Some Time in the Mountains
Had a plan this morning. Hike up to Lemhi Divide above Meadow Lake. Then fish Meadow Lake for a while. After that, time permitting, work out the new F.E.B. Hopper on Birch Creek.
The weather altered the plan. As I was approaching the upper end of Birch Creek Valley, the clouds further north were becoming more ominous. With thunderstorms forecast, decided that a hike to the crest of the Lemhi Mountains at over 10,000' might not be such a great idea.
Okay. Time to pull off to the upper reaches of Birch Creek. Start there, and time permitting, finish up with the hike and fishing the lake.
This is a typical stretch of Birch Creek, with great views of the Lemhi Mountains as a backdrop.
Rigged up with the hopper, walked downstream about half a mile from the truck toward a spot that I knew would hold some trouts. Before I got to the place I had in mind, I came across a little stretch that I just could not not fish.
Got a hit almost as soon as the fly hit the water. Moments later, caught a nice little bow. A couple minutes after that, I got this little brookie.
Fished the original deer hair wing version for about an hour and had all kinds of action with it. Somewhere around fifteen fishies in hand. Fished the CDC wing version for about the same length of time with the same results. This is the deer hair version.
And the CDC wing version.
After fishing the hopper, decided to give Joe's Foam Back Royal Humpy a go. The humpy matched the hopper patterns for both action and results. Had bunches of fish looking at it as well as eating it, some just bumping it, and a couple that jumped completely out of the water to take it, and missed it !!
By the time I finished up on Birch Creek, I had tallied close to fifty fish in something over three hours of fishing. Usually, I just fish the holes and slots and seams on this creek. Today I fished both the hopper and humpy patterns over fast riffles with good results also.
The weather further north still looked iffy, but decided to take a closer look. By the time I got to Meadow Lake, it looked like rain for sure. But I decided to start the hike and see what happened. About ten minutes up the trail, here comes the forecast thunderstorm. But I still had some time in the trees, and the storm seemed to be moving away from the area I was headed to.
I sat out some of the storm below tree line and then headed up toward the Lemhi Divide. Some of the sights along the way.
And, of course, Meadow Lake as seen from about 600' higher elevation.
I didn't complete the hike to the Divide. The weather was just a bit too questionable. No way I was going to get on the ridge when I couldn't see what was coming.
When I got back down to the lake, I rigged up with a CDC and Elk ( tied with deer hair ) and fished the mouth of the inlet stream. Caught a nice bow with that fly, first time I have ever fished it. A little while later, I took a 13" cutthroat with a Harrop's Henry's Fork Caddis at the same spot. Not long after catching the cutthroat, the wind came up really serious. There were three fish at the mouth of the inlet in a little pocket about the size of a serving tray at a fast food joint, and I simply could not get a fly to the area they were holding.
Well, had to revise the plan, but it all worked out great. Today was an incredibly beautiful day in what is one of my 13,000 favorite places - Birch Creek Valley and the Lemhi Range.
John
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Nice report, wonderful day it looks and sounds like you had in some very pretty country...
