explaining the trip and he got really blunt with me. "Dude you have got to fish". He then proceeded to try loan me his 9 wt.( "I will call my Wife and you can go pick it up...") and loaded me up with 50 flies for the ocean. The day after that I went and grabbed some more gear at Fish Tech and I was ready to give it a try.

The first day I took my licks getting hammered in the shore break not really knowing what I was doing. My shoulder ached from the heavy equipment that night and I realized I needed a guide to sort me out. The only guide in town wasn't a fly fisherman, but he agreed I could bring my rod along and fly fish in between the Dorado fights.

We started off in his boat with my Dad, Wife Ashley and Sister Courtney and we went to a beach were sardines gather. I watched the guide skillfully throw his nets and start to catch the days bait. I also notice bigger fish picking off stragglers on the fringe of the massive school of sardines. So I threw on a sardine pattern and I could see the guide smirk... Two cast later I was into my first fish! I would stripe the sardine along and the "Chile Verde" fish would come chase after my fly. The guide kept every fish I caught and I made a point of slapping him on the back when he was carrying away the fish later that night for his dinner.... haha.

Once we had enough bait we headed straight out to sea and Ashley got the first Dorado. My Dad set up a pecking order on who got to catch the first fish that day- It went me (cause I am a fish freak and he knew I would really enjoy it), My wife, My Sister and then him (since he had done it before). Wouldn't you know it though, right off the bat Ashley caught one and then Courtney caught the next one and then my Dad caught one... (there were two rods off the back of the boat and I apparently had the cold rod...) 3 hours went by and I started getting nervous and then the captain started screaming and throwing sardines in the water. I have never seen anything like this! There were Dorado all around us chasing fish and before I knew it we had 3 fish on! They jump wildly and they are truly sporting fish. They don't come in easy but once they do you can see how gorgeous they are. Here are a few shots.

The anticipation.

Three Dorado's on!

One of many

The whole party getting their hands fishy...

Fish taco night

Taking a break for a photo

Polaroid lenses are a must spotting the fish

Stripping line

Fighting a Dorado

Landing a Dorado

The next outing was My Dad, My Brother, Pat's new Father in Law, Pat and Jackson Taggart and Justin who were traveling with the wedding party.

We  got to the sardine beach and I started catching "Chile Verde's" again but our Guide Fernando was having a rough time getting the sardines to his net. While all this was going on black clouds started rolling in and lightning started flashing off in the distance. We ended up catching a few needle fish out at sea but couldn't find the Dorado. The rain started and the lightning got closer so we decided to go back to the town. We all got soaked and sore from the long and bumpy ride back. After we got back the Owner Gus and Fernando pulled my Dad aside and decided to give him a rain check as long as Gus and Fernando got to fish with us. Perfect! so we made arrangements to go out again after the wedding later that week.

Pat's wedding was awesome and I was honored to be his best man. Here are a few photos from the wedding...

Backing Pat up

The whole Family!

The last day we loaded up and struck out for a relaxed day with Gus and Fernando. We had no problem catching sardines and again I had no problem landing the "Chile Verde's and Needle Fish" While Fernando threw nets and chased the schools.

Dad with a monster

Needle Fish

Fillet table with El Capitan Fernando

Pretty Color

"Dos Grande Gringos"

We also had no problem catching Dorado and it was fun to see these guys cutting lose for a day of fishing. Even though we were paying them for the trip the feeling was we were all fishing together. At this point in the week Fernando realized I preferred the fly rod so he made a couple stops on the way back by some nice beach's so I could land some more fish on a fly rod. I landed a Bonita, some Needle Fish and a few more Chile Verde's and we headed back to town. Fernando would fillet the fish and we made sure everyone got their share and everyone was happy.

Chris Giles