[Flyfishn247]

The wife and I fished Birch Creek yesterday, a small stream in Idaho, which has become an annual tradition for us each year around the 4th of July. I think I set a record for my personal best one day of fishing with 105 fish caught and brought to hand. My wife caught very respectable 70ish. The success did not come without casualties. Within the first 10 minutes my wife broke the top foot and a half off her rod and all but gave up. I showed her it was still possible to catch fish without it. Good thing it has a lifetime unconditional warranty. The other was a pair of $120 Wiley X polarized glasses I was letting her use that got pulled off her face and fell into the water. Oh well. All fish were caught on dries; yellow stimulator, yellow humpy, yellow sallie and a red humpy. Not sure if you can see it very well or not, but one of the pictures is of a nice Brookie my wife caught that had a 5 inch trout minnow in its mouth. Pretty cool. The fish ranged from 4" to 14" and consisted of an even mix of bows and brooks. Enjoy the pics.

Pictures of the creek, it looks a little murky, but it is typically crystal clear:

Pictures of the fish:

This nice Brookie had a 5" minnow stuck in its throat:

 

[tye dye twins]

You mean I have to go out of Utah to get my goal of 100 fish in a day? Dam dam dam!!!! Oh well. I buy the $10 to $20 sunglasses for that reason. What a stellar day there man. Holy cow and to think that day was possible with a fly rod. Thanks for the continuing source of inspiration to hang up the spin rod.

 

[Flyfishn247]

You mean I have to go out of Utah to get my goal of 100 fish in a day? Dam dam dam!!!! Oh well. I buy the $10 to $20 sunglasses for that reason. What a stellar day there man. Holy cow and to think that day was possible with a fly rod. Thanks for the continuing source of inspiration to hang up the spin rod.

Yeah, I hear ya on the cheap glasses. I typical go the cheap route for that very reason. I don't think you need to leave Utah for your goal, it just depends on the water you fish. Some waters I would think 10 fish as a stellar day, others 20 or 30. I don't like getting caught up in numbers, but it is one way for me to gauge the success of the fishing for waters that I frequent. For this particular creek, I have averaged 60-90 fish each trip, but this is the first of triple digits at any river/lake for me. To be honest, just getting on the water is a success. I don't count for bragging or competition, it is just a means of comparing this trip to previous ones, plus my brain is wired for math and the counting comes subconsciously.

Don't hang up the spin rod, when I was first learning the fly as a teenager, I would bounce around between bait, my trust gold blue fox, and flies. But once I truly learned how to fish different waters with a fly, I found my success rates were much higher than I could expect with bait or lures. But I do have to give mad props to the jig guys, those few who have mastered the jig know how to catch lots of fish, and big fish at that. I wouldn't mind setting the fly rod down for a brief moment just to learn how to fish jigs more successfully.

 

[brookieguy1]

Nice little stream and great fish on the fly. And as for the jigging prop 247, I agree with you. Jigs are a very effective presentation that just CANNOT be reproduced with a flyrod, especially on stillwaters. That being said, there are many, many very productive flyfishing techniques that are very tough or impossible to duplicate with a spinning rod. Both are great ways to fish.

 

[poiboy]

"I don't like getting caught up in numbers, but it is one way for me to gauge the success of the fishing for waters that I frequent."

This is the same reason why I count my catches. The numbers also let me know if my fishing skills are getting better. I take note of how many fish were caught on what flies, this helps me narrow down which flies are consistently catching. I think we all do it to some extent to get better at the game. anyway, one helluva day on the water. Great report.

 

[tye dye twins]

"I don't like getting caught up in numbers, but it is one way for me to gauge the success of the fishing for waters that I frequent."

This is the same reason why I count my catches. The numbers also let me know if my fishing skills are getting better. I take note of how many fish were caught on what flies, this helps me narrow down which flies are consistently catching. I think we all do it to some extent to get better at the game. anyway, one helluva day on the water. Great report.

+2 on this!

 

[madonafly]

Nice little stream and great fish on the fly. And as for the jigging prop 247, I agree with you. Jigs are a very effective presentation that just CANNOT be reproduced with a flyrod, especially on stillwaters. That being said, there are many, many very productive flyfishing techniques that are very tough or impossible to duplicate with a spinning rod. Both are great ways to fish.

What exactly is the difference in "jigging" and in fly fishing "Deep Nymphing"?