Just a Little More Daylight

Fishing Time:  Dusk to dark
Weather:  Clear, calm, T-50s
Moon Phase:  New Moon
Location:  Hams Fork River/Lake Viva Naughton
Best Bait:  Hams Fork- glow bug (egg pattern), Viva Naughton- brown/green renegade
Who Went:  Dunc

I spent the week working in Kemmerer, Wyoming and tried to get out and fish as much as possible with the very limited daylight I had after work.  I just purchased a new Reddington 6 weight (moderate action) fly rod and I was anxious to try it out. 

The first night I literally had about 15 minutes of daylight to fish, so I skipped the river and went straight to Lake Viva Naughton to get a few casts in before dark.  The fish were rising and I was excited to try the new rod.  I've recently been using an 8 weight fast action rod at the Bear River for those big bruiser browns and it took me awhile to get used to the lighter weight moderate action Reddington rod.  I was struggling to get any distance and I needed more distance to reach the rising trout.  Right before dark I hooked up with the only fish of the night, but it was a beautiful 18-inch rainbow that fought me into dark.  It was a good way to break in the new rod.

I only made it out one more night with daylight to spare.  This time I had about an hour and a half of daylight and I strung up the fly rod at work before I left so I was ready to roll as soon as I hit the river.  I started making my way up the Hams Fork hitting all the best looking spots.  I was throwing the same glow bug (egg pattern) that I use at the Bear River in hopes of finding a big Hams Fork spawning brown trout. 

I worked as much river as I could before dark with nothing to show for it, but as I was walking back towards the truck I saw a deep hole that caught my attention.  I let the glow bug drift through the deep hole, but had no signs from my indicator so I pulled the rod tip back to make another cast, and it was fish on!  Never had that happen, and after a few seconds it popped off.  I was totally bummed. 

I casted into the deep hole again and this time I saw my indicator go under and I set the hook on a nice little rainbow.  Man those rainbows fight.  Very fun on a fly rod.  I was able to pull two more carbon copy bows from the same drift before darkness overtook me and I could no longer see my indicator.  No big browns from the Hams Fork, but the rainbows made the night a success.

The Hunt for Big Brown Trout

Fishing Time:  8:30 to 2:30 PM
Weather:  Partly cloudy, breezy, T-50s
Moon Phase:  79% Moon
Location:  Bear River
Best Baits:  Pale orange glow bugs (egg pattern)
Who Went:  Rick, Bobber John, Dunc

It’s time to chase those spawning browns again on the Bear River.  We arrived to breezy conditions that became windy by noon.  It made it tough with a fly rod, especially for an amateur like me. 

We were a bit early in the spawning process, but there were a few fish starting to fan beds.  We hit all the usual spots with a few early fish giving us the middle finger.  We taunted a couple fish for over an hour, but couldn’t get them to commit.  We finally found one group that wanted to play and Rick was able to trick one into biting and bring it to shore.  You can check out the action on my YouTube Channel...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCimYTZtOyg&feature=youtu.be

 

At the next spot it was my turn to get into the action.  I rigged up a fresh glow bug and on my first cast into a group of about three fish I hooked up with a nice Bear River Brown. 

 

Bobbers tried and true method with the orange jighead with a worm didn’t have any luck this outing.  It was tough fishing, but should only get better as the spawn progresses.