Alpine Fishing: Slate Creek

As some of you may know by now I was away in Colorado for the past week and a half chasing elk around the Eagles Nest Wilderness of Summit County. While the elk hunting wasn't a complete success it did allow me to spend some time chasing another illusive species that I had been craving, wild mountain trout. The watershed we fished was approximately 8,500- 9,000 feet above sea level. A small difference from the 16 feet of elevation I currently live at.. Slate Creek gets legs from Upper Slate Lake (12,000 Feet above sea level) and flows through the Slate Creek Valley, which happened to be within walking distance (3 miles) from our hunting camp. 

We decided after one of our longer, more excruciating excursions into the wilderness that it was time for a break and to see if we couldn't catch a couple fish. It was exactly what we needed, the fishing was excellent the weather broke, and you couldn't imagine a more pristine backdrop. The three mile hike in seems like nothing when I finally was able to break my troutless streak. 

Lucky for the photographs the Brooke Trout were beginning their spawning cycle and boy were the colors vibrant. Bright sunrise orange bellies with dark black mouths brought me back to Alaska and their cousins Dolly Varden. It truly was a trip to remember and this little fishing trip in the middle of it was just the tip of the iceberg. 

Instagram Photography Fun!

Here are a few pictures that I've been fooling around with using the free application Instagram.  It is a fun and easy to use program that offers a variety of options to enhance basic photographs!  Check it out!


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Fishing Creek Update

Last night I had an opportunity to get back on the PA streams by visiting Fishing Creek. The most surprising thing of the night occurred right from the start when I was rigging up my 5-weight TFO rod. After fishing a 12-weight rod for most of my time spent in Florida, I was shocked at how my 5-weight felt like I was casting a toothpick. Keeping this in mind I knew the hook set would be a little different compared to the saltwater species I encountered in Florida. 

I started out by taking several trout on a Blue-Winged Olive spinner and then I switched to a size 18 Sulphur. As the night went on there were some Light Cahills and Slate Drakes flying in the air but they were not in abundance to make the switch to either of the larger insects. The dry fly activity was good throughout the night with a few lulls in between the changing hatches.

I lucked into a few brooke Trout as well as brown trout but nothing was above 13 - 14 inches. All in all it was a great night on the stream with my father! Below are a few pictures of the fish that I captured throughout the night, enjoy!