TR for the Bighorn Micro Clave and a Trip to Chas's

wrote...
Next time, come over for a weekend and let me know enough in advance so
that I can make it over there.

Sorry Darin. I basically had less than 12 hours notice for
this trip. It really was a last minute decision to even go.
Steve talked me into it and we were gone the next morning.
Trust me, if I get back over that way, it will be planned. I
definitely wouldn't mind seeing you and Dave S. again. Steve
and I actually talked about that during the drive.

Nice TR BTW.

Thanks. I'm telling you, that fishing has me looking at other
locations to live even though it would put me farther away
from my daughter.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)

"Warren" wrote a most excellent TR...

Man, that was fun to read, and to view. Thanks for taking the time to share,
Warren.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

wrote...
Excellent TR and beautiful pix from both you and Willi.

JR, none of the pics were mine. I lent my camera to a friend
who fried the thing and so Willi, Kevin, RW and Snoop were the
photographers. Hope you enjoyed the humor in the TR though.
g

Partly because of the timing of their runs and partly because I can't
get past how plug ugly they are, I've never fished for pinks. What are
they like--the take, the fight? Were you dead-drifting those flies,
swinging them....?

They ARE ugly! Ugly to the point to where they are beautiful
that is. I really got a kick out of fishing for the pinks
because it was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I
got the impression that they are a "lesser" salmon, but they
suited me just fine. The smoked ones that Chas had at the
"Wade Inn" were terrific and I can't wait to smoke some
myself. I had a couple of steaks tonight on the Q using some
mesquite chips that seemed too harsh for the fish. I am
looking forward to trying it again with some alder or apple.
I still can't believe I actually got to experience the thrill
that these fish provided.

How do you explain pinks? They can slam a fly, pick it up on
a dead drift and just "hold" the fly or can simply be foul
hooked. I hated how often fish were foul hooked and it was
something that disturbed me. Drifting a heavy fly through
shallow water would often snag a male on the hump. I didn't
count these fish in my "personal tally" and did everything I
could to land and release these fish as quickly as possible.
Bitching about there being so many fish that you actually foul
hooked fish is just something that I have never had to deal
with before. The solid takes were *solid* and fun. They
didn't seem to fight as long as the trout I am used to fishing
for, but they fought harder in a shorter period of time unless
they were "fresher" fish. The "fresher" ones seemed to have
more spunk to them and would actually battle much like a big
brown IME. The ones a little later along in the run would
fight for a bit and then come in like an old boot once they
were wore out. ailuweiukawei Sorry....had to swat an
annoying caddis....

I really enjoyed fishing for the pinks and am now hooked.
Sight fishing for them was an ultimate kick for me. In my
very limited experience, it seemed like the fish would
congregate on the slower moving water, especially before a
rapid. They would move into shallow water and if you didn't
spook them, you could totally sight fish to a specific fish if
they were holding. Watching that big mouth open and see the
fly actually entering the mouth before setting the hook was a
blast! More often than not, it was sight fishing in shallow
water to moving fish or sight fishing to a huge "blob" of fish
in a certain area. RW and I sat there and laughed for a long
time on how "obscene" the fishing was.

Another thing I noticed was that the better "keepers" would be
further out from shore. It often was a battle of casting past
the more "wore out" fish without spooking them to get to the
good ones. The "fresher" fish seemed to be just beyond the
easy, visible fish. For me, the funnest part of this whole
trip was basically showing up someplace totally foreign to me,
faced with a totally new type of fishing, given three flies
that would work and being turned loose. I was kind of the
anti-social person in the group and would often just go out on
my own without any specific instructions and kind of play
around until I figured out how to catch the fish on my own.
You could totally see them, but you couldn't always get them
to take a fly. It was easy, but challenging at the same time
if you catch my meaning.

The impression that I was left with was that the pinks are
like a good practice fish for the upcoming and better runs of
fish. *I* enjoyed every minute I was fishing for the pinks
and at times was just worn out from catching so many. They
fought just enough to wear a guy out and were plentiful and
hungry enough at times to be a pain in the ass. I guess the
best way I can put it was that it was like being 4 years old
again, fishing for perch using a cane rod and worms and just
hauling in fish after fish. It was fun as hell but it got
just down-right tiring after a while. Just when you thought
you possibly couldn't take any more, the fish would get hard
to catch and would become challenging again. If you haven't
tried it, you owe it to yourself to try it at least once with
someone like Chas. The whole experience still seems like a
dream to me and is something that I doubt I will forget
anytime soon. It is just hard believe that it actually
happened.
--
Warren (aka Iron Harry Vane arrr!)
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)

Man, that was a really great trip. Thanks for writing it up and taking all
the great photos! Fishing with Chas is great too. I'll see you up there
one of these years, Chas!

I won't even bother writing up a TR for my birthday fishing in the Wild and
Scenic River section of the Rio Grande for my birthday Saturday, but I'll
hit the high points:

The hike down drops 700' in eight tenths of a mile and I jogged it because
the river below looked so damn good. Heidi dropped me off at the trailhead
at about 10 am and we scheduled a 6:45 pm pickup. At the bottom my legs
were humming as I rigged up. The wading is deadly on the slickest frickin
rocks I've ever encountered (basalt polished smooth). The rocks are also
really big so you're often standing on them and fishing water that's ten
feet below the rock. I took one fall that would have scared even the
esteemed Mr. Reid. I was actually swimming in my vest with my rod.
Thankfully still alive!

I fished hopper/dropper, dry only when the baetis were out, and a two
nymph/bobber rig also. The fishing was great. I caught lots of small,
beautiful browns and a few Rio Grande chubs. While I was fishing just a
small parachute adams (baetis were in the air) I had a HUGE brown turn and
grab it. Alas, I got Buck Fever and immediately left that fly in the
brown's lip with a Bass Bubba hookset. Oh well. That would have been my
fourth "brown of a lifetime" but the first on a dry. Later I hooked (and
landed!) a 30"+ Carp! When I hooked him he took me to the backing, running
*upstream* through some huge rapids and boulders. Amazingly, my 3X (apprx)
Cabela's Tectan held up and I got the fish into some shallow water
eventually. My PT was stuck way back in the roof of his mouth and this fish
scared me. Certainly twice as heavy as anything I'd landed on a five weight
before. As I was struggling to free my hemostats, the hook popped out and
that beautiful fish swam into some deep slow water and sulked. Can't blame
him.

If anyone wants to see this place in the next couple of weeks, I'll meet you
up there. Drop me an email or reply to this thread.

In my opinion, it blows the Box Canyon of the Henry's Fork away - more
variety of fish, more solitude, tougher wading by far, and of course it's in
New Mexico!

bruce h

Oh yeah, my legs are sooooo sore that I can't step off a curb. My "downhill
muscles" were completely unprepared and I'm not sure if they'll ever be the
same.

"rw" wrote...
Bob Weinberger wrote:
"rw" wrote...
Bob Weinberger wrote:

BTW I leave for Kodiak day after tomorrow for a week of chasing big Cohos.

That is like totally cool, Bob.

Can I come? :-)

It just so happens that one of our crew had to cancel. If you're really
interested, email me ASAP for
details.

I'd seriously go if I weren't starting to replace the floor in my cabin
today. That will take all week.

What happened? Is all that money buckling the floor boards again?
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Bob Weinberger wrote:
"rw" wrote in message
m...

Bob Weinberger wrote:

BTW I leave for Kodiak day after tomorrow for a week of chasing big Cohos.

That is like totally cool, Bob.

Can I come? :-)



It just so happens that one of our crew had to cancel. If you're really interested, email me ASAP for
details.

I'd seriously go if I weren't starting to replace the floor in my cabin
today. That will take all week.

Warren wrote:

The whole experience still seems like a
dream to me and is something that I doubt I will forget
anytime soon. It is just hard believe that it actually
happened.

Looks like those salmon put their hook in you!

Willi

Warren wrote:


Chas and RW were into fish shortly
thereafter. It seems that we had followed the storm out west
that had plagued us on the Bighorn as it began to rain and
then would clear a little only to rain a little more.

Very sorry I couldn't go along with you guys.

Willi

rw wrote:

Maybe we can arrange a Washington Clave some day? Like maybe next year?
The pinks won't be running like this year, but I'm sure something else
will be happening.



I'd like to do a Steelhead chase.

Willi

Bruiser wrote:

I won't even bother writing up a TR for my birthday fishing in the Wild and
Scenic River section of the Rio Grande for my birthday Saturday, but I'll
hit the high points:


You are a cruel man, Bruce! You're sure to delay my home repairs with
talk like that.

And you forgot to mention what the weather's been like in New Mexico lately!

My regular two fishing buddies are unavailable, and I've got a 3 day
weekend coming up. Saturday is probably the only day that works for me.
What trailhead did you start at?

- Bryan