Ice ... and trout

Articles Trip Reports & Travel
42

… adult skwalas on the mainstem Bitterroot a week or so ago, and just one on one of the Forks last week. There are reports of folks starting to catch some fishies on them, but the weather has been pretty cool and wet and the going has been pretty slow.

Don’t know if you saw the new FEB skwala I came up with a while back ?? Haven’t had a chance to fish it yet, except to put it on the water to see how it drifted and how visible it is. Maintained good floatation for well over an hour, and the visibility was just dandy for almost all surface / light conditions.

Follow the link for the fly and a rudimentary tying sequence ala my FEB October Caddis, which did really well for me for about six weeks last fall.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?44948-A-new-FEB-skwala-

If you have a chance to tie this one, Benji, and fish it, I’d really like to know how it does for you.

John

43

Yes I saw it on the FOTW thread you did a while ago. I am sure it would work great. I will have to tie a few up and give them a go. Skwalas here can be such a hit or miss hatch that I have a hard time stocking my box with good patterns for them. I always forget to tie a few up when I am doing my winter tying then all of a sudden I am on the river in the spring and see them crawling around and end up having to scrounge around the fly box trying to find an appropriate pattern. I think i ended up using a store bought fly today for the first time since I can remember.

44

… has returned to the streams and rivers. But catching trout over the shelf ice and midst the slush ice in late November on salmonfly, October caddis, and hopper dry flies made for some very interesting fishing. :shock:

The wade fishing was a bit chilly in Northern Idaho today - with temps in the low 30s. Had about ten fishies in hand, a few long distance releases, and another six or seven hits that didn’t hook up.

John

45

John, great pics on beautiful water. Is old rubber legs your own making and are you willing to share the recipe?

46

Definitely not of my own making - it has been around a long time and has acquired a number of different names. Follow the link for a FOTW article on my approach to tying it.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/fotw/2010/fotw20100524.php

John

47

John you truly are my fishing hero !

Keep it up as long as you can but be careful out there. Speaking of which, what are you wearing for footwear when it’s icy out ?

Rich

48

… and thank you, Rich.

As to keeping it up, I’m on my way to one of the local fly fishing shops this morning to pick up some new waders. The ones I’ve been wearing are okay in shallow water, but the other day wading a bit deeper, I was soaked when I got out. Stripping down, towelling off, and putting on dry socks and pants in 33F temps was a bit much.

The new waders are Simms G3 Guide waders. Looking forward to being warm and dry this winter.

For boots, I’ve been wearing the Simms Guide boots with the Vibram streamtread sole. They are a bit heavy, but really comfortable and the uppers look like they will last forever. The streamtread soles look like they are wearing a bit fast, but they can be replaced with identical Vibram streamtread soles for about $50.

I have not used the cleats nor studs up to this point, but I’ve been thinking about adding just a couple per boot for some grip on ice without changing the grip while in the water. I’ve had some studded soles in the past and the studding was so aggressive it created a real hazzard on larger, smooth, and particularly, hard slanting surfaces.

For the time being, I cross a lot of the shelf ice by getting down and sliding across it on my rear getting to the water and hands and knees getting back to the bank. I’ll likely still do that even if I add some studs.

John

49

… for ice today, and finally found some.

Delightful weather, with temps in the low 40s and no wind to speak of. Fished a brand new fly today, here …

… and here …

… and on several other stretches of water.

The new fly is JARS - as in Just Another Rubberlegs Stonefly nymph…

It got off to a good start with a fishy on the first cast …

After a few more casts, it got serious …

… hooking up and landing a fat 17" cutthroat.

After a few fishies more typical of the creek, like in the 12-14" bracket, and on upstream a way …

… it did that fat 17" fishy thing again.

Fished on eight stretches of water, the JARS took fishies in five of them, with fifteen hooked and thirteen landed in about three hours of fishing. Eleven of the fish in hand were cutthroats, and the other two were rainbows.

John

50

… you’re here for the ice. Well, ain’t much left as of this afternoon. That will likely change in the next few days, with a cold front and some precipitation headed to the area.

Kind of cool, but the rain held off for the first couple hours, then was light but steady for the last hour. Somewhere around 40F most of the time.

The fishing really cooled off from the weekend. Several places that always give up fish didn’t give up any at all. After about an hour and a half, I finally arrived here …

… and promptly hooked up with a nice fishy …

I hooked another one almost immediately but he took his leave long distance.

Headed on up the creek about a mile and struck out on the first little run I fished. Next stretch …

… was also slow, but finally did give up …

… about the skinniest brown I’ve caught this year. He seemed healthy enough, but he really was lethargic, putting up practically no fight at all, especially for an 18" brown.

Shortly after the brown was released, a much more active, smaller fishy came to play …

And that was that for the day, and, quite possibly, for the year ??

But filling out the card for this creek with at least one each of cutthroat, cuttbow, rainbow, and brown trout on the new fly - JARS - was a good way to end it, if indeed it is over for the year.

John

51

Nice fishies, John. Remind me to take my camera on Thursday, maybe I will show you what is swimming around the icy water down here.

52

Dennis -

This is a reminder to please take your camera tomorrow.

And please post some pix of the fishies that come to play.

John

53

The motion has beend seconded.
Besides, we need to see a picture of somebody else’s left thumb. :slight_smile:

Ed

54

Left thumb? I will have you know my photos are all works of art!

55

… with the “somebody else’s left thumb” thing, Ed.

BUT how about a right hand …

… dry fly shot …

… and a right hand nymph shot …

… from today on my home water in Northern Idaho ??

John

P.S. You have no idea how hard it was to change hands for the holding and the shooting after all the pix I’ve done to show off my left thumb. :roll:

56

Okay, first of all, I have to state that it was not icy this morning. In fact, it was in the low 40s when we left at 5 am for the river, and 42 when we got there. I could see snow in the mountains, though.

Imagine it looked like this (although it didn’t, but this is the same place)…

Second fish of the day was a ratty male brown still scarred up from the recent spawning… and barely light enough to see to cast.

While we dredged most of the morning with woolly bugger and a glo bug, I did give up and streamer fish after the rain stopped, and ran into several fish like this…

and this…

and even a couple of these…

.

Hard to take those left thumb pics with a lot of these fish, since they are kind of wiggly and I don’t want to squeeze…

Thirty-odd fish today, a dozen of them browns in the 16-20 range and two cutts like the one in the pic, the rest smaller browns and rainbows. My partner did well as well.

57

With or without ice, that was a pretty cool day, Dennis.

Got kind of a pang when you mentioned the streamer fishing and saw the first two pix of the browns. Reminded me of the days fishing streamers to browns on the South Fork of the Snake and the Henry’s Fork below St. Anthony ( but earlier in the year ).

As to the left thumb thing - you couldn’t really get it around …

… that guy anyway.

John

58

… you’re here for the ice. Well, here you go …

John

P.S. For those of you who came for the trout …

There had been a lot of ice, but the warming trend the past few days moved a lot of it around. Temps today constant at around 34. About the same temp as the water. Slow fishing, but the fishies were all fat, health, and strong. What’s not to like ??

59

Morning John…just a note of thanks for your posts. I never fail to access you at least once a day…you might say I am fanatical.
Bernie

60

Actually I do have an idea. Most cameras are made to be operated with the right hand, since most people are right-handed. People get used to (develop muscle memory) doing things a certain way. In addition, if you arent left-handed, then that has to be added into the mix of factors. I appreciate the extra effort, even if the trout(s) didn’t.

Please be aware that I in no way intended to imply that I had found any fault with your left thumb, but we have seen rather a lot of it over the years. :slight_smile:

Warm regards,
Ed

61

Bernie -

Thanks for the note.

2012 has been my best year of fishing since I started ten years ago. Got started on 1-1-12 and it is just now coming to a close.

January 1 on the East Fork.

Last fishy of 2012 - on December 12 ??

Depending on the weather, I may get in another day or two, but that remains to be seen. Not on the Lochsa, though. I was over there yesterday and there is already a lot of snow and ice. Access to the river is now either dangerous, scrambling down steep, rough banks with snow cover, or walking some distance from available parking areas to reach more reasonable and safe places to get on the water. And it really would not be worth it - more ice covered surface than open water, and some of the slush ice is already several inches thick.

The forks of the Bitterroot are the best bet from now until late winter. But with protracted cold weather, the East Fork can freeze over completely for long periods of time. With protracted periods of snow, access to the West Fork just is no fun at all even though it has fishable water most of the winter.

So it could be a while. In the meantime, you might have to enjoy the reruns.

John