One fly Saturday

I was off from work this past week and spent a part of the week up in the Tetons, both Idaho and Wyoming sides. The streams are still pretty high and difficult to wade so I didn't get much fishing in. I will revisit some of the streams in a month after they have calmed down.

Today, however, I visited my home stream. No one who fishes with me would every accuse me of being a traditional tenkara fisher, as I usually use two flies -- one not even a kebari, but today I decided to use only one fly, and that being a sakasa kebari-style fly.  Since I have fished this water before, even though today I fished a section new to me, I went with a Soft Hackle Grey Kebari. Using this fly, I tried to use more traditional tenkara techniques like pulsating the fly as it drifted. I actually used a technique taught to me by ERiK Ostrander of Tenkara Guides, LLC to put action in the fly. Instead of trying to pulsate the fly with up and down motions of the rod tip he suggested that I move the rod tip in a continuous small circle. This induces the same action to the fly, but is less difficult to do and can be done with more finesse and control.

One way of imparting action to the fly

The way I was taught

I am not sure if this action to the fly made any difference today,  as the water I was fishing was pretty tight and tumbling and probably imparted more action to the fly that I did. Nevertheless, I caught well over a dozen trout -- browns and cutthroats -- in a few hours. Maybe the extra action helped, maybe it didn't. I don't think it hurt though.

A thoroughly chewed Soft Hackle Grey kebari

I used the same fly for all the fish. It was pretty chewed by the time I went back home but it is still quite usable. I'll save it for another day.

The water

One of the fish -- don't worry, it was a quick picture then back in the water. He shot away.

Small water, nice fish -- video

Today, I went to a small creek about 45 minutes away for some full contact tenkara. This stream is moderate to high in gradient, depending on the reach, with good pocket water. It can be very closed in with alders, willows, red-twig dogwood and the like making casting a real challenge in spots. It does have some more open sections, but it is never really an open, cast-as-you-like kind stream. The stream is anywhere from 6 feet to 12 feet across. The rocks are slippery as snot and a good wading staff is essential.

A nice pool

Because of the tight terrain I used the 9 foot, 3 inch foot Iwana. It is a little stiff for my liking but not too bad in general. It has enough backbone to handle any fish in this small stream, and then some. As I stated earlier, casting is an challenge here. Sure, you can see what's a head of you, but making a back cast is a different issue. About 50% of my casts were modified roll casts. Bow-and-arrow casts will work as well, but only if you can lift or strike the rod to the side if a fish takes the fly. Sometime it is too closed in to do either.

Fish on!

The fish are native Yellowstone cutthroat. They average 6-8 inches but every once in a while, like today, you can hook a nice 12 incher. You also can catch some really tiny ones -- I am amazed at their audacity of trying to eat a fly as big as their head!

Average size cutthroat

12 inch Yellowstone cutthroat

For flies I used a #10 Utah Killer Bug and a #12 Soft Hackle Grey kebari. I know that I keep talking about and using these flies but they are such good producers that I have not had to experiment with patterns much. I promise to try some other patterns soon -- I've got them all tied up and ready to go.

Another nice fish

I hooked quite a few fish today but I was having trouble keeping them on. They mostly did a long line release. I did get a few to hand though.

I like this stream. It really works you over and you know that you've been fishing when your done.

I have off from work next week and I plan on fishing various streams on the Idaho-Wyoming border. It should be interesting! Now, where did I put that Wyoming license?

An after work quickie

Last evening, while my wife had meetings, I drove up to a small stream near my home. It is only 20 minutes away, through a narrow canyon and over a mountain pass. I had to follow a rancher moving his cattle through the canyon to the summer grazing range , but I passed them about half way up so it didn't take too long to get there.

A beautiful evening in the mountains

I parked the Highlander and walked down into the narrows since the road and stream diverge. The narrows is filled with beaver ponds and then the stream itself. The stream is only about 3-4 feet across and maybe 3-12 inches deep, but there is enough cover and lies to keep a healthy population of wild cutthroats thriving. As I walked I watched the local beaver repairing one of his dams. What I big rodent!

Mr beaver at work; don't drink the water  -- Giardia!

When I got to the section of the stream that I wanted to fish I rigged the 10' 2" Soyokaze with a #3 line and 4X flourocarbon tippet. I once again went with a Soft Hackle Grey kebari, since it has been such a consistent producer. The water is low enough that waders are not required; with careful wading the water did not top my Wellington work boots.

A typical stretch of the stream

Another section, more open

I targeted small pockets of deeper water and riffles. Careful, delicate casts were required so to not scare the fish. Precision was also required since the willows over reach the stream in much of its run. Casting mainly from my knees I took about 15 fish, but who's counting. The largest was 10 inches, but most were 6-8 inches. They either took the kebari right after it hit the water (sometimes before I could straighten the line)  or after a few seconds of drift. When you use the Soft Hackle Grey kebari make sure you are ready for a hit as soon as it touches the water! Basically it was "looks like a fish would hold there", cast and "got ya" fishing. Very relaxing and peaceful.

He did not want his picture taken!

I fished for two hours then drove back and got home before my wife did. Nice!

Grey kebari, Snow, and the Big Cutthroat

We had a cold front come through overnight and our mid-day highs went from 85 F, the day before, to 45 F today. The clouds were dark and the wind was at about 15 knots, but still I thought I would drive up to a creek just minutes from my house and see what was going on. I had not been up there yet this year, but it is a nice season since the cutthroats are just getting ready to spawn.

The area is at about 7000 ft and is a large open rocky mountain meadow with beaver ponds. Willows line the creek, other than that it is pretty open.

The area were I fished

A typical section of beaver ponds

When I arrived it started to snow. The wind was pretty steady from the west (upstream) making the snow go almost horizontal.  Since I was there, I decided to still gear up and see if I could catch something. I know its June  in the rest of the country, but here in the northern Rockies it isn't truly summer yet. I geared up almost like I was winter fishing.

Ready for action!

June snow!

I worked my way down to the creek and was immediately struck by how different the water looked. The levels were low, very low, and the weed was abundant. In fact the creek looked more like it does in September than June!  This really was a poor winter for snow pack!

I strung up the Tenkara USA Ito with a #4.5 line and decided to go with a red-black kebari. The wind made casting quite difficult, especially since I like to fish upstream.  Because of the wind I had to force the cast and that would make the Ito noodle (that is, oscillate wildly) and thus make the cast uncontrolled and off target. After catching a few 6 inch natives I decided I needed more control for the low clear water, so I changed over to the Ebisu. I did not have a stiffer rod with me or I would have used it! Still I immediately could tell the difference when casting with the Ebisu. It noodled much less and my targeting was dramatically improved.

At this point I lost the red-black kebari to a willow on the far side of the creek. This gave me a chance to change flies so I went with a Soft Hackle Grey kebari. I fished with this fly the day before (on a lower section of this same stream) and believe it or not it out fished the venerable Utah Killer Bug! The day before, it had caught trout 3:1 over the UKB. I thought I'd see if this was just an aberration.

Red-black kebari

Soft Hackle Grey kebari

Within a few casts with the Soft Hackle Grey kebari I was into a fish. It was another native Yellowstone cutthroat and average in size for this stream, about 8 inches.

The average size cutthroat for this stream; Soft Hackle Grey kebari in its mouth

I worked my way upstream until I reached a certain beaver pond where I suddenly saw a rise. I stalked closer and made a cast near were the rise had occurred. The wind blew the cast off target, into the water weed. I cast again, this time with more wrist, and it landed fair in open water. About three seconds later the fish took it. Unfortunately it spit the hook after the first run.

As I stood there muttering I saw another rise in the same pond but slightly to my right, near the pond inlet. This trout porpoised with just its dorsal fin showing. It looked like it had substantial size, for this creek at least! I moved to the right and just a little closer. I could see him in the water -- his full length was visible --  as he hovered nose first into the current.

My first cast, directly into the wind, was over him. I could see him turn and then I felt the tug on the line. I set but too fast and pull the fly right out of his mouth! Argh! I let things settle for a few minutes and he came back into view. I cast again. I saw him turn but refuse the fly. Next cast took another trout, a nice fish in its own right -- about 11-12 inches, that I had not seen. This trout's fight did not seem to upset the big boy thankfully enough.

After releasing that other trout I could see that the big cutthroat was still in position. I stooped, cast, and once again saw him turn towards the Soft Hackle Grey. Once again there was a tug on the line and....SET! I had him! He rolled and dove towards the water weed. The Ebisu did a great job of keeping his head up and I was able to muscle him over the weed towards me. I had not brought a net so I had to hand land him. Once hold of him I calmed him down by turning him over, belly up, and then took his picture. He would not be counted as a monster by most Henry's Fork fisherman, but for this small stream he was a lunker! He was just a little over 14 inches. I let him slide back under the surface and swim gently away.

The big boy! 14" Yellowstone cutthroat

I sat there for a few minutes marveling at such a beautiful fish, then deciding that my hands were cold enough I went back to the car and drove home. Maybe I'll catch him another day....just maybe.

Tenkara or Tanago?

I fished two small streams near my home today. Both of the streams have moderate-high gradient with pocket water as they tumble out of the mountains and through tight canyons. Both have sections with tree and shrub canopies interspersed with areas just open enough to cast or fight a fish. Both of the streams are overlooked because of these features, and that is alright with me! This type of fishing is full contact. It is not for the faint of heart or for those that get frustrated easily. It is the type of fishing that I really love.

Tight section with tree canopy

A more open section

On the first stream I went with the Tenkara USA 9' 3" Iwana, as this stream can be pretty closed in. I used my standard line but in a #3.5 version and only 9 feet long. My tippet was 4x because I was expecting a lot of snags. My files were the Utah Killer Bug and a purple kebari with peacock collar.

The 9' Iwana worked excellently through the tight sections. I only lost a few flies. I hooked a fish in almost every pocket with either the UKB or the kebari, both flies seemed to work equally well. Most of the fish were native Yellowstone cutthroat, and they ranged in size from mere inches to 12 inches.

An average cutthroat

After working my way upstream for about a half mile, climbing and slipping over rocks and logs, I decided to head to another canyon about 5 miles north and try a different stream.

This next stream was pretty much similar to the first, excepting that it did have some areas of more open water. For this stream I decided to use the same line, but instead of the 9' Iwana I went with my new Daiwa 10' 2" Soyokaze tanago rod that I had received this week from TenkaraBum. This is an amazingly light rod, but is not a "true" tenkara rod. I guess it is designed to catch really small fish, but I decided that it could likely handle any fish this stream could throw at it.

The Soyokaze's cast is smooth and with just the right action. It handled the #3.5 line perfectly -- I couldn't have been more pleased. Its slightly longer reach than the 9' Iwana was perfect for this stream. I could have fished this stream with a 12' tenkara rod, but I was having too much fun catching fish with the Soyokaze!

10' 2" Daiwa Soyokaze compared to Tenkara USA 9' 3" Iwana

Different sections of the same stream

As I stated before, this Daiwa rod is designed to catch small fish, a technique called tanago or micro-fishing. But it handled all the fish I caught, even a 12" rainbow, without any trouble! What a blast! I don't know if what I was doing was tanago or tenkara, but whatever its called it was just pure fun (I know I wasn't really doing tanago, and the Soyokaze isn't really a tenkara rod so I wasn't doing tenkara. Maybe it is just my version of small stream fishing or as a play on words: "Tomkara").  I caught browns, cutthroats and rainbows -- all I needed was a brookie and I would have had a grandslam!

Cutthroat

Brown

12" rainbow

After using the Daiwa 10' 2" Soyokaze today I have decided that it will be my "go to" rod for small streams unless it is too tight, then I'll use the 9' Iwana. Both are excellent rods and fun to use, but all I can say is that the Soyokaze was amazing! Too bad they don't make a 12' version!

An updated impression of this rod, and other rods I have used can be read HERE.

9 foot Iwana fun

After some yard work yesterday I was able to slip up to Pebble Creek for a few hours of fishing. Since run-off has been pretty mild this year, Pebble Creek is quite fishable. The water was a little off colored but really not that bad. Stream flows are good and not too difficult to negotiate.

Pebble Creek area above the canyon

Since Pebble Creek is quite small, 6-10 feet wide, and somewhat brushy I decided that I would use my Tenkara USA 9 foot Iwana handle replacement after finding out that the Ebisu was just too long for this water. This handle makes my 12 foot Iwana into a 9 foot 3 inch tenkara rod. This should be quite good on this small water.

The day was partly cloudy with passing rain showers. Even though it was Saturday I did not find any people on the section of creek that I wanted to fish. I drove up the canyon, by passing the Dogwood choked, higher gradient section of the creek and parked near the upper end of the canyon. This mid-section of Pebble Creek is a classical western willow lined creek. There are some areas of open casting, as long as you are in the mid-stream, and some areas of willow tunnels that make casting only a dream.

Looking upstream on an average mid-stream section. Willow tunnel ahead!

Looking downstream

I strung the 9 foot Iwana with 7 feet of Tenkara USA 3.5 HiVis flouro and used 2 feet of red Amnesia as a terminal sighter. This has become my standard line configuration for tenkara fishing, although I do vary the line length and weight depending on the conditions. For tippet I chose 4x fluoro since I knew I was going to snag willows a lot! I tied on two flies. I used a #12 redblack kebari as the dropper and a #10 Utah Killer Bug as the end fly. Amazingly enough, even though I snagged trees and underwater limbs frequently I kept the same two flies through the entire day.

Redblack kebari and the UKB

The Utah Killer Bug (UKB)

Redblack kebari

For most of the creek the Iwana 9 foot was perfect. Only in the more open sections did I wish I had a longer rod -- just 12 inches longer would have been nice. But even with that the Iwana 9 foot was pretty nice. It's 7:3 action made crisp, spot-on casts, but I found its action a little too brisk for my taste, especially when trying to throw a light line. Small streams often require a great deal of stealth and a very delicate cast. I had difficulty doing this with the Iwana 9 ft, and I think its brisk action contributed to this difficulty. But fighting fish was no problem since there was plenty of backbone to keep them out of the underwater snags. This was one thing about its action that was very nice.

I caught mainly native cutthroats (7 in 1.5 hours), but I did manage to hook one rainbow. I suspect he was a planter since he had some fin damage. The fish took the redblack kebari and the UKB equally. Both have been very good flies.

Rainbow on the UKB

Cutthroat on the UKB

Another cutthroat on the redblack kebari

Next trip up Pebble Creek I will try the canyon section for some good old, full contact, rock crawling tenkara but as for today, it was nice and relaxing wading among the willows.

An updated impression of this rod, and other rods I have used can be read HERE.

More small stream adventures

There is a small creek just east of Rockland, Idaho that I have been wanting to fish for quite some time. East fork of Rock Creek has been described as a gin clear creek with cutbow hybrids that is generally not a fly fishing destination. Well, today I made it my destination.

Driving east of Rockland you enter the canyon from whence Rock Creek comes. It is a typical eastern Idaho canyon; trees and vegetation of the south side of the canyon and dry hills and sage brush on the north side.

Looking west, or "down canyon"

The creek itself is a mere trickle of water when compared to some of the other rivers in the region: Snake, Henry's Fork, South Fork, etc. But although it is small it still has some allure. It is one of those creeks that is densely vegetated, where casting is not measured on yards but feet. You have to crawl, literally, to position yourself to cast to some lies. Other stretches are more open, but with the water being so clear you have to have ultimate stealth or the trout will scatter like so many leaves in the wind.

I thought this would be fun water to try tenkara.

A more open section of Rock Creek

Some sections of the creek are less than 6 feet across with a quick current diving around fallen logs and under a heavy canopy. Other sections are more open with the creek spreading out into broad riffles. Both types of sections have their own set of challenges.

I used my Ebisu, but I likely should have started with my Tenkara USA 9 foot modified Iwana. The Ebisu was perfect for the open areas but as soon as you entered the undergrowth it become very difficult to cast. Still, using bow and arrow casts, shortening the rod, modified roll casts, I was able to place the fly most of the time where I wanted it. I did loose a lot of flies though.

The fish that I took were all small. Some embarrassingly so. The largest I caught was only 8 inches but I suspect that there are larger ones in the best pockets. These pockets are the hardest to get to however, due to the dense vegetation. Still, I had fun.

Not a giant, but fun nonetheless

The flies that worked the best were the Utah Killer Bug and a red/black kebari. I did try a parachute Adams later in the afternoon but it was the subsurface flies that made the day.

I will return to Rock Creek for sure, but first I think I need to get me one of Tenkara Bum's Tanago rods; maybe the 10 footer.