September 14, 2023 - Mountain biking into a cutthroat stream.

It’s been a number of years since I have visited this creek, although I consider it one of my favorites. It’s a fairly medium gradient mountain stream that has cutthroat trout in it.

To access the stream, you have to follow a trail by either hiking, mountain biking, or riding a motorcycle. This year, I decided to ride my mountain bike, to see if I can get further up the creek than I normally do when I just hike it. I was going to ride my Rokon, but I decided just to take the mountain bike.

 

The ride in was fun. I only crashed once (which I think was pretty good, given that I haven't ridden my bike for a couple of years). 

Water levels were excellent this year and the water was very clear and cold. After biking a ways upstream, I started to fish at various locations. I started first with the Nissin Airstage Fujiyru 410 5:5, and after a couple of fish, I changed to the TenkaraBum 40. I ended with the Nissin Zerosum 400 7:3.

All of the rods performed excellently with an 380 cm fluorocarbon level line, but with the Zerosum 400, I kept the line length the same but changed to a 3.5–3.0 tapered fluorocarbon line. This loaded the rod better.

I caught many fish, with some of them being moderately large cutthroat. It was great to be back. I need to make fishing this stream an annual event!