Another day on the Pecos; another day of seeing new water emerge from the ice and snow. On this trip Michigan Jonah from Outside Magazine came long. This was Jonah’s first trip out on western waters. While he has been known to seek out giant Steelhead in his home state of Michigan this would be his first introduction to Western waters.
Who knew he would score a Trifecta while he was out?
As we cruised up the canyon we stopped at a trusty spot just before MM13. It had recently cleared it’s last thin layer of ice so I thought it might be good to see what we could get out of it. Jonah took the deeper section first and I hit a section just above where the riffle met the pool. After a few casts a little brown decides to take the Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear I had dropped off the usual Uncased Caddis I have been using.
I hooked up with a little Rainbow just after that couldn’t have been more than 4 inches. They both hit on the Gold Ribbed Hairs Ear. That got me thinking about what they were saying at the Reel Life about Mayflies starting be present in the river. So I searched a few rocks in the riffle above the pool and there it was.
Not having any action after that we moved up to another section. Jonah worked one pool with out any luck so we kept moving farther up. We reached a go to spot which borders private land and always seems to produce decent fish. Jonah started working his way through it as I re rigged my line from an earlier casting disaster. I have to remember to look behind me before I start screaming the line out. So there is a tree along the bank of the Pecos that is now decorated with two of my flies and a strike indicator.
It’s very festive on the Pecos this time of year.
Well, right in the middle of my rigging Jonah hooked up! He got it in quick and netted it no problem. This is where the Trifecta comes in. This was his first Western Tout, his first German Brown, and the largest fish of the day.
Nice work!
I managed to pull another small Rainbow out before we left.
So the day was good. The fishing will only be getting better from here on out that is for sure. I really can’t wait for the dry fly action to start kicking in. I love the challenge of getting the fish out of this river nymphing in the winter time but it’s time for a change.
I did drive up to the confluence of the Mora on Saturday and I actually saw some small pieces of water through the snow! I also saw a slew of spinners and baiters out battling for any section they could toss their crankbait into. I almost forgot what this river was like in the warm season while I basically had it all to myself through the winter.
I don’t want to sound elitist towards bait fisherman but you have to walk a few hundred yards in this water to know my frustration. Let’s just say a lot of these types of fisherman have zero respect for this wilderness.
It kills me…
