Willamette Tributary Creek Wild Native Rainbow Video

Recently, I had a afternoon to fish and hike around with Nikki, and we climbed on the opportunity with the fall weather acting more like summer. There is a magic fishing spot I used to frequent back in the day that I have hyped up to have great Chanterelles, and I know how much Nikki loves mushroom hunting for fancy wild forest edibles when they are available; so that was the place we decided to check out. We thought it was not going to have the Chanterelles , but it turns out that I fell over a log, and low and behold......they were there right where I fell to the ground. We picked a good bit considering the bone dry weather, and they were really nice.

I tripped over a log, and fell near Chanterelles; which Nikki & I picked while walking to the secret fishing hole

 We walked to the magic fishing spot I found about 17 years ago, and have not fished it in about 5 years or so, and it was really grown over, with not too many signs of any recent human activity. Lots of elk hoof prints, and simply awesome gorgeous forest. We got to the spot, and it was as cool as I remembered it to be, minus one old tarnished soda can that some loser left there a few years back 10 feet back from the creek's bank. Otherwise it seemed unscathed from human interest, like it felt the first time I got found this fishing hole where I fished a magic pmd hatch to rising fish for hours.

Nice native rainbow trout on tight on Willamette River tributary creek

 This time I decided to have Nikki have the first go at it. I was showing her my magic spot, and she was experiencing it to herself for her very first time. She fished it was better than I did for my first attempt back in the day, as she roll casted all over the pool's possible holding lies. She was working the pool from the lower end to the higher end with a #10 October Caddis dry fly, and I was filming her and I was digging the way that she was covering the pool with nice effective presentations.

Native Rainbow trout like this one may never see an artificial fly before you present yours to it....

 On one cast, a feisty rainbow came up and drilled the dry fly, and Nikki came tight to the fly line. The fish was on, as she hollered, "Got it!" I was totally stoked! It was so awesome to see this all going down! My favorite little fishing hole from "back in the day" producing the best trout possible for what the creek could offer. All of the trout action combined with finding Chanterelles before getting to fish the spot! That is basically the perfect day for Nikki, and seeing how stoked she was made me super delighted as well. It was a really special time taking her to my magic fishing spot from a long time ago, and having the experience pan out as perfect as it ever could have.

The only thing that messed with this fish before Nikki caught it was an Osprey for a brief encounter.

After Nikki landed the fish, I fished the pool for a little while. A beautiful cutthroat that went close to a foot long ate my October Caddis dry fly, and gave up a little tussle.  I admired it briefly, and let it swim back into the crystal clear waters that seem like nothing is there, but water and cobbles. We left the special piece of water to heal from our adventures; so it could become what it was again before we got there. You have to love the fact that there is still water that people rarely fish, and there are fish that respond to the most classic of presentations. A dry fly drifted over them may cause them to rise, even if there is not much going on at the time regarding real aquatic flies on the surface. Fly fishing traditionally is about throwing a dry fly on the surface, and seeing what may come up to eat it. How cool is it when you can do that all day long in a crystal clear creek with nobody around......


Enjoy the video........