Flint Creek Frustration

Tuesday morning dawned warmer and with very little wind.  Joel had recommended that we take the day and drive over to Flint Creek and look for a few brown trout lunching on streamers which seemed about right for an October day.

The wood stove kept us toasty our entire stay at the cabin and ensured we weren't putting our feet in cold wading boots each morning.

We enjoyed a "heart smarter" breakfast of oatmeal with golden raisins, a dash of raw sugar, a bit of milk, and walnuts on top.

We made our way from the cabin to Flint Creek and found the river just as Joel had described.  This section of Flint Creek cuts and weaves itself through several ranch properties and looked like it would give up a few brown trout on the corners and drop offs.

I started the day by swinging soft hackles on the Scott F2 825 but soon after decided to push this fly rod a little bit by fishing streamers and then a double streamer rig.  The Scott 825 handled it surprisingly well.

One this trip I paired the Scott 825 with a Sharkskin Ultimate Trout 5DT which I've found is a really excellent fly line on several glass rods in the collection.

Mike working a stretch of likely water where he didn't get a bump.  I ended up sitting on the bank of the river for a few minutes scratching my head wondering what we were doing wrong, or better yet, not doing right.

After several hours of pounding Flint Creek with every fly that was "supposed" to work Dave was getting a bit frustrated.

Dave and I felt it was time to eat lunch and regroup our angling efforts for the afternoon.  We had to figure this creek out.

On the way back to the vehicle, Dave and I decided to step over a stretch of barbed wire fence to get to the car quicker which ended up costing me an inch and a half rip in my Simms Lightweights.

No fish and then a wicked wader rip.  I was feeling really down and upset.

Minutes later Mike arrived back at the vehicle and pulled from his wader bag a tube of Loon Outdoors UV Wader Repair that literally saved the day with an amazing fix.  No leaks for the rest of the trip.

With the waders fixed we enjoyed a quick lunch and I sent Joel a text message asking for fly suggestions.  Joel text messaged back to try a small black woolly bugger.  We geared back up and waded in the river with new found optimism.

Just as Joel had suggested, a small black woolly bugger did the trick and put this brown trout in the net.  Things were starting to look up and I picked up a couple more scrappy brown trout as I worked a few choice corners and drop offs.

Mike also netted a brown trout tricked by a small black woolly bugger.  Things were starting to get a bit better though I was left wondering as I looked at this photo that isn't it sad fast action graphite fly rods don't bend any more than they do?

I so rather fight fish on a glass rod.  Just saying.  Like it or not but this is The Fiberglass Manifesto you know.

David hucking streamers through this long wide corner as the sun was setting.

It had been a long day with few eats and were were all a little disappointed.

Once the sun dropped behind the distant mountains there was an unbelievable autumn light which lit our way as we walked and waded back to the vehicle in shades of gold and purple.

As we were ending our day on Flint Creek, Joel had called to say that he was heading up to the cabin to spend the evening with us. We arrived long after dark and prepared a dinner of kraut dogs, soup, and enjoyed a few beverages as well.

 Over dinner Joel talked to us about the next day's plans to hike into "RIVER X" and our moods were renewed with the thoughts of happy Westslope Cutthroat trout and maybe even dry flies.

We all fell asleep that night with the thoughts of "RIVER X" and what we might find.