June 2019
I had a few hours on a beautiful remote creek last Friday not far from Salida, Colorado, and got my annual full body submersion out of the way early this fishing season. Hooked and lost a large brown trout on a #20 red zebra midge…..
Then a few minutes later proceeded to step off the shoreline onto a raft of water cress that was hiding a four-foot deep hole.
Soon was dog paddling in ice cold water up to my neck wearing chest-high waders and a fully loaded fishing vest. Never in any danger, but thankful no one was videoing this misadventure! Continued on resolutely dripping wet, then recovered nicely 10 minutes later to catch this gorgeous 17”+ brown trout on a #20 black foam midge.
He was one of the most beautifully colored I have ever seen. Red and black rings on a field of gold. Nature’s gift. Ah, persistence! 🥴
Off-The-Beaten Path Adventures and Eclectic Musings Of An Itinerant Angler 
Makes me home sick. At least you got cooled off. Last time I got dunked was in Wildcat Canyon. Then had to hike out. Thanks for the article!
LikeLike
Thx Jim. Have plenty of room at my place here in Colorado if you want to chase some trout. How are the water conditions down there?
LikeLike
As far as the water situation, there is Blue Green Algae showing up in the Manatee River here in Bradenton with some fish kills. There has been almost no Red Tide showing up except very mild amounts in Sarasota Bay. Funny though I fished 3-4 hours for two days last week on an outgoing tide. The water looked tainted and similar to the Red Tide, sort of an olive brown. On the third day I came down with a cough and a bad taste in my mouth and then sneezing and dripping nose for two days. I am sensitive to red tide. Am pretty sure my condition was caused by the bad water. One thing for sure everyone is hoping the red tide won’t show up again this year.
LikeLike
No kidding! We were lucky to avoid it last year in the Everglades.
LikeLike
Lovely brown, beautiful pix of the stream. Wondering what the ph is. Looks like it should be full of scuds and cress bugs. How long is this stream?
LikeLike
Thx Jim. It’s definitely an alkaline water but no scuds. Midges, tricos, and hoppers are on the menu. It’s about 15 miles long but lower section has low flows due to irrigation withdrawals.
LikeLike
Thank you, thank you, thank you for not giving the exact location of this stream!!!! I hope that this is going to be your new norm. You can still have great posts without giving up the location of the fishing holes.
LikeLike
Greg—I’ve already done two posts on Badger Creek and only run into one angler in over 1/2 dozen recent trips. Every fly shop in the region knows about it and some post its location on their web sites. It needs a constituency to protect from development and exploitation (grazing , mining, etc.). Hope you can devote some of your energy and concern in that direction. Enjoy the water. Chris
LikeLike