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I had an interesting experience yesterday evening (July 31st) fishing a very small stream on the east slope of the Cascades above 3,000 feet. When I was there for the first time eight days earlier, I was catching a pretty little westslope cutt (or five) in every likely-looking pool and pocket. Yesterday, fishing adjacent reaches at the exact same time of day, under similar weather conditions, I saw no sign of any trout. Not so much as a fingerling nipped at my fly, and no shadows darted away when I waded into a pool.
I'm new to this area and cutthroat fishing, but I've fished a lot of small streams elsewhere, and they've always been really consistent unless there's some obvious weather or seasonal reason why the fishing would change. To have a piece of water that was teeming with fish a week ago seem totally empty now was really surprising. At first I thought maybe I had gone in too far upstream above some impassible barrier, so I went back down to where I left off catching fish last week, and there was still no sign of fish in several pools that should have been full of them.
Finally, I guessed maybe the fish were making some spawning-related movements even farther into the headwaters, although that seemed unlikely. I should still have seen some immature fish scattered throughout the lower reaches. Nevertheless, I drove up even higher to try another reach, and the stream was back to normal: eager, beautiful fish everywhere I expected them. Fishing was great until dark.
I don't think the fish I caught all moved up from the reaches where I got skunked, because there are just too many barriers to migration at this water level. Temperature doesn't seem to fit as an explanation, either, because the water was plenty cool in this shady headwater throughout both trips. Hatches also don't seem to explain it; they're rarely important in streams of this character, and only tiny midges were abundant.
So I'm kind of out of ideas and wondering if anyone experienced with these fish and small Cascades streams has an explanation for the odd shift in action. Of course, I'm not complaining about briefly not catching fish -- but solving the mystery of some unusual pattern is part of the fun.
Troutnut | August 3rd, 2017, 2:02 pm | |
Administrator Bellevue, WAPosts: 2737 | I am waiting to see what caddis Jason comes up with from all these out of the way localities :-). I've been a bit lazy about caddis because I was out of ethyl acetate and they don't behave very well for photos without being drugged. But my order came in last week, so now I'm out of excuses. :) | |
Jason Neuswanger, Ph.D. Troutnut and salmonid ecologist | ||
Creno | August 3rd, 2017, 1:09 pm | |
Grants Pass, OR Posts: 305 | While there is alot of this kind of water throughout the coast and cascade ranges you are seeing pictures of streams during a very wet water year. If those pictures had been taken in the previous couple drought years you would be seeing very different streams. I suspect many fishermen would not have bothered walking up the nearly dry stream bed of recent years. And it would not have been fair as the fish were just trying to survive in the little water they had. I am waiting to see what caddis Jason comes up with from all these out of the way localities :-). | |
Crepuscular | August 3rd, 2017, 10:47 am | |
Boiling Springs, PA Posts: 923 | Maybe a one or more fishermen made their way through that section of stream earlier that day? | |
Martinlf | August 2nd, 2017, 4:39 pm | |
Moderator Palmyra PAPosts: 3233 | Jason, this won't be a very insightful or fulfilling response, but my experience is that fish will sometimes just throw you a curve--or knuckleball. Nothing will explain their behavior. And the mystery itself may be part of what keeps us focused on them. | |
"He spread them a yard and a half. 'And every one that got away is this big.'" --Fred Chappell | ||
Jmd123 | August 1st, 2017, 2:32 pm | |
Oscoda, MI Posts: 2611 | I rafted on and fly fished the McKenzie once when I lived out there. (About this time of the year, too.) Absolutely beautiful! Tie up a #12 caddis pattern with grey wings and a yellow body - at least that worked back in '93. There were LOTS of nice redband rainbows in there, and many were stockers though I caught at least one too beautiful to have come out of a hatchery... You guys just keep bringing back memories to me. And I only lived there a year! That's how much that part of the world will capture your imagination. I'm sure our friend Creno can attest to this. Jonathon | |
No matter how big the one you just caught is, there's always a bigger one out there somewhere... | ||