Great day fly fishing & exploring South Boulder Creek running through the Indian Peak Wilderness. Caught the Rainbow Trout just after sunrise on a stonefly trailed by a tiny purple nymph. The feeling is unmistakable when a fish like this hits your fly on Tenkara. A tug, then a flash of silver in the tea-stained spring runoff – then the battle is on. Excitement and fear shoot through your mind as you negotiate the water with only a pole and a fixed amount of line. I lost this exact fish in this exact hole last weekend, and I was determined not to let it happen again.
And yet, it happened again.
The old bastard threw the hook at my feet. Again. But this time, he settled under a nearby rock and continued feeding in the morning sun as I changed up my fly offering. I was afraid to spook him with movement, so I went with a few nice-n-slow bowcasts. The sun was over the mountains, now illuminating the creek. I could see the action in the water, the trout darting into the current to grab whatever was floating by. After a perfect cast, I saw the signature flash and the battle was on again. After a successful catch and release, I drove West to the furthest trailhead in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. The trail I chose ran along stretches of South Boulder Creek, so my plan was to hike and fish the pockets that weren't raging with Spring runoff. Small creek fishing is challenging, technical and frustrating at times – but ultimately rewarding when you've trudged through snow drifts, over boulders and down a creek to find a pool concivably untouched by any human. Sometimes you never find that pool. This wasn't one of those times. It wasnt easy getting to it, but it was worth it. Calm, large, deep and with enough current on one side to keep a steady amount of food flowing past. I had a feeling something called this perfect pool home. And It didn't take long to find out what that something was.
Oncorhynchus clarki somias – the rare Greenback Cutthroat Trout. I felt really lucky to catch Colorado's only native trout in the wild. It's hard to believe, but this species was actually considered extinct in 1937. I felt the pole vibrate and realized that I hooked up with a 'cutty' as soon as it jumped from the water. The red is unmistakable. The little guy hit the hefty stonefly – the same the massive rainbow earlier in the day. I quickly admired his patterns and returned him to the wild.
Tenkara was made for mountain streams.