Call it crazy but I have a few minutes to write a report this evening. As many of you know it has been a wild ride of rain, mayhem, dumb kayakers, clearing waters, rain, mud and some more clearing. I am please to say the waters of Pierce County are now all back to clear and cool and carrying a bit of extra water to boot. In the last ten days I have just begun my forays into the heart of the lower Kinni, and quite a bit has been rearranged. Holes filled with sand, new uncovered runs, Giant cottonwoods gone, new lumber piles everywhere. The Rush has been clear for a couple of weeks and the Tricos have been going in early AM’s on some reaches of water. As with all thing in nature, change is!
Remarkable is the change in the feeding habits of the trout. Although there still is catching going on, the high quality fish that were caught in spring and early summer have been much more difficult to come by. What has taken their place, and in much greater abundance is the young of the year. These fish so small they fly upon a normal hook set. One fish today made the trip from one stream bank to the other in less than one second. In route, this baby trout, careened off the head of my client and safely landed in some soft grass before being coaxed back into the water for a brief but energetic battle. He was released unharmed. In another story from last week an experienced angler, new to the Rush River, was stalking heads feeding on tricos. He explained he had caught 6 of the 3 inch brutes and was perplexed as to how this river had gained the reputation he had read about, while providing a size distribution so miniscule. I giggled.
Baby Brookie
Ladies and gentlemen, Not only have we reached the dog days of summer, I am pleased to say that it appears our young of the year have survived some record flooding and a whole bunch of turmoil. This is great news! Talking with DNR last week some of the early annual shocking survey numbers are showing this to be true as well. If this generation survived 3,000 CFS and is ready to feed like pigs at the trough, I welcome their ambition and intestinal fortitude. Should be a great addition to our already awesome rivers. Have you caught any of these little buggers?
cheers
6 users commented in " New Life! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI am interested to learn more about the new feeding habits you and your clients have started. I have tried to mix in a few salads, but alas, the late night snacking to soak up the Evan Williams continues to be my undoing.
MN Gopher
Got me. My bad. Tired eyes, tired body, spent guide, No proofread, push the button and send it off into space. I have made some corrections to my reasonably regularly poor english.
Feeding habits my clients and I recommend are cheese curds from Ellsworth along with an El Paso burger, washed down with an Unforgiven if you go to fish the Rush. The Kinni on the other hand calls for a shot of extra sharp ginger brandy in the early AM along with a few donuts and some beef jerky, fasting is essential while you fish. You are only allowed to start into the PBR’s at high noon. At this time of year, on a blue bird day and 85-90 degree heat, just keep drinking them, it will make the fishing more enjoyable. If you make it to the evening hatch(????) just eat a couple of slices of wonder bread to soak up the Pabst so you can safely drive.
Leave Evan Williams at the table next to the pipe, tweed coat and fedora. Use him only when absolutely necessary. He can be a dangerous man.
It’s from all that Rugby dude….:-))
Bingo!
No not really.
Little guys surviving, especially in the Lower Kinni. is great news as far as I am concerned! I am definitely a numbers/action fly-fishing guy and not a “trophy hunter” like many seem to portray, at least online. I really enjoyed catching (20-40) 8-11″ fish per outing like was more common 3-4 years ago. I am curious where you are getting the electro-shocking data? Do you just know the guys doing it or is the data available to the public? After our discussions on this topic here this year, especially this Spring, it would be nice to see the hard data, if available. Maybe you could post some historical electro-shocking data if willing? I would be very interested!!
Thanks Andy for your years of expert knowledge of these fisheries and keep posting!
Thanks Dood
I will check with DNR on shocking data. Numbers for this year probably won’t be completed until Xmas or the first of the year. They are done beginning August(now). I believe each year they are done on the same date or approximately so, for consistency.
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