Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Ever Faithful Cat Creek

In case you missed it. It's still hot out here in NorCal, but not quite this hot.

If you saw this picture already go directly to #26. 

# 26-Yuki and I headed out of La Casa Kautz at about 8:30 with Cat Creek and a little fly fishing in mind.

I wasn't sure what the creek would look like. Could be a blow out with all the snow melting upcountry. We were pleasantly surprised to find the creek is awesome shape. AND our timing couldn't have been better since those big green leafy things that grow in the middle of the creek are about two feet tall. Any later and they would have been too big to fish the creek.    

I started at the pool below the bridge and Yuki started at the pool below the pool below the bridge. Sound like deja vu?

Pool below the bridge
Pool below the pool below the bridge
All I can say is that we had a gazillion (OK maybe a dozen or so) drive by's, but couldn't get one to stick. After wearing out our welcome at the two pools, we headed across the bridge and up river.

I'm not sure how I got this photo, but enjoy the nice rocks and gravel. If you don't want to look at the picture, go to #27.
 
What the hell is this?????
 #27 - Working one of the many pools, Yuki took first blood. A fine 8 inch or so male Rainbow.
I took several pictures to record the event. OK, so they're lousy shots, but nobody's perfect.

#1

#2

#3

#4
Yuki tried to convince me that it was a Large Mouth Bass, but I wasn't buying it. I've got to admit, it did have a big mouth. 

 The flower below pop's up every Spring. I don't know what they are, but they are Spring consistent as far back as I can remember.
Every Spring
 Next was this pool below the little falls. Makes your mouth water, doesn't it?

Oh, the pool below.
 Here's a better shot of the "falls".

Falls
On the way upstream we got hit after hit, but none would stay on. I even went to a smaller fly in hopes that size matters, but it didn't. So much for that myth.

Just to fill you in on a little accident I had a couple weeks ago, I took a big step off a ladder and ended up butt to window sill when I finally stopped. I mention this because my back apparently is still not healed because I only made it about 2/3 of the way up the creek and had to turn around.

I told Yuki to keep going and I would meet him somewhere on the way back to the bridge. Being the die hard I am, I fished all the "good" pools on the way back.

In the same pool that Yuki nailed that Rainbow, I hooked this little Brown. About the same size as the Rainbow. Oh yeh, forgot to tell you what flies we were using.

Yuki is using flies that he has collected. Some from me and some from other places. Did I mention that he is getting quite good at fly fishing? Well he is just by the fact that he took first blood today. He was using one that I couldn't identify, but it worked.

My little Brown flopping in the water
Swimming around
Some more swimming
OK, enough fooling around.

Isn't big, but isn't a skunk either.
I started with the Caddis Pupa that I used down by Yosemite. I thought that deep might fool anything in the pool below the bridge. When that didn't work I switched to Sloan's Paralyzer in yellow. Worked it for a while, got a lot of drive-bys, and even went to a smaller size, but they were just faster than me. That little Brown came on a Yellow Humpy and that's what I closed the day with.

We finished the day at the two pools below the bridge, but I think even though we got several drive-bys, the sun was too high. The few drive-bys we got were right at the edge of the shade and there was very little of that on the water. 

Same as above
Same as above
It was only one apiece, but no skunk today. More photo's from Yuki as soon as they get here.

Next weekend the wife and I are heading for a new lake and taking the inflate-a-yak for a little paddling exercise (fishing rods too). We're supposed to have a spot right on the lake, but with our previous experience at RV parks, you never know.

Stay tuned. Pictures to follow. 

9 comments:

  1. Well I didn't mind looking at Brooklyn again, so thanks for that. In other news, glad to see you didn't get skunked. That brown is pretty nice looking. Did I mention that that's a nice picture of Brooklyn?

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    1. This creek has Browns and Rainbows as do several in the area.

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  2. Really happy to see that you've beaten the skunk, Mark! You couldn't have done it Brooklyn! ha

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  3. The red plant is Snow Plant (Sarcodes sanguinea). They are parasites on soil fungi.

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  4. Nice looking creek, my kind of water! Nothing like cool, clear waters to wash the skunk thoroughly away...

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  5. Mark, that sure is a pretty little stream and love the pictures of the Falls and the pools. Happy to see that both you and Yuki are getting some fly fishing in and enjoying your time on the water.

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  6. Mark,
    Was up at Bear last week. Caught your skunk...lures and flies. Drove to Cole Creek...raging...drove to Tahoe...snow down to the shore at Caples...so much snow at Kirkwood they could still be sking. Have fun...Glenn

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