Fish Eats Fish and Gets Caught By Me...

 Levi had a wild hair this morning and called me to see if we could squeeze a few hours on Strawberry later this afternoon. He mentioned it would be the last "good day" of the year and he needed to winterize his boat. "good day" meaning 35 degrees and a wind chill of even colder.  So cold and only a 3-4 other boats on the water...

 Bills with a great Cutty. We were catching 18-22" Cutty's. No Rainbows.

 Olive buggers turned out to be the right bug.

 My first fish of the afternoon.

 This was the second fish of the day.

 They are all going nuts up there trying to stuff their belly's. 

 On our way back to the marina we came across this guy who already had something hanging out of his mouth...

 I have had this happen once before on a river with a smaller fish but this guy was 22 inches and the fish in his mouth had to be 10-12 inches.

Glad Levi had the wild hair and we both got to experience this rare catch.

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Solo at Church

 Last Sunday I went out for a quick fish while the family attended church. Went to an old stretch trying to re-create some magic. None was found but I still manage a few fish.

 Got this guy.

 Glass cheeks...

I sat on this cut bank for a good 30 minutes. wondering, enjoying, listening and walked away with a jump in my step.

Thanks,

Chris Giles

High Desert Float

 We have talked about this float for a few years and it finally came together. We took off Friday morning early and we were to the boat ramp by 10:00 am. Downing, Cutty McGuinn and myself made the trip. 

 Once we got to the boat ramp we drew straws to see who would go ask the only guy around for a shuttle to the take out. Cutty was our guy and he went and closed the deal. The guy (Ron) wanted to fish for another hour but he agreed to shuttle us. So McGuinn and I waded across to an island and fished while the shuttle ran it's course. Holy Shit!!! We both lost big fish and one I hooked was scary big. Left me breathless. It tore off up stream so hard and fast I didn't even have a chance. That set the tone...

 Crystal clear tail water.

 Floating along... The first day we floated 3-4 miles.

 We stopped at a great gravel bar and I landed this guy. The other guys were up stream so I did my best getting photos. There wasn't a blemish on this fish and the spots were vibrant as you can see...

 One more shot of this guy...

 As you can see the next fish wasn't as clean looking but fought just as hard. These fish have some gusto...

 Photo for photo.

We met a guy on the boat ramp that was solo named Ethan and he asked if one of us wanted to jump in with him. McGuinn jumped at the chance to get off the already crowded boat we were about to launch. We fished together though and pulled over at gravel bars to fish hard for the elusive giant trout.

 That night we soaked up all the sun light we could and McGuinn fought a huge rainbow for a while but he got off. Several big fish got off.

 Fishy water indeed... That night McGuinn and I cooked chicken fajitas with guac and all the fixings.

 Saturday morning we awoke to a a complete freeze out.... Mid teens, but we all knew from the start what we were getting into. The camp ground filled up that night so we were on shuttle alert that morning. I drew the short straw this time and I wandered into another groups camp, started the small talk and before long we got in on the shuttle! Everyone in camp was on the same page and it was cool to see everyone rally and figure out the shuttle. We launched Cutty's boat and Downing drove the truck down and car pooled back with the other drifters...

More of the freeze out... Downing rustled up some damn fine breakfast burritos that morning. The hot meal really hit the spot...

 Golden Eagle (above), Bald Eagles, Crows, River Otter, King Fisher, Ducks, Geese, Hawks, Seagulls, Magpies, Osprey, Owls, Deer, Antelope,  Hawks, Cuttbows, Rainbows, Browns, Whitty's Kokanee Salmon (dead and alive) and one guy at camp said he landed a Lake Trout.Wow...

 Caught this guy on our lunch break.. We also got yelled at by a rancher threatening to have us "all arrested for trespassing".. We were all giving him a piece of our mind under our breath but we got out of there.... What a dick because it was a small island but we didn't want to argue. So we all got ankle deep in the water, turned the tunes up and made lunch while he glared at us in dis-belief... PB & J's for lunch hit the spot.

 Big Brown.

 Real healthy.

 Take out was bitter sweet. I stripped down and jumped in naked and then air dried. I got some good laughs from the fellas and luckily no pictures of the scene survived. Man I really do love cold water.

Last shot with some filters. Picture of a picture. Cutty has as beautiful boat. I am not far off on buying a drift boat myself. I figure it's a great way to get the family out on rivers as well as friends!

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Dad Lands a Huge One!

 He caught this one on a hopper!!!!!

Solid 24" and had to of been 5-6 lbs...

 Casting.

He was smiling ear to ear all afternoon. what a great fish. I should also note he caught this one on my new Crane Fly 6 weight rod. Hand made and you should give them a look....

Thanks,

Chris Giles

Special Spot

Imagine a canyon with a very small spring/stream. dammed up making three unique lakes. Red rock formations, crisp fall air and lots of hungry Rainbows.

Wild rainbows with vibrant spots.

Triple????

Base camp and the first lake.

Check out those rocks!

3rd lake above is my favorite. Catching big rainbows on hoppers.

Pat with a fatty. Check out those spots...

Couple of the guys were out on float tubes and were catching a bunch fish.

Looking up the canyon. We saw deer, eagles, heard owls all night, musk rats, and a bunch of birds.

more spots for you. these fish just look and feel different. they don't get fished often.

Great overnight trip with Pat and his buddies! 

Chris Giles

5th Annual HBD!

Had the T-Rex this trip and we finally trekked up to a high mountain lake. 28 miles on the T-Rex and a two mile hike in. 

Dalt making a sandwich at the trail head.

Said lake with Dalt fishing off a point.

We thought we were bad ass and then we saw this guy show up with a canoe on his shoulders along with a full backpack. 

Took a swim despite the snowy peaks... It felt like a million bucks (whatever that feels like)...

Bridge at the trail head. Lennon made the trip.

The view from camp! Set up on a ridge and it got cold! had a big bon fire and cooked up a tri-tip and tatters. 

Another shot of the view in the morning.

On the way out our fishing party was greeted by a huge herd of sheep and a bunch of sheep dogs. Gotta have some respect for these dogs when they can spend all their time watching the sheep. One indication of an intruder and the dogs mobilized, before we knew it we had 5 sheep dogs barking at us and chasing us down the road...

The next day we hit the RIVER!!!!

Caught a bunch but here are a few choice shots. Dalt with a big Cutty...

Me with a big Brown!

These weekends are never easy and they require a lot of walking/hiking/fishing/cooking/camping...

Wouldn't trade it for the world. Thanks for those who made the trip and those who couldn't...

Thanks,

Chris Giles