Round Two on the Bear River

Fishing Time:  8:30 am to 5:30 pm

Weather:  windy, cloudy, T-50s

Moon Phase:  99% Moon            

Location:  Bear River

Bait:  Glow bugs (egg pattern), streamers, Mepps spinners

Who Went:  Rick, John, Me

Our spirits were high as we headed down the dirt road for round two at the Bear River in hopes that the spawn would be in full swing.  We decided to cheat a little and hit one of the best spots on the river where we usually end our run with hopes of catching a few fish and then returning again at the end of the day to catch a few more.  We were surprised to see that nothing was doing.  Not sure if it was due to the wind and unsettled weather, the moon phase, or what the story was.  We moved on to all the other spots and were still disappointed with no spawning browns at any of them.  We threw on some streamers and started fishing the deeper holes giving in to the fact that the spawn is either done or still hasn't started yet.  Rick landed a decent 20-inch brown on a streamer but that was it for the day on streamer fishing.

 

As the weather started warming for the day, we located a few spawning fish, but were even more surprised when none of them showed any interest in our glow bugs.  Rick has fished the spawn here for 17 years and never seen that kind of behavior before.  After many hours of casting, I was finally able to coax one into biting.  It was 26-inches long with a huge hook jawed head.  

I didn't get a weight on it, but my guess is 6-7 pounds.  John was the one that spotted this fish swimming downstream so he took some credit and posed for a picture with the fish as well.

We fished the remaining stretches of the river and didn't see any more fish until we arrived at the first hole where we started the day.  We were excited to see a bunch of nice fish spawning.  John and Rick started casting above them and letting their glow bugs drift right through the middle of them, but again no bites!  It was frustrating to see so many big fish right in front of you that wouldn't bite.  After multiple efforts, Rick finally tricked one into biting and hooked one of the feistiest Bear River Browns I've ever seen.  It ended up being a really nice fat female full of eggs!  

The eggs were coming out of her like crazy, which told us that they are not done spawning as of yet.  I have no idea why they were so picky today, but that ended up being the last fish of the day.  It’s difficult to call it a bad day of fishing when you land a 26-inch monster brown and I still went home happy, but on the Bear River in October my expectations are always ridiculously high!