Discovery

Anaxyrus californicus

After years of exploring the local trout streams, we finally see an Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus).  These toads blend in with granite incredibly well, so well that I would have walked right passed it.  Since these toads are considered a federally endangered species, they can not be handled or harassed in any way.  In fact, one of the management strategies to secure the survival of this species is to reduce trout population.  Apparently,  the trout are eating the toad eggs and tadpoles... Some creeks are going as far as installing fish barriers.  Obviously this Arroyo toad has survived these wily trout despite their abundant population in this creek. Hopefully these animals can work out a deal...

Dudleya densiflora (left), Pellaea andromedifolia (right)

Saturday was a day of discovery.  Not only did we see the federally endangered Arroyo Toad, we found the rare and endangered San Gabriel Mtns. Dudleya (Dudleya densiflora).  We also found a White Globe Lily (Calochortus albus), which is a "fairy lantern" form of one of my favorite local wild-flowers. Only one White Globe Lily was noticed growing along the main trail, while many common perennials such as yarrow and yellow monkey flower were showing off their spring display.

Calochortus albus

 

This was also a day where I was fortunate enough to fly-fish on a new creek in my local mountains.  It was reminiscent of its neighboring streams, however it had a look and feel all its own.  It is always exciting to explore a new trout stream in our local mountains.  It is the kindling that add fire to my tireless search for the "big one" in our local mountains.  The two times that I caught my record fish in these mountains I was without a camera! however, there are two witnesses out there that can testify my catch.  The two largest rainbows that I have caught in my local  creek were on stimulator patterns.  The first rainbow was a fat 13incher with a beautiful rosy pink gill plate and lateral line, the scales were silvery and lacked dark parr marks.  I was fishing with Tuck on this day and when him and I saw the fish, we were stunned.  I felt like I hit the jack pot and I could not even imagine catching a larger fish.  It was almost a guilty feeling when I approached the next hole to cast my fly.  As soon as the fly hit the water I saw a monster head rise to take my fly that ended with one aggressive tail-whip.  The line went tight and the fight was on.  This particular hole was rather small and log jammed with fallen Alder trees.  The fish was going to flee into the log jam and I had to stop it.  Without hesitation I jumped into the hole to quickly net the brute before it made a tangled mess.  What came out of the net was one hefty dark colored rainbow that easily pushed into the 15inch range.  While a 15inch trout may seem average on a big river, it is definitely a "monster" trout in our local creek.  I'm sorry Tuck, I'll give you every perfect run and pool from now on.

The trout that I caught on this new creek were small-average, however they were plentiful and willing to strike dry flies without hesitation.  It seems that nearly every cast produced a fish that day and it was becoming annoying to catch the dinks as I would have to constantly re-dress my fly.  I fished with the same ice dubbed size 18 caddis the entire time without even trying the giant Chernobyl ant.  

Possibly the smallest trout I've caught.  Look at those dark parr marks!

This is an average sized trout for these creeks.  For what they lack in size, they make up with fighting spirit and admirable colors.  These trout resemble the Little Kern River Golden Trout that I caught in the Golden Trout Wilderness.

The beauty of these creeks never tire me. 

Even though I did not catch a Henry Fork 20incher, these local creeks are gems to me that provide countless hours of fun dry fly fishing.  Until then, I will continue my search for the 20incher in one of my local creeks... I know your out there somewhere.

Ressurection

I may need a larger fly tying table..

Several weeks have gone by since I have sat in front of my vice to focus on serious fly tying.  After losing two full fly boxes and uncountable tying time, I have decided to build a new box.  Since my only remaining trout box is getting suffocated with a cocktail of chewed up flies and new flies, I am now overdue for a total re haul.  I am beginning with terrestrial bugs (mainly because I'm tired of small flies) and my first pattern is the Chernobyl Ant.  This pattern is one goofy looking fly, almost cartoon looking.  My interest in this fly is the simplicity of the materials and the high floating nature of the material.  It is basically all foam with rubber legs.  The hook that I am using is not ideal.. I'm trying to use up my TMC 300's and while it is working decent, the fly looks slightly elongated.  Something like a TMC 5263 may be more ideal.  I will try several variations and some other teresstrail patterns that imitate hoppers, ants and beetles.  Then, I will resume the standard dry fly fare and load up on nymphs, midges and emergers.

The box that I am using is a Cliff's Super Days Worth. Since I had a $25 off coupon at Orvis that was about to expire I purchased this box and the Bugger Beast box.  One box was basically free, so I'm not complaining.  The Super Days Worth is interesting because it is a well organized box with a flipping page and a strong magnetic nymph compartment with several dividers.  This box should hold more than enough flies and keep them organized.

After I'm finished with this box, I shall post a more comprehensive review of it.  I just cannot bring myself to loading up on commercially tied flies.  For me, it is a satisfying feeling to catch fish on my own patterns (or my friends), especially when it is your own (or my friends) variation or design.  

To be continued...

Skunked at Yorba

Dead carp, garbage and mysterious white slime.

I ended up at Yorba Regional Park with Jack for another after work session of fishing.  He always sincerely says "just one hour", however it is always at least two.  We have been skunked here the past few times and it has only been about three weeks when we were catching bass on command.  Intense weekend fishing pressure and wacky barometric pressure  may have something to do with it. 

The bass can still be seen guarding the fry however they are not as aggressive as they once were.  The bass fry have grown surprisingly fast in the past few weeks.  Some look nearly 2 inches in length and should be dispersing soon.  Hopefully once the bass are done guarding they will begin feeding again. 

My original intent was to fish top water with a bass popper.  I have been consistently fishing with my sink tip line with streamers and I wanted to try something different.  The wind became fairly strong by the time I arrived and top water fishing was out of the question.  I had several bass pursue my streamer although there were no takes today.  While fishing one of my favorite corners an elder gentlemen approached me. This man was in a wheelchair and seemed to understand the sport of fly fishing.  Apparently, in his youth he had backpacked all over the eastern Sierra to fly fish.  Watching me cast a fly rod must have engaged some nostalgic memory.  We exchanged a few stories and told him that I enjoy fly fishing the Sierra Nevada streams myself.  This man ignited with excitement and remarked that he was going to dig up his old 3wt and 5wt fly rods.  I told him to return in a few months and throw any old trout nymph with his 3wt to catch bluegill.  I finished our conversation by telling him to contact the San Gabriel River ranger district for wheelchair access into the west fork, so he can once again see a wild trout at the end of his fly line.

After nearly two hours of casting and not catching Jack and I called it a day.  The 91 fwy was probably already piling up and a cold front was moving in fast.  The wind was getting violent and it was stirring up the water.  Hopefully this storm clears up by the weekend because I have intentions to explore a new wild trout stream.

   

Cushenbury buckwheat

While this is not a fly fishing post, this small botanic gem shares the same geologic range as the wild trout that inhabit the San Bernardino mountains.  I was fortunate enough to receive this Cushenbury buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium var. vineum) from Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.  So, I did not commit a federal crime and poach it.  This plant is listed as federally endangered and is endemic to California. It's range is restricted to the northern calcareous slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains.  So folks, be careful if you find yourself trekking through the Pinyon Juniper woodland while bushwhacking to find that secret trout stream.

Culturing such a rarity is somewhat of a mystery.  It is impossible for me to replicate the conditions of it's native geographic range.  Since I have never actually seen this plant growing in the wild, I can only assume that it prefers dry calcium rich soil.  I mixed some potting soil composed of peat moss, sand, pumice and dolomite lime (I do not remember the ratio).  The plant seems to accept the soil mixture and the light levels where it grows in my patio.  It bloomed without much care or water and it has been flowering for at least one week now.  The flower arrangement of this plant is an umbel, and each individual flower has a pedicel connecting it to the stem, like the spokes of an umbrella. Each flower is cream-white and approx. 3-4mm across.  The flower is perfect meaning it has both male and female reproductive parts and the anthers are pink-burgundy in color. It seems that the younger anthers are pink and turn burgundy as they age. The leaves are spatulate and tomemtose and measure 4-5mm across.   

This is not a plant that most people would regard as a garden plant, however it does have some ornamental value.  The compact nature of this plant would lend itself well to the shrinking urban environment.  The prostrate growth habit would do well as a ground cover and the silvery tomentose leaves would contrast nicely with certain plants.  As a purist, I would not mix this species with plants outside of its native range.  If I were to plant this I would create a rock garden with a mild-steep grade.  The plant composition would be simple and sparse, allowing the rocks to be the main showcase.  Some other herbacious-woody plants that I would incorporate would be Abronia nana, Erigeron parishii, Achnatherum hymenoides and Artemesia tridentata.  I would limit the trees and shrubs to only a few which would include, Arctostaphylos glauca, Juniperus utahensis and Pinus monophylla.  I would finish the rock garden by sowing annual wild flowers common to it's wild habitat.

Sage Flight 690-4

 I have owned this rod for about half a year now and I have been thoroughly pleased with its performance.  This is Sage's mid level rod placing it somewhere between the Vantage and VXP.  It was formerly known as the FLi however Sage has re-incarnated this model with some improvements.  The rod now utilizes Sage's G5 graphite technology which is used on the VXP and Z-Axis.  The upgrade in graphite tech has made this a lighter rod with faster recovery, crisper cast with reserved power.  

 During the time of purchase, I was looking for a "go to" rod that would be suitable for trout fishing on medium-big rivers and lakes.  I also wanted a rod with the power to cast heavy streamers and bass flies.  This was going to be my work-horse rod and I did not want to spend my mortgage payment on it.  At the same time, I really wanted a high end 9'-0" 4 or 5wt for spring creeks.  My practical judgment lead me to buy the work horse and I don't regret it.  This rod really does cover a wide range of fishing conditions that can adapt to delicate dry fly fishing to bulky streamer fishing with ease.  I have fished this rod on big freestones, spring creeks, lakes, and surf.  It is light enough to allow a 12" trout to fight and heavy enough to show a 3lb bass who's boss.  Now if I had a 8-10 lb bass on this rod, It may start sweating.  

This rod is a fast action rod although I would consider it on the slower spectrum of fast action.  It can still generate high line speed when demanded.  This is a great intermediate level rod that allows the caster to unlock hidden potential within themselves and from the rod.  I have definitely grown with this rod in the six months of fishing with it and it feels like I can push it harder every time. Aesthetically, it is what you would expect from Sage.  The blank is a nice rich copper color and changes depending on the light level.  The thread wraps are done in a similar shade as the blank and margins are slightly darker.  The epoxy is also masterfully applied.  All the hardware is of nice quality and the reel seat is titanium anodized aluminum with walnut diamond wood inserts.  

My fly lines that I am currently using on this rod are Rio Gold WF6wt and Rio Outbound 240gr sink tip.  Both of these lines compliment this rod well.  With these lines I can cover a gambit of fishing challenges.  The only time that I felt under-tackled was on the open ocean at Catalina Island.  My 240gr took way too long to sink to a reasonable fishing depth.  I would have to go back with at least an 8wt with 300gr line.  However, with this rod and these lines I can fish for just about any fresh water fish in the west. 

 

Lamson Litespeed 2 15th Anniversary Edition

I had originally purchased the Lamson Guru 2 15th Anniversary Edition and fished with it only a handful of times.  Unfortunately it was stolen out of my truck while fishing at San Antonio Creek.  It was a great reel that had a ported arbor and further machining overall.  I would have purchased it again, however the guys over at stillwater flyshop were able to get me the very last LS 2 AE from the Lamson Waterworks factory out of Boise, Idaho.  I couldn't turn it down.

The main differences that set this reel apart from the standard LS is the higher level of machining done throughout the reel.  The Type-3 anodizing is also the same as the Vanquish, Lamson's highest end model.  When compared with the standard LS, the finish is definitely different and in a better way. Darker and more polished looking is the best description that I can give and the hard alox coating is supposed to shrug off scratches.  The drag knob is also less bulky which snags less on the fly line. 

   Another detail of change is the burnt orange anodized drag cassette, the color contrasts beautifully with the storm grey colored body.  The last detail is the AE production number inscribed on the bottom of the reel housing.  My reel is 259/500. 

 There is something just cool about having something one of a kind.  It is simply a beautifully crafted fishing instrument that showcases the talents of American craftsman.  As far as I can tell, the drag system is the same as the lower end Guru.  From what I have read, the entire Lamson lineup shares the same conical drag system whether is it the Konic or the Vanquish.  The only difference being the quality of housing parts and machining.  That is great news to me because I am a huge fan of their drag system.  It is ultra smooth and maintenance free.  The drag is also fully sealed which means all of their reels can be used for salt water fishing. 

Just remember to rinse the reel off with freshwater before switching spools and after fishing.

I have only had the opportunity to fight off the reel once while fishing for large-mouth bass.  The drag was smooth and the outgoing click was not overbearingly loud.  I can't wait to fight a fish to put this reel to the test.  It looks like I'm going to have to book a trip to Alaska to find some King Salmon.  Or maybe I'll just have to settle with carp in one of my local sewage ditches.  Overall, I am happy with this purchase and highly recommend any reel out of Lamson's lineup.

Fishermen Beware

 Take caution when parking anywhere in the San Gabriel mountains.  Hide anything that looks tempting to steal.  Or just leave your doors wide open.  The first time that I brought my buddy Bill to one of my favorite sections of SA creek, he had left my passenger door wide open.  It had been open for at least 3 hours.  Nothing was taken surprisingly, and my wallet was in the center console along other valuable things.

 The second time that we came we made certain to lock all the doors however I apparently left a backpack in the back seat that looked tempting enough to steal.  Returning from a rather good fishing day with my buddy and catching a fine brown trout specimen measuring nearly 13", I approach my truck noticing that my windows are now gone.  Shock set in.   After assessing the stolen property, I figured that at least $500 worth of gear was gone.  This included my brand new Lamson reel loaded with new Rio Gold fly line.  My old leatherman wave that I owned for at least 7 years that held fond memories.  And my camelback backpack that held a full fly box and other nick nacks.   This all happened a few days before New Years Eve.  Happy New Year!

Catching this fine brown trout was almost worth it.  I have yet to find this brown trout or its equal in this creek ever since.

It as been at least 4 months before I returned to this creek.  I told my buddy Charles about this place and he wanted to check it out.  Having been robbed here before, I was a bit hesitant to return.  This time I left nothing of value inside my truck, only a center console full of old receipts. 

The fishing was decent and we caught more dink and average size fish than we could count.  However, the trophy fish of this creek were not home.  The few times that I have fished this creek with Tuck, we managed to catch some fine specimens all 10" and up both rainbow and brown.  The largest fish that I have personally caught here was a 14-15" brown that took a size 18 Z-midge deep in a pool.  Unfortunately I did not have a camera at the time.  We have even seen a cannibal trout (species is undetermined) eating a dink sized trout.  Charles tried fishing this small pool with a rainbow trout streamer but the fish had either moved on or it's been fished out.  We left the creek around 5:15pm to hike back to the truck.  When we approached the parking lot I noticed a rusted out sky blue POS Dodge Caravan parked next to me and some low life window shopping at my truck.  The guy  turned his head back and noticed us and tried to play it off cool.  He asked how the fishing was and walked off into the trail.  I suspect he was probably scouting for other hikers that were returning.  I wrote down his plate numbers and took some notes to report to the Mt. Baldy Ranger station.  Hopefully they can do something about the vandalism in this area. 

Despite the bad reputation that this place has given me, I returned yesterday for another day of trout fishing.  It was Erika and I this time and there were loads of people already jammed into the parking area. 

I had to fish with my spare 5wt since my 3wt is still under repair.  I am considering to buy a back up 3wt since I tend to break my mountain rods at least once a year.  My leader was trashed and I'm notorious for fishing old leaders with blood knots stringing tippet and leader together.  I paid the price because the first fish I connect with was pretty big and it hit hard, breaking my run down tippet on the take.  Erika gets the next take and lands a nice rainbow.

 Beautiful color and decent size.  The trout took my size 16 ice dubbed caddis.

 This was my finest trout of the day.  It was a bold fish that returned to its feeding lane after moments of being spooked.  It continued to swim back and forth from its hiding place and the feeding lane. I watched it carefully and cast as it swam away.  When it returned it took my ice hare.

Just for fun, I tied on a size 14 stimulator.  This small ambitious trout hit this fly that is the size of its head.  I'm amazed that this fly even fit in its mouth.

A beautiful trout stream close to home.  The graffiti is a reminder that this is no high Sierra stream.

All in all it was a good day and I did not have broken windows this time.  We ended the day with a game of bowling.  A game that I'm not so good at. I scored 70-something which is probably the worst Ive ever bowled.  If I could only knock the pins down with a heavy streamer and an 8wt maybe I'd have some fun.

A Grand Finale - Grand Canyon, AZ

The clouds grew dark and heavy and hovered over the giant canyon like battleships on a mission. With each progressive step forward I could feel the swelling, tearing, the pain - a pain that reminded me vividly of when I first entered the canyon floor just the day before.  Come on, you can do it.. I told myself.  Every switch back felt like a feat, a major accomplishment that would never end.  Out of all hikes, and out of all places my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) had to give up here. It was a race against time.  The cold-front was moving in fast and a heavy blizzard was in the forecast.  It is hard to believe that just the day before, the weather was perfect.  Blue sky, warm air, slight breeze and the fishing was spectacular.

At approx. 9:30am Friday, March 16 2012 the Grand Canyon shuttle bus was coming to a stop at the south Kaibab trail head.  The shuttle was packed full of backpackers with many having to stand up.  I casually scanned the crowd looking for fishing rods of any kind, hoping that I would see none as I selfishly wanted the creek to myself.  It was my 30th birthday after all, and all I wanted was that surreal experience of becoming mentally lost of time and place that only certain trout streams can provide me.  It is a mental state that I call fish-mode and it could only be understood by other fly fisherman.  It is a state of mind that draws me into the environment, dialed into the entomology, dialed into the stream and its hiding places for trout, only to be discovered with a well presented fly.  Time is forgotten and the last cast always leads to another.  It has something to do with gin clear water, moss coated boulders and the hypnotic motion of the current - all qualities of a quality freestone stream and bright angel creek more than qualifies.

 The trail descended quickly into the canyon.  Snow dusted Pinyon pines and Junipers on the upper ridge of south Kaibab vanished as each switchback threw us into hotter and drier conditions.  The trail length is approx. 7 miles from the trail head to bright angel campground.  We were just about two miles in when we stopped for our first break.

The landscape looked straight out of some old western movie.  It was hard to believe that a phenomenal trout fishery exists within this otherwise harsh environment.

 The mule pack service shuttles food and supplies down to Phantom Ranch, as well as feeble souls that cannot endure the hike.  I may have needed this on the way out...

 Astragalus species of unknown status to me.  I was especially drawn by the glaucus leaves and its composition with the rock.  This was a particular interesting section along the trail which was inhabited with wild flowers that were not noticed elsewhere. 

 And so the switchbacks continued on and on.  Like a staircase into an unknown abyss.  The photo on the left has a small post on the upper right hand corner that indicated the half way mark between the trailhead and bright angel camp. 

The last set of switchbacks roughly 5 miles in finally shed a glimpse of the mighty Colorado river! My legs began moving with haste and my spirit burned stronger to get to the water.

The view of the Colorado river expanded as we followed the ridge line into the final descent.  It was a beautiful sight when we first saw it in its entirety.  Bright Angel canyon can be seen to the right of the lower photo.  Cottonwood trees line Bright Angel creek.

My right knee was becoming weary during the last mile to the campground.  My pace began to slow  and a sharp pain struck my knee with each step forward. I've had problems with my right knee in the past, but nothing like this.  I was reduced to hopping on my left foot like some old 49er with a peg leg.  I stopped to rest momentarily at my ladies request despite my spirit's eagerness to press on.  Remember, I have yet to land a damn fish the entire week of my trip and a bummed knee wasn't going to stop me.

Stumbling into Bright Angel camp, I immediately detach my backpack straps and drop my gear like Leonidas from 300.  I head down to the water and plunge my legs into the creek.  My knee was screaming with pain and I had to reduce swelling quick.  The water was snow-melt cold despite the desert surrounding.  My eyes scout for moving trout as my legs restore.  I saw nothing.  

After observing the creek and getting a feel of the water depth, I felt that czech nymping would be the most effective method of fishing here.  I cut Erika's 5x tapered leader down from 8' to 6' and tied size 16 American PT as the point fly and a size 12 Prince variant that I tied with marabou as the tail with a few strands of krystal flash.  The Prince varient was the trailing fly and it proved to be deadly.  I wanted a big fish so I tied a size 10 black conehead Woolly Bugger on 4' of straight 8lb mono.  

We enter the canyon armed and ready.  I see a perfect under-cut where the creek bends and spot several trout in the 10"+ range.  My excitement soars and I feel like a kid in a candy store. I cast into the riffle upstream and dead-drift my fly through the run.  No takes.  As soon as I begin another cast I hear screaming and I look back and notice Erika's moving her hands around like their on fire.  She managed to hook her finger with the 16 PT and it was jammed into where the hook bends.  Erika panicked and I hoped that the hook was De-barbed.  I pulled out my leatherman and told her to look away.  The hook was too small to push through to De-barb and my only option was to pull it straight out like a loose tooth.  When Erika looked back at her finger the hook was already out and to our luck it was not barbed.  ALWAYS De-barb your hooks!

With no significant blood loss, we fished on.  I gave the nice run to Erika to try her hand at czech nymping.  I headed downstream and fished a run which lead into a small pool. 

First fish of the day! but not mine.  As I was dead-drifting my streamer in the current  I hear Erika cheering up stream, I look over and her 5wt bent over while she is managing it to hand.  I rushed over to help net the trout.  It was a beautiful 12" rainbow with a rose colored gill plates and reddish-orange lateral line.  There were no parr marks on this trout and it looked cutthroat-ish however it did not have the slash marks under the jaw.  Nice catch! I am proud of you!

I returned down stream and resumed fishing the run.  My first cast produced a solid strike and I missed.  Shit.  Second cast and it hit again, this time it stayed on.  It fought well for its size but since I was fishing with a 6wt it came to hand pretty quick.  This rainbow looked more like the rainbows back home.  The scales were bronze and it was spotted more heavily than the trout caught upstream.  The trout also had dark parr marks and looked like a post spawn male based on the roughed up skin.  This fish probably measure somewhere in the 11-12' range.

Bright Angel creek never ceased to impress me.  This spot in particular mesmerized me.  I just cant describe this place and do it justice with mere words.  At this point I switched my woolly bugger for a size 16 red copper John as my point fly and trailed it with a size 10 stonefly nypmh.  I czech nymped this area and connected with a pretty brown trout lurking in a shallow run.

The brown wasn't a monster but it fought like a champion and managed to put a good bend on the 6wt.  It was a pretty fish nonetheless.

We hiked upstream and stopped at a tributary.  I fished the confluence and on my first cast I felt a hard strike on my nymph.  By now I had lost several nymphs on underwater structure, so I tied on my Ice Hare SH nymph that has been getting me many fish lately.  This was my point fly and I cannot remember what the second fly was.  I think it may have been a tung head caddis larva.  Anyways, after landing the fish I was kind of shocked and disgusted at the same time.

This was one weird looking rainbow.  It must have been 14-15" long but it was really skinny.  It had a body of a mackerel or something.  I don't know what was with this fish, but I didn't really like the looks of it.  

I must have caught at least a dozen of these guys in a shallow tail out of the confluence.  Just about every cast got hit.  These trout are common in look and size as the ones in my home waters in the San Gabriel Mountains.  The day light was dimming as it set behind the towering walls of the Grand Canyon.  I was getting hungry and the pain in my knee was returning yet I did not want to stop fishing.  I knew Erika was getting hungry and tired and our dinner reservation at Phantom Ranch was approaching.  We hiked back into the sunset and talked about our catches of the day.  

Dinner at Phantom ranch was great.  I failed to photograph the event which I now regret.  I was most likely so hungry that nothing else really mattered.  The dinner was more than filling and the dinner option that I selected was the steak chili.  Two more options was the steak dinner and vegetarian chili.  Based on reviews, the steak was pretty average and most people preferred the steak chili.  I was not disappointed with this choice.  The sides included corn bread, salad and finished with chocolate cake.  Second servings are welcomed and I was beyond full by the time I finished my second bowl of chili.  Beer and wine was also available but at a price.  It was about 4 bucks for domestic beer but at least it helped sooth the pain.  After a brief and somewhat embarrassing birthday announcement we headed to the ranger presentation that discussed the several animal species endemic to the national park as well as the trout reduction plan.  That's right, the NPS does not want trout of any species in any part of the watershed within the park boundaries.  Apparently the trout are reducing the population of the native fish species.  I personally feel the problem it is the cold water released from Glen Canyon reservoir making for happier trout conditions.

We were dead tired and returned to camp to hit the sack.  My REI brand trekker lite sleeping pad probably has a thousand pin holes in it and made for a restless night... I gave up trying to inflate it and kept my mind distracted by studying a topographic map of the Grand Canyon in the light of my headlamp.  I chose a few fishy way points before my eye lids became heavy and the vivid clarity of the stars became a dim memory as they finally put me to sleep.

 

Good morning deer.  We woke up to the sound of foraging deer throughout the campground.  They were everywhere and had no fear of humans.  I broke down camp and packed my gear so all we had to do was pick up our backpacks when we came back from fishing.  The rods were already rigged and we headed back upstream, leaving camp around 7am.  The plan was to return around 10am since we still had a 9 mile hike out.

These are the cabins at Phantom Ranch.  I wouldn't mind staying in one of these in the future.  Maybe when I'm an old man with some money to spare.  Until then, I'll continue sleeping on the ground.

 On my map I had marked the location of what seemed like a big confluence, however it was at least 5 miles upstream. We just didn't have enough time and it would have added an additional 10 miles to our 9 mile hike out.  I changed my strategy and decided to return to some areas where I sighted and spooked several large fish from the day before.  This strategy paid off.

My first fish of the morning was this nice specimen caught along an undercut of a bank.  I sighted it the day before but it would not take my offerings.  This beautiful specimen fell for my size 16 Ice Hare SH.  Look at the size of that head!  

This is by far the best specimen that I have been fortunate enough to land and photograph on this trip.  While it wasn't the 20" trophy that I was looking for, it was a healthy 16-17incher with beautiful color.  This fish was nearly spotless with a greenish bronze coloration and steelhead-like rosy gill plates.  This fish reminded me of the cutthroat trout that I have caught in Colorado, however this fish lacked the cutthroat markings.  By the size and strength of this fish, it had to be a Colorado river migrant.  

 My adrenaline soared and if I had not caught another fish this morning, I would have still been satisfied. I pressed on and stopped at another run where I had sighted even a larger fish the day before.

After a few drifts with my team of nymphs I connected with this feisty rainbow.  It was not the monster fish that I was after but it was spunky and beautiful.  It gave several hard pulls and jumps.  

This was the last hole that I fished before hiking out.  This is also where I lost the largest brown trout of this trip.  It is difficult to say how large it measured but if I were to guess it would have been in the 16-17" range.  I was inches from landing it and it gave several hard head shakes that broke the tippet.  Bummer.

We stopped at Phantom Ranch to pick up our sack lunch which included a bagel, cream cheese, salami sausage, electrolyte powder, trail mix among other snacks.  Everything was of high calorie to push people out of this grand canyon.   

I decided to stop and fish the mighty Colorado river before leaving the canyon.  I just had to do it.  It is a pretty intimidating river to fish.  It is deep, fast moving and scary.  My fly of choice here was a size 8 black bugger with prismatic eyes.  I cast my fly into the mighty river and watched the fly sink into the green abyss.  Strip, strip, strip and bang! my line stops and pulls hard.  I lift my rod tip and fight back only to have the fly pop off and nearly hit me in the face.  This is first and last time that I would feel the fight of a fish on the mighty Colorado.  Until next time..

Saying goodbye to Bright Angel Canyon and the Colorado river.  Crossing silver bridge was a little hair raising with the high winds picking up from the storm front.  Notice the ominous dark clouds in the horizon.

 The storm was chasing us out and it was a long winded hike back to the rim.  It was a fitting end to a grand finale that has given me timeless memories of spending time with the people that I love, the environments that I love and the sport of fly fishing.  I would do it again in a heart beat.

Snowed in at the Grand Canyon... that's a story on its own.  Lets just say it gave me another day to play in the park.