January 29th: Just one more cast...

Checked the weather report for today and saw that it was going to be warm in the morning then cool down during the day. Sounded like a perfect morning for an early fish. Woke up and was stream side around 7:30 this morning. Weather was hanging in the mid 30's with a cold mist coming down. Made for really cold hands. Started out on a downstream stretch of easement that I hadn't fished before. Wasn't to thrilled about what I saw to begin with, lots of sand and shallow runs. Couple decent pools here and there. Hooked onto a nice 14-15" brown in one of the deeper holes.

From there I drove upstream some more and fished another easement. Nothing that great besides the pool under the bridge. Caught 5 in there with the spinner and spent some time with the fly rod but was unsuccessful. 

I had around an hour left after I fished the second easement so I drove up near the headwaters to the last easement on the stream. This stretch ended up being packed with trout. Nearly every step I took, fish bolted off upstream into the next run or pool. Caught 8 trout in short order including this colorful fella.

After fishing one of the pools I decided to walk up the bank and peer into the crystal blue pool to see what it held. 10-15 small to medium sized trout began to nervously swim around while what looked to be a fist sized log settled on the bottom didn't move. Then the log began to float up and with one whip of its tail a huge cloud of silt dirtied the pool. It darted up and down the pool a couple times before heading downstream to hide out. It wasn't a log of course, but a big high teens to low twenties sized brown trout, one of the biggest I've been lucky enough to see. Will be coming back and hopefully hooking up with this hog with a big streamer.

While in the excitement of catching a bunch of fish in this upper stretch of water I lost track of time and before I knew it my time to go was a couple minutes away. Ended up one-last-casting myself until it was past my time to go. Had to make good time back to campus to still get a little breakfast and make it to class.

In the evening I decided to rearrange some stuff in my car so I headed out to do so and ended up stoping and fishing for 15 mins. Didn't expect much but had one bite in this downstream marginal stretch of water.

January 1st-27th: Beginning 2015 On a Good Note

January 2nd: After the holiday craze and the beginning of the new year I was finally able to make a couple fishing outings before I left for Big Sky Montana for a week of snowboarding. January 2nd saw me south of I-90 creekside around 10:45 at a comfortable upper 20's air temp. The plan was to fish a small tributary creek down to a larger creek but that plan was changed when I looked at the water below the bridge and saw nothing but iced up pools as far as I could see upstream and downstream.

Unlucky trout that was visible through the ice

I knew the larger creek would have a better possibility to be open so I hiked down the frozen stream to the confluence and was very happy to see that the larger creek was flowing ice free. After a couple fish less trips to Whitewater during the November/December state park catch and release season I wasn't really expecting to do very well. Thankfully I was able to find a large trouty looking pool and was able to pull out my first trout of the year, a beautiful 14" brown.

The pool yield 2 more decent sized fish and I caught 1 further upstream in a run. Decided to hike out and come back to the pool with my 5 wt. I will be the first to admit that not a good fly fisherman. After failing miserably to cast my nymph rig where I wanted it to drift I decided to go with a black wholly bugger. First cast was an ugly one that landed maybe 15 feet in front of me and to the left of the pool along the bank in shallow water. Didn't think much of it and was more focused on fixing the mess of line I had tangled around my legs and tree behind me. A few seconds later I looked up to check the indicator and saw it sink under the surface. I was able to somehow pull some line in and set the hook on the decent sized brown on the other end of the line. Had him up to the surface but while trying to fumble for the net he was able to shake the hook out of his mouth. Trout: 1, Jason on the fly rod: 0. Continued to cast the pool with the wooly bugger but had no more luck.

January 3rd: Stopped by a favorite mid sized stream on the way back to the larger one I had fished yesterday and found some gnarly ice shelves on it. Thought it better to fish the bigger water again. Started under a bridge downstream from where I had fished yesterday. Didn't have to move far to catch the first fish as I caught 4 right under the bridge right away including this beauty with a colorful belly.

Really beginning to appreciate the beauty of fall and winter trout. After catching 4 on the spinning rod I grabbed the 5 wt and began dead drifting the bugger again. Took quite a few drifts before I started getting the hang of casting up to a good looking spot for a drift and stripping the line back at the same pace as the drift. Half hour later the indicator sunk again and this time I landed the fish. It felt great to finally catch my first trout on a fly, especially on a rod I had made and with a fly I had tied.

January 3th-9th: Big Sky! Had an amazing trip with some great friends. The conditions were spectacular and the boarding was unreal.

January 15th-17th: Made a couple ice fishing trips around the area and spent some time in the woods with my buddies. We did really well catching nice sized sunnies on Lake Winona in 5' of water. They made for a nice fish fry in our dorm lounge. No luck in the woods for small game.

January 19th: Scored big north of I-90 on a stretch of HI work along a stream I had previously been skunked on. Caught 24 browns in 3 hours fishing a medium black rooster tail. Nothing bigger than 12". Seems to be a high numbers, low size type of stream although I did see one upper teens trout and figure there are probably more. The low 30's degree weather made for a perfect evening with ice-free guides.

January 22nd: Quickly explored a small local stream between classes. Lower quarter mile I walked along wasn't very high quality trout water and only saw one or two fish in the sandy shallow holes. Water began looking really nice right about the time I needed to start heading back. The last pool I saw was iced over but from the back side of it I could make out the outline of a couple decent sized trout. Estimate the pool is probably 3+ feet deep. A place to check out after the spring thaw.

January 24th: Headed south of I-90 to explore a stretch of new water. While getting ready to hit the water an older gentleman pulled up to my car and wished me luck and told me of a big trout he had caught in that creek back in the 1970's. "It was this big!" he said with a big smile on his face and hands extended out a good 3 feet from each other. We both had a good laugh and said our goodbyes. Always enjoy the people I meet on my outings. He wasn't lying about the size of the brown trout in this stream though. For how small of a water it was, I was astonished at some of the fish I saw. First fish I caught ended up being a handsome 10" brookie that smashed my little spinner. Sure was a blast on the ultralight. A couple pools up I hooked into a nice 14" brown in a deeper run at the top of a pool.

Landing this brown got me really exited for what was ahead. What I found though was flatter water that was hard to fish with the overhanging branches everywhere. Still managed a few more feisty little brookies.

I certainly plan to make it back to this stream sometime again this year. Large browns with brookies? I mean what more could you ask for.

Trout Fishing so Far

-Trips: 5

-Trout: 39

-New Streams: 4

-Total Streams: 5

2015 Fishing Goals:
-Fish with other people more often. I have found the solitude of fishing alone to be one of the most relaxing things I have experienced and continue to look forward to it. But instead of going out alone almost every time, I would like to share my experiences with others more often.

-Become a better fly fisherman. I believe that fly fishing is the way to go and I plan to work on it more this year.

-Break the 20" brown trout mark. I have caught trout in the upper teens but have yet to surpass 17". I plan to target bigger fish more this year fishing bigger waters and with bigger offerings.

-Explore new water more often.

-Continue to gain more of a passion for the sport.

Starting Out

I've always wondered why people start outdoor blogs. Is it to show off their catches or kills or just something to add to the experience of the outing and to share it with others? Over the years I have become an avid reader of the local blogs about the fishing and hunting around my area. Maybe the real question is why people read outdoor blogs; why do I spend a couple hours a week reading up on other peoples reports when I should be out making my own experiences? I've realized that I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs because it's an inspiration to see others doing well and knowing that with time and practice, I too can have the same results. Reading outdoor blogs also keeps the daydreaming alive of beautiful stretches of water and the thrill of seeing a massive buck. 

I am currently a student at WSU pursuing a degree in Composite Materials Engineering. I realize that the classloads will continue to increase and my time spent in the field will diminish most likely but I know that I will still need to spend some time outdoors to keep my sanity.

With this blog I want to share my experiences along with my thoughts and feelings towards my outdoor pursuits. In the end I hope that I may be able to inspire others to spend more time in the outdoors and hopefully have some of their own experiences in this beautiful area that we are blessed to have.

-Jason