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Author Topic: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water  (Read 2244 times)

Jim C.

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June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« on: Jul 01, 2022, 02:14 PM »
Had a ton of events going on in June!  Lots of fun, but most of it didn't involve fishing gear.  I'm betting that the fish enjoyed seeing less of me ;D  Fortunately, I made what fishing time I did have count.

I had a ball at a wedding up north at the start of the month.  Have flyrod, will travel.  I snuck in a couple hours, mostly on small water.  Not fast fishing, but a few natives were willing to play.  Beautiful up that way, with some interesting scenery.  I also couldn't resist including a pic of the results of a couple of the lodge dogs taking a liking to my right front tire :laugh:  Sometimes it's the non-fishing things that come along with the fishing (a crazy root structure, fungi, a bright yellow dragonfly, etc.) that really spice things up!















It's said that the best time for trout in the Spring is when "the leaves on the alders are the size of the mouse's ear".  Probably true, but I also find that one of the best times for dry fly fishing is when the dogwood in my backyard is in full bloom.  That normally occurs in the first 3 weeks in June.  2022 was not an exception to the rule.



The tributaries and smaller rivers in the foothills were the places to be.  In many cases, these waters don't receive direct stocking or, if they do, the stocking point is some distance away.  The browns have spread into a brook trout "setting".  Gorgeous pocket water where a dry fly or especially a dropper like a partridge & green or partridge & brown is readily taken.







The water is often stained by tannic acid to various degrees.  The trout assume colorations to match their environment it seems.  Often the trout are dark, but sometimes they take on yellow hues or are even bluish.  The variation in color adds to the experience  8)













Holdovers are a definitely possibility on these waters.  It seems that the bigger fish are heavily spotted and have some red on their adipose or other fins already.







There are also a fair number of native brookies in these foothill waters.  Some evenings, as many as 1 trout out of 4 may be a native.  I was not targeting them and since the water temps were into the mid-60's by mid-month, it made sense to forego the pics to avoid undue thermal stress.

I mixed in one native brookie trip to the small water in sand and gravel country.  The groundwater seeps here kept the brooks in the low 50's.  Siltation, increased sunlight, and deforestation from mining and development have taken their toll here.  15 years ago, these waters were crawling with brookies.  Still though, some beautiful fish persist in stretches remote enough to retain adequate spawning gravel, etc. 















As can be seen in one of the brook pics above, dropping flows were an issue by late month.  In a familiar theme, we were once again bucking record low flows, with the "competition" only dating back to 2018-2021 in many cases. That coupled with a mini late month heat wave made it best to seek non-trout options for a bit.  I drew a blank for stripers on 6/30 on the lower reaches of a tidal river, keeping the skunk at bay with a batch of small smallies on the upland portion of the same river.  Nothing picture-worthy.  Trout are stocked here, but summer temps are marginal.  On the last day of June, with water temps of 76*, I definitely wasn't targeting them.

July.....the mountains and cooler elevations will call if the Rain Gods give us some flow.  Perhaps a salty try or 2.  Or even another road  trip if some things line up and financing for petroleum comes through  :P
I've done the research for a promising new area, and even if it doesn't work out now, time spent studying fish and the places they live is never time wasted.






NBourque

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #1 on: Jul 01, 2022, 03:52 PM »
Some nice trout Jim even though they may not break any size records. Gotta love those native brookies no matter how small.

Raquettedacker

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #2 on: Jul 01, 2022, 04:02 PM »
Great pictures as always Jim..
 Love reading your posts..👍👍
Sometimes we live no particular way but our own.....<br />Strangers stopping strangers just to shake there hand...<br />\"Dying is the easy part. Learning how to live is the hard part....\"

Jim C.

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #3 on: Jul 01, 2022, 04:04 PM »
Thanks, Nick.  On a 3-wt fiberglass flyrod, fish this size give a good tug.  As far as the brookies go, I'd rather get an 7" native than a 10" stockie hands down.  Stocked brookies do have access to some of these waters, but thankfully they never seem to make it.  They must either get caught right away or are too lazy to move up like the browns do.......or maybe all those missing fins make it hard for the rubfins to move very far in any direction ;)

Some nice trout Jim even though they may not break any size records. Gotta love those native brookies no matter how small.

NBourque

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #4 on: Jul 01, 2022, 04:15 PM »
Thanks, Nick.  On a 3-wt fiberglass flyrod, fish this size give a good tug.  As far as the brookies go, I'd rather get an 7" native than a 10" stockie hands down.  Stocked brookies do have access to some of these waters, but thankfully they never seem to make it.  They must either get caught right away or are too lazy to move up like the browns do.......or maybe all those missing fins make it hard for the rubfins to move very far in any direction ;)
I agree Jim. The natives are truly something special.

In regards to the rubfins it’s not their fault they can only swim in circles!  ;D

zwiggles

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #5 on: Jul 02, 2022, 08:26 AM »
Great report, and I love the color variations in those browns!

fish wayniac

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #6 on: Jul 04, 2022, 12:08 PM »
I like the colors on those Browns. Pretty scenery and solid report Jim. 🎣

taxid

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #7 on: Jul 25, 2022, 02:16 PM »
Thanks for sharing!
“The trouble with quotes on the Internet is you never know if they are genuine.” —Abraham Lincoln

Johnnh

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Re: June......Not Bad For a Short Time on the Water
« Reply #8 on: Jul 26, 2022, 05:21 AM »
Thanks for taking us on that journey. Great pictures and excellent story.
John

 



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