[NymphoStage]

Second time fly fishing and caught my first trout (and a couple more)! Went to South Boulder Creek yesterday morning with a buddy who is an experienced fly fisherman. Me? It was my second time on the water.

The river was at 66 cfs which was concerning as when we went two weeks ago the fishing report said 14 cfs and it was perfect. It was higher than we wanted and in some of the tighter canyon spots the water was impassable and downright terrible but with some good bushwhacking and at times, rock scaling, we were able to get to some nice and slow spots that were filled with pool after pool of good water. To say we got a workout on the miles we hiked yesterday would be an understatement. It was no walk in the park getting into where we were.

We started with San Juan worms and my buddy was getting fish like crazy. Finally I got on a nice fresh hole and bam, the trout took it. It was awesome. Brought him in and let him go. My fly fishing cherry had been popped. He was maybe 7 inches. About 3 minutes later I got another fresh hole and pulled this guy out and snapped a picture:

Not huge but I can honestly say that for me at this point in time size does not matter, I am hooked on this sport.

What happened next I am probably more proud of than anything. The fish stopped hitting the worm after that fish. Neither I or my buddy had so much as a hit for the next two hours when I decided to kick over a rock. Saw some tiny midge and very tiny stonefly/mayfly looking things and then saw some much bigger bugs that resembled scuds. Not sure what they were but I took a green scud my buddy had given me (he uses them on the miracle mile every year) put it on and BAM had two fish on in quick succession. Also had a ton of bites but at that point we were worn out and headed down. So not only did I catch my first trout but I matched the hatch. Even my buddy was impressed.

I could not be happier than I was yesterday. We did take an oddball way into South Boulder Creek that got us away from everyone. Seriously not a single person on the water until we turned back and made our way out. It was a lot of hiking and bushwhacking but it was totally worth it. Great work out too. Holy cow that last mile was killer.

Anyway, anyone know what those bugs were? They really resembled a scud in the way that they were curved and had the shell almost like an extended rolly pollie but they seemed more bug like than shrimp like. My buddy has been doing some research and is stumped on what they were. Any ideas? I think the thing that mattered was that the green scud pattern seemed to imitate them well and they were obviously something the trout like as they started hitting immediately when we switched to them but it would be nice to know what they were.

Fantastic day. I will be a fly fisherman for life now no doubt.

 

[NymphoStage]

Worm? Scud? I thought you said you caught them on a fly?

LOL..watch how many I piss off with this post.

I meant the first time I had caught fish when fly fishing. Yeah, they were nymphs, I get it. I can't wait to start using drys!

 

[NymphoStage]

Good job buddy.

Did you see any jumping? I was out local yesterday they they were feeding on top, I bet they are on Boulder Creek to.

Again, congratulations on popping that cherry!

No jumping at all. All sub surface. We went to a spot about a mile up two weeks ago and there were some eating something on the surface but they would not take the drys we threw at them.

 

[NymphoStage]

Awesome job dude. You should be excited. what color was the bug? did it have little legs?

Yeah, lots of little legs. It was black or dark, dark green.

 

[NymphoStage]

I'm guessing it was a caddis. google pictures of the larvae and see if it matches up.

Okay, I think that is what they were they looked like this. I am 95% sure this is what they were. Thank you for the tip!

So, after seeing those as the biggest bugs under that rock I threw on one of these and BAM, the trout hit it.

Did I match the hatch?

 

[NymphoStage]

His hands look dry as a bone. Look at his watch. The fish is completely out of the water in his hands with the hook in the mouth. This implies he yanked it out of the water that way.

A trout should be back in the water within 15 seconds of being out of the water or its gills are damaged.

I am sure we have all done worse to a fish. I know I have. Since, I have learned how to handle trout.

Hi,

This is not the first fish I have caught. This isn't even the first trout I have caught, not even close. This is simply the first trout I have caught using a fly. My hands were wet before picking him up and the trout was out of the water for seconds and then released by placing him in the water and slowly moving water over his gills until he swam off. I also always hold my breath as soon as I take a fish out of the water as a reminder of what that fish is experiencing. I have taught my son this same habits as well.

This fish was special to me so I snapped a pic. I rarely take pictures of them but this one was special and I handled him properly thank you.

So, thanks for the advice buddy but I personally respect the fish I catch and handle them accordingly. If you have some real content to add to the forum please do but at 36 posts and the best you can find is critiquing my fish handling? Come on man...

 

[NymphoStage]

Catch some more Nympho and post em up my man!!

I will!

While historically I have not taken many pics of my catches I ordered a waterproof camera after taking pictures of this guy because carrying the cell phone in my waders was not exactly helping my confidence when wading....

I do plan on getting more pics going forward. While I didn't take many in the past that does not mean I will not try to get some good ones going forward.