I had finally got a chance to fly fish a beaver pond. It was a lot of fun. The first cast landed a nice brooke trout. In all, I netted 7 in just a couple of hours. Then - all the action just stopped. I didn't really see a hatch. There were no fish rising. It just stopped.
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| N. Fork Swan Creek |
The first thing I did was to scout the nearby creek. The beaver ponds are actually along the North Fork of Swan Creek. As you can see from the photo, its a fairly small and shallow creek. Not much in terms of bigger pools or deep pockets. So, I decided to follow Swan Creek downstream and fish the main creek instead.
There is a rock quarry along the creek. At first, I drove upstream, scouting the creek. But much of this area is private property and is posted. So, I went downstream, below and away from the quarry.
I found a pullout, and just picked the first hole I saw. I still had the same mayfly on. I was flip casting in a small hole, kind of checking for a hatch, noticing the wind, looking up and down stream, trying to figure out where to go, and I had a hit. Since I wasn't really paying attention, I missed the fish.
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| Swan Creek Brooke trout |
I saw a promising hole upstream about one hundred yards. I cast upstream, and sure enough. I netted a little brooke.
Just around the bend I saw a really nice looking hole. The creek flowed over what looked like a broken beaver dam, and into a pool. I tossed into the headwater - and let the fly drift through. BANG. I saw the strike, hooked the fish, and netted him. He was small, but fun to catch. However, I continued to cast into the hole, and proceeded to catch five fish on the following few casts, and they were much nicer fish.
This is where the story takes a tragic turn.
Above this hole, which had been very lucrative for me, was an even better hole. And - I saw fish rising in it. As well as I had been doing, this was going to be like shooting fish in a barrel! I was so sure I was going to get great action, I reached once again for my cell phone to roll some video. But - IT WAS GONE!! Where was my phone? I had it in my pocket a moment ago. I looked along the bank and along the rocks. It was nowhere. Then, I turned and spotted it - at the BOTTOM OF THE RIVER!
I grabbed it out. It was still on and working. I shot this quick video of that nice hole just to test my phone. After that I quickly and thoroughly dried my phone and turned it off. I was too bummed about my phone to fish the sweet hole. I left the area and went downstream.
Nice Fishin' hole
The rest of the day I had no way of taking pictures and showing the fish I caught. Remember, I had caught seven in the beaver pond. Along the creek I soon had nine more - 16 total. I decided I wanted to make it 20 for the day.
I went from hole to hole, looking for a few more fish. But now, other anglers had arrived. I tried to find secluded stretches of creek. In some places the bushes were too thick to even get to the water.
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| Nice little brookie |
Eventually, hole by hole, spot by spot I landed 3 more fish. I had 19. I wanted one more. I was making my way back to the car. Finally I arrived at what would be my last chance at 20. I cast upstream and let it drift, and finally - one little guy hit. I had my 20. I called it a very successful day, and I headed home.
My phone? Well, it still works, but it isn't as reliable as it had been. It does some funky stuff these days. I'm in the process of getting a new one. I gotta go go-pro and a headband.
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