Bear River... Heaven on Earth

Fishing Time:  7:30 am to 10:30 am

Weather:  Clear skies, T-50s

Moon Phase:  24% Moon

Location:  Bear River

Bait: Nymphing glow bugs (egg pattern)

Who Went:  Rick, Me

It’s that time of year again and the brown trout are beginning their annual spawning rituals on the Bear River.  Rick and I were tied up all week with work and family commitments and were only able to find a 3 hour window on Friday morning to fish.

 

Rick has been fishing this secret honey hole for 17 years now, and literally has every inch of the river memorized with all the honey holes that usually hold spawning brown trout.  Rick’s first couple spots on the river were empty with no spawners so we moved on and finally found one large brown hanging alone at the top of some small riffles.  I snuck up and spied on him from the bank as Rick casted upstream towards him.  The fish wasn’t very aggressive, but after a few casts Rick put it right on his nose and I watched as his glow bug disappeared.  I yelled set the hook!  After a fairly good fight, Rick had this beautiful 26.5-inch brown posing for a picture.

We continued to walk upstream, stopping at all of Rick’s honey holes along the way, but soon realized the spawn is probably still a week away.  This year has been an exceptionally warm fall so it’s not surprising that the spawn may be a little later than normal.

On our final stretch of river we found some prime spawning grounds occupied with some early spawners.   It was my turn to test my fly casting skills and it wasn’t long until I had a nice brown on the end of my line.  It’s not a Bear River monster, but a nice fish to say the least.  Rick also landed another nice, yet typical, Bear River brown.  This place is unreal! 

We observed a couple larger fish swirling at the top of some riffles and I made some upstream casts while Rick filmed me.  I hooked up with a bruiser and Rick caught it all on film as I landed the fish I've been waiting for all year.  It was a very healthy hook-jawed male with beautiful orange colors!  

Landing this big brown made my day and our small 3 hour time slot to fish began feeling worth the effort.  We almost called this trip off due to the short time on the river, but after landing a couple very nice fish, I think we made the right decision.