Day 2: Backcountry hiking and a Catastrophic rod failure

On day number two I decided to go by compass, map and GPS through the woods, cross country, to fish a large river and then afterwards, a small stream. I have fished them both before but in totally different locations, many, many miles away. I thought it would be fun to test my compass/map skills as well as fish waters that I had never seen before.

I loaded my Zimmerbuilt day pack with the usuals for "off the trail" cross country hiking/fishing: Silva Ranger compass (the best wilderness compass IMHO), USGS 7.5 minute map corrected for declination, GPS (to tag my car's location as a precaution), survival pouch (small dry sack with essentials), Mora Companion MG (my favorite bushcraft knife), compact food, cameras, small self made first aid kit, hydration bladder, and waist high waders. On my belt were bear spray and bell. In small add-on pouches on the pack's straps: a few lines, tippet and flies. Since I was planning on fishing both large water and small water I took the 390 cm Tenkara Worlwide River Master and the Nissin Pro Spec 2-Way 7:3 rods.

The metal circular container is for a mosquito coil I was trying out.

After taking my bearing, I headed of into the woods. An hour later I ended up crossing a little creek, right where I wanted to be. Fifteen minutes later I got to the confluence of that little creek and the larger river.

The small creek

The confluence

The river is large, larger than the Hoback in width, and is beautiful in its backcountry setting. It has a series of riffle and runs, which is classic for many western rivers. After donning my waders I waded out into the current and began working my way upstream. To cover more water in the least amount of time I used a large fly/small fly dropper system. This is not my usual tenkara setup, but then again this was not usual tenkara water. To cast this setup you have to do large, open loop casts. Tight loops would tangle the flies. The River Master did well with this type of casting.

I immediately began catching fish. They were rainbows, small at 5-10 inches. They were taking both flies equally and at one point I had two fish on at once. I did hook a couple of really nice fish, I gage near 16-18 inches, but they came off during the fight. Arrgh! I guess its not that big of a deal since I release them anyway, but its nice to get a picture every once in a while.

After fighting one of these larger fish I hooked into another, more modest fish. Upon setting the hook the River Master had a catastrophic failure! Section 4 (the tip being section #1) broke in two places!! I didn't think I set the hook too hard, but I might have. So there I was, in the middle of a larger river with a broken rod and a fish still on the line! As soon as the pressure came off the line the fish stopped running. I started hand lining him in, but he got off about 8 feet from me. He looked to be about 10-12 inches.

Broken River Master

I had brought another rod with me, but it was the Pro Spec 2-Way to be used on that smaller creek I mentioned earlier. I put the River Master's carcass away and got out the Pro Spec. I fished with it for a while then not wanting another broken rod I headed for the small creek.

****

The small creek was about 6-8 feet across and strewn with round, polished granite boulders. The water was gin clear as it coursed its way through around these rocks. I started with a wool bodied kebari, but I only had a few visible refusals. I decided, that since this was such a small creek and that the water was so clear, I'd try a dry fly. I haven't used a dry fly in quite a while but I thought it was time. I removed the kebari and tied on a #14 Iris Caddis.

I have always liked this pattern. It is easy to tie, is a great floater, looks really "buggy", and is very durable. Sure enough, on about the fifth cast I hooked my first fish, a little rainbow. I went on to catch over two dozen little, 4-5 inch, rainbows. No monsters here, just pure small stream fun.

I worked my way upstream until I reached the point in which I had originally crossed this stream. I then went ashore, ate some pick-me-up snacks, got out of my waders, and got ready to head back to the car. Since I had not touched my compass since arriving at the creek I just reversed the bearing and started walking. An hour later, after walking though heavy lodgepole pine forest, I arrived spot on at my car. I was tired and hot (the high was 88 degrees, which is hot for around here) but pleased I could still work a compass and map, not needing a GPS.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why the River Master broke so dramatically. I'm a little sad as I liked the rod. It had a nice weight, flex profile, and very little tip heaviness. I'm not sure if I can get a section 4 but I'll try, as I'd like to use the rod again.

If you haven't had the horror of having one of your tenkara rods break then watch the video. It is quite dramatic. I also included some shots of the rest of the fishing as well.

Day 1: Hoback and Granite Creek

The first rivers that I fished on my recent trip were the Hoback and Granite Creek in Wyoming. I've never fished either, and since this trip was all about hitting new waters I thought I'd start with them.

The Hoback River is a large tributary of the Snake River. It drains west central Wyoming south of the Wind River and Gros Ventre Ranges. Although it is a large river by my standards it is easily wadable in most spots. I fished the canyon section, downstream from the Granite Creek confluence.

Since I had never fished the Hoback I wasn't sure where to go. But as I drove up the canyon I could see many good spots to try. The Hoback is not typical tenkara water. It is mainly a long riffle interspersed with short areas of boulders -- it sort of reminds me of the Madison that way. After choosing a likely spot I geared up and descended to the river.

The section I chose had areas of large boulders which broke up the water. I started here since it gave me something to target other than long uniform riffle. I worked my way down below these boulders and then waded out. I generally prefer to fish upstream or across and my strategy allowed to to do both.

For a rod I used a Shimano Mainstream ZE. This rod worked great; it has a long reach that can be zoomed even longer. I haven't done a formal review for this rod, but I will soon, now that I have fished it for a while. With the ZE I used a 14 foot, #4 line and to this was added 3.5 feet of 5X fluorocarbon tippet. This allowed me to reach quite a long ways and still stay in control of the fly. For a fly I started with a kebari but I could not get any hits. So, after fishing for 30 minutes (I know, I'm impatient) I changed to a beadhead nymph. I hooked my first fish on the second cast.

As I worked my way up river I hooked many fish. They were mostly Snake River Fine Spotted cutthroat trout of anywhere between 6 to 10 inches. None were very large. The ZE handled them easily. I did land one Mountain Whitefish of about 12 inches. After fishing for about an hour I was tagged by a Wyoming Game and Fish Warden. He was very nice. He asked me a few questions for a survey about what fish I had caught, how many, how large, and then he checked my license.

small Snake River Fine Spotted Cutthroat

Mountain Whitefish

Around noon I decided to go fish Granite Creek. Granite Creek is a nice sized mountain stream that drains the southern portion of the Gros Ventre Wilderness. It is crystal clear and that, combined with a full-on bright cloudless day, made the fishing anything but stellar.

Crystal clear Granite Creek

Again, I had no idea where to fish so I drove the road that parallels the creek until I found water that pleased me. This water is more typical tenkara water. Larger boulders break up the stream flow and provide large downstream eddies which look really fishy. For this stream I changed to the Nissin Pro Spec 2-Way with a 12 foot, #3 line -- 3-4 feet of 5X tippet was in order. Once again, I started with a kebari pattern but went fishless. So, as with the Hoback, I changed to a beadhead to get the fly down into deeper water. I immediately started catching fish -- whitefish! I must have hooked and landed over a dozen before hooking my first trout, a small brooky. I later hooked and landed a few nice, but small, cutthroats as well.

Whitefish

Brook Trout

As I mentioned, a dirt road parallels the stream. I'm not sure what was going on upstream but I suspect there wasn't but 2 minutes that went by without a car, truck, RV driving by kicking up billowing clouds of dust. I could tolerate this only so long and so, after the 500th car passed, I left. Ach du lieber!!



On the way up Granite Creek I had seen a small creek joining it. It was Little Granite Creek. I decided to hit it as well, to get away from the cars. I satyed with the Nissin Pro Spec 2-Way 7:3 with the same 12 foot #3 line I had been using. I changed the fly to a wool-bodied kebari and started fishing this 8-9 foot wide creek. At first it was slow, no hits. Then, as I ascended, a got into the resident fish -- little Snake River cutthroats. I ended catching to many to count, all about 4-5 inches. They were fun, and I didn't see a single car go by on the little dirt road!

Little Granite Creek

little Rainbow

I'm sure I'll be back to fish these waters again, especially the Hoback. I need to try a different section with different flies. I'd say my day was successful; I would have liked to seen a larger fish though! I talked to some local guides and they said the fishing had been off due to the weather -- bright sun and hot temps. I'll use that as my excuse!

Up coming trip.....

I won't be posting for over a week since I will be fishing! Starting Monday, I'll be fishing two to thee different streams per day and then returning to base camp (my house near Victor, ID) each night. I'll be hitting various streams on both sides of the ID-WY state line and hopefully catching a lot of fish!

I'll take my GoPros with me to try to record the action. Hopefully I'll have lots of footage to compile into many videos. I don't plan on doing 3rd person view while I'm on this trip; it requires a little extra setup and gear that I don't want to bother with. So, POV it is.

I'll be in touch. I'm expecting to have lots to report (favorably I hope). Until then -- Cheers!

Tenkara 7-12-2013

Another outing that I had recently was to a cutthroat stream a modest drive from my house. Once there, I hiked through drying leaves of balsam root and sage brush to get to the water. This is a freestone stream; crystal clear waters boiling over rounded rocks of granite. It is a beautiful place.

The water

I first started with the Shimostuke Ten, a 13 foot, #3 line and a Amano kebari variant. This kebari is the main fly that I have been using this season, particularly on these freestone waters. Last season I used other flies, like the Utah Killer Bug, Soft Hackle Grey kebari, and others, but this season I've tried to stick with just one style of fly. That said, it hasn't always worked. I've been spoiled by tenkara. With tenkara I pretty much expect to be catching trout within minutes of arriving at the river -- whatever water it is! If I haven't hooked up pretty quickly, say by 30 minutes, I'll sometimes change flies to a pattern that has been a real producer for me in the past. Sometimes I won't though and I'll ride it out with the Amano variant.

Shimotsuke Ten

My Amano kebari variant

This trip was no exception when it come to my experience with tenkara. After hiking to the water, once arriving, I looped on the line, extended the Ten, tied on a #10 Amano variant and began casting to a likely lie. It took exactly 43 seconds to hook my first fish -- a small but feisty rainbow.  43 seconds! This is what I have come to expect using tenkara techniques. The next fish came to net just a few minutes later.

After working my way upstream (I fish upstream 90% of the time) I decided to change rods. This was not for any reason, just for fun. I pretty much always carry two rods with me and mostly I'll fish with just one, but this time I decided to change to the other rod I was packing. I closed up the Ten but used the same line and fly on the AllFishingBuy Hirame-ML-3909. I fished this setup the last few hundred yards of the stream before exiting to drive home.  As a note, the #3 line worked or should I say "felt more comfortable with" the Ten rather than the Hirame-ML. The Ten has a Rod Flex Index (RFI) of 5.2, while the Hirame-ML has an RFI of 5.7 -- just a little stiffer. That slight difference in rod stiffness makes the #3 line feel less comfortable to me; I think the Hirame-ML throws a #3.5-4 line better than a #3. Also, after fishing the Ten for a while, the Hirame-ML feels quite heavy. The Hirame-ML is longer, coming in at 4 meters, while the Ten is 3.8 meters. I used to think the Hirame-ML was pretty light (it is compared to many similar length rods) but now, since I am fishing mainly Japanese made rods, it is feeling heavier.

AllFishingBuy Hirame-ML-3909

As for the trout, I caught mainly native, wild cutthroats.  I did hook a few small rainbows, but these are planters in these waters. To their credit, however, they do get strong fighting the steep gradient of the stream. I still prefer the cutthroats.

Most of the fish were taken just in front of an obstruction. These fish like to surf the hydraulic cushion on the upstream side of the obstruction.  To accommodate the fish, I'll cast about 3-4 feet above the cushion and drift the fly into the probable lie. Personally, I rarely impart action to the fly; dead drift seems to work great to me.

Here are some pictures of the fish. BTW, I had the camera tilted a little to high without knowing it so the fish aren't centered in the image. Sorry.

Here is a video of these fish -- me narrating with music in the background:

New water, Small fish: July 1, 2013

I've been doing a lot of fishing lately, but I'm behind in my posting of some of the outings I've had.  July 1st is an important date in Idaho, as it is the opening day of cutthroat streams. Since cutthroats are spring spawners the streams that are primary spawning streams are closed until July 1st. I, like ubber many fly fisherman, hit the waters as soon as they were open.

This July 1st I drove to one of my favorite cutthroat streams only to find half the state of Utah parked along the river's edge. I was disgusted. So, in retaliation I drove further to the headwaters and fished where there was no one else. My reward? Little trout and brookies! If there is anything I hate (OK, hate is a strong word), dislike more than people on the river is brook trout.

Brook trout are an invasive species in the West. They were introduced by the well meaning US Government to increased the sports fishery of western streams. Fortunately they spawn in the fall. Unfortunately, they breed like cockroaches! In many waters they have become so prolific that they out compete the native trout. Brookies breed so out of control that they also often out breed their food supply, so frequently they are small and stunted. One plus in their favor is that will live in high mountain lakes where other trout could not.

So, like I said, I dislike brook trout -- at least in my waters. I'd love to go back East and catch some in their native heath, or waters, however. But they belong back there.

Before I make too many enemies I freely admit that the rainbow and browns I catch are also introduced species in my part of the West. We do have some introduced wild redband trout in a few isolated streams upstream of Shoshone Falls on the Snake (a natural barrier to steelhead, salmon, rainbow, bull trout species), but the only truly native trout in the western Great Basin or upper Snake River drainage is the cutthroat. It is these that I pursue with passion.

Back to the stream: it was small and low. The sky was cloudless and full sun. The fish mainly hugged under the riparian cover and so casting had to be precise. There was a breeze coming from my right and casting the #3 line was a bit challenging trying to keep on target.

I caught a bunch of little brookies and a few nice cutthroat. All in all, since I didn't see any other person that alone made the outing successful! I just wish the fish were a little bigger!!

Best fish of the hour I fished -- a cutthroat.

Here is a video of the water and some for the fish.

A Better Image

As you are aware, I have been using a portable outdoor action camera in many of my fishing adventures to record what I see and experience. I do this mainly as it is an easy and convenient way for me to record weather conditions, water levels and conditions, equipment used and fish caught. In other words, I do it as sort of a video log.

I have logged my fishing for over 30 years. Most of this has been in the form of a logbook. I can look back every year for the past 30 years and see where and when I fished, what I used and what I caught. To many, logging data like this is just too burdensome and they would just rather participate in their hobby their own way. That is fine. Personally, I like keeping track of the data. I guess it the scientist in me (or my baseline OCD). With my data I do some basic statistical analysis, but more importantly I can see how nature changes over the years. If I want to know how water levels or fish populations have changed, all I have to do is look back at my log book.

Lately I have been using GoPro cameras. I have a Hero2 and a Hero3 Black Edition. Both are fine cameras. I like the Hero2 best since it has given me fewer technical issues and has been quite robust. However, one of the things I have not always liked about the Hero2 has been its optics and dynamic range.

The Hero2's 1/2.3" HD CMOS sensor is a stable platform to imaging most of what I want but is doesn't have the dynamic range that is always conducive to fishing. This means that the sun reflections off the water are burnt out as are the brighter portions of the histogram of the image. This reduces image quality.

To try to deal with this I have started using a new filter system by Snake River Prototyping. Specifically, I have removed the plastic lens of the Hero2 housing and replaced it with the SRP BlurFix adapter. This allows me to use 55 mm photographic filters to adjust the image to my needs. Since I am around water, and reflections are an issue, I mainly use a circular polarizing filter. The BlurFix is also is available for the Hero3, but I am using a different filter for that camera at the moment.

55 mm circular polarizing filter in place

I like the BlurFix so far. I did notice, however, that I was getting reflections off the exposed internal parts of the Hero2's plastic housing. After painting these flat black the reflections went away. I have dealt with internal reflections a lot in photography -- as an astrophotographer reflections are the bane of your telescope system. You have to hunt them down and destroy them to improve your image quality.

Plastic from Hero2 case that needs painting

Plastic from Hero2 case being painted flat black

After painting -- no surfaces for internal reflections!

I think that the BlurFix has improved my GoPro Hero2 image quality, but I'll keep testing. I'll also keep experimenting with tenkara and video. It's just what I do!