Day 2, Thursday, August 24, 2006 (Stream X )
The next morning we were up at 7AM, AM & JR were already up & out to the local exercise center, I assume stretching their muscles for the upcoming day of fly-fishing. Upon their return, JR made a great frittata for breakfast and AM was in charge of making his special blend, fine-ground coffee.
Off to Ned’s Fly Shop at 9:45 for licenses, flies, gear and the latest trout fishing G2. AB bought some of Ned’s Blue-Wing Olive flies, adults, parachutes & compara-duns…..these are very fishy flies are the best ties he’s seen, also a new set of well-made clip-cap magnifier glasses with a stainless steel frame (Hat Eyes by MagEyes, www.mageyes.com, 800-210-6662) as his old plastic ones were broken. AB used the MagEyes for the rest of the trip and was impressed with their design and durability. AM, JR, MS & GK bought several sets of killer flies - the locals in Sri Lanka have the Elk River drainage dialed it pretty good. All bought annual BC fishing licenses and two 1-day "special waters" permits for the Elk River drainage & Wigwam drainage. Total: $131.00
A quick stop at Subway for sandwiches to go and we left Fernie at 10:45, thru Sparwood (home of the world’s largest truck), arriving at Stream X at 11:15. (Special note on Stream X…..normally we freely share the locations we fish, but in the case of Stream X, it’s such an excellent Cutthroat Trout fishery that we’re afraid if we advertise it on the website, it’ll be overrun. The fish are large and plentiful, but do show signs of heavy angling pressure. If you’d like to fish Stream X, contact Ned Cooper at Elk River Guiding Company (www.elkriver.ca), in Fernie, B.C., he’ll tell you all about it. Enjoy!)
As we arrived at the stream (and we can park right next to it!!), the Blue-Winged Olive mayfly hatch was in full swing and the fish were feeding. AM & JR went upstream, MS & GK went downstream and AB fished a few pools in the middle. It wasn’t long before the FRS radios we carry were crackling with excitement…..FISH ON!…..FISH ON!
Beautiful 12" to 20" Westslope Cutthroat….and lots of them!
AM, JR & AB were using Orvis T3, 4pc., 5wt., rods with Battenkill and Rocky Mountain reels, GK was using his new Winston 4pc., 5wt with Loomis reel and MS used his custom-made 5wt. As MS attached his reel and tightened it to the reel seat, the butt-cap fell off! Mike doesn’t like a loose reel and between his extraordinary grip (he’s an ex-Dallas Cowboy lineman) and some old, tired glue the reel seat failed. No problem though, with the number of rods that the YG carry on these trips, MS used AB’s L.L. Bean 7’6", 4wt. for the rest of the day. That evening, upon returning to town, we went to the hardware store, purchased super-glue and repaired the reel seat.
AM got work a small pocket of water with the old British dapple method - doesn't require those hard long casts!! If the water is right and the fish are willing, it is a heck of a way to fish!! Used a similar method on Slough Creek in 2002 in Yellowstone to nail some big ones also!
The setup
The Dapple
The Result!
GK met a lady downstream who said she was from Florida. She said she’d fished stream X for the last 10 years and the addition of a road along the stream some 5 years ago had defiantly impacted the fishery…..it was much better before the road went in. Each year she leaves Florida in her motor home in May and fishes the rivers of the West thru October, then returns to Florida. Hmmm….sounds like she lives by the motto of the YG…. "Fish all the rivers of the West before you’re too old to get out of a motor home!" The license plate surround on her Jeep said, "Women Fly Fishers are Happy Hookers"
The big fish on Stream X are smart, as soon as they’re hooked they take a blazing run, sometimes into the backing of your fly reel, and head right for the thickest brush available. It’s almost like they have a plan. We also commented that some of the fish actually give up pretty quickly. You can hear them saying….. "Ok, Ok, you fooled me with that fly…..so take your picture quickly and put me back!"
The local flora make this a beautiful area to enjoy and to catch fish!!
We came off the stream at 6PM, having caught between 10 to 20 nice Cutthroat each!
Favorite flies were; Blue-wing Olive adults, Parachute & Compa-Duns, Ants, Lightning Bugs, kitchen sinks, and old cigarrete butts (actually the last two aren't true but once you got into the size, shape, and color range, the fish were not bashful!!
MS, GK & AB left Stream X to research Alexander Creek, (MS had been told it was a good stream), while AM & JR returned to town to start dinner. Alexander Creek looked pretty good….good water quantity & quality…and the lady from Florida’s vehicle was parked near the stream…..it must be good! We’ll return later! As we navigated the mountain roads back to town, we spotted a young Rocky Mountain Sheep grazing beside the road. His horns were about 24" long and hadn’t begun to curl yet. He was un-phased by our passing and continued to munch the bushes along the road.
After an extended happy hour with JR serving Grey Goose Vodka and OJ, Remy Martin XO Cognac for MS and 18 year old Macallan single highland scotch aged in Oak (note this is $149 a 700ml bottle) for AM, dinner was ready and consisted of MS home made Elk sausages and salad.