I woke up at 10 and put my gear on for a day of fishing along Greys River for a Snake River Cutthroat. I decided to first fish this beautiful water just by my campsite. Since the “brochure” stated that only fish longer than 16 inches could be kept, I put on a two inch black rubber legs to entice larger fish. I started up at the riffle and swung my fly through the slot as if fishing a Steelhead run. Five casts, and if no takes, move five steps down and repeat. After 6 or 7 moves, and 30+ cast / drifts, my fly got hammered!
A six to seven inch Snake River Cutthroat was at the end of the vicious strike. The fly was almost as big as the fish. I gently released the fish to enjoy the rest of it’s life, hopefully very long, in the beautiful river. I packed up and headed several hours to La Barge, Wyoming, for the Colorado River Cutthroat which were swimming in the La Barge Creek 15 miles out of town. I should have known something was up when I drove through La Barge, past a lot of people having a corn hole competition by a bar, when a kid pointed at me and my van and then threw a rock and hit my van. Welcome to La Barge.
I drove 10 miles along a paved road to a dirt road moving into the section of the road that paralleled the creek. I stopped to talk to a younger gentleman (they all are younger) who was getting fitted for fishing the stream. We chatted and found we both were hunting to complete the Wyoming Cutt-Slam Challenge. We shared success and failure, and I moved along upstream to a section of water that just screamed “FISH”.
Yes, a bad photo of a beautiful pool along the La Barge creek. This photo was already rotated 10 degrees clockwise. The photo represents my experience at this pool. I grabbed my gear and headed to to the tip of the grass in the photo, without my chair. I used a hopper and let it drift down the stream into the pool. On my third cast, success! A five inch cutthroat took the fly and I got the fish to the shore. After struggling to get my net, the fish wiggled away back into the water. Aarrgghh.
I kept fishing with my back aching from hours in the van. I then rested on a knee to continue fishing. I tossed the fly into the back eddy, allowing it to float down stream into the current. At least 8 fish were seen hitting the fly but none were hooked. Thinking that the fly was too big for them, I switched to a smaller sized hopper. Nothing……they ignored it. I starting stripping the hopper upstream through the pool and bam, a 6-7 inch fish grabbed the fly and I got it into the net. At this time I was exhausted and sitting on the ground. The fish was in the net in the water, with the handle of the net on the shore. I could not get my phone out of my pocket. I lifted my butt off the ground to release the phone, and I bumped the handle of the net, turning the net, and the fish swam off. Arrgghhh 2.
Totally exhausted I made my way back up to the van and got my chair. Sitting in the chair I continued into my second hour working this pool. Since I got a hit stripping a hopper through the pool, I then switched to a bead head sheep creek special, the fly that worked so well in Montana. On my second cast, Bam 3, and an 8 inch fish leaped out the water and spit the hook back at me at high speed. Arrgghh 3. I continued fishing with no hits.
As a last resort, I put on a hopper again and started plopping it against the shore on the opposite bank. On the third cast, Bam 4. I landed the fish and got a beautiful picture. At Last!!!
A beautiful Brown Trout had engulfed my hopper. Not the fish I was looking for. I was too exhausted to fish anymore today, so I headed back to La Barge to try to find a place to spend the night. With Internet access in La Barge, I decided to drive to North Piney Creek for the night, and stay at the Sacagawea Camp Ground just 6 miles from the creek. I got into the campground at dark, and fell fast asleep. Tomorrow would be another day and chance to land, photograph, and release a Colorado River Cutthroat Trout.
Tight Lines!