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No photos... forgot the camera again... but there were no piggies caught, so, all I would have captured would have been the strikingly beautiful landscape.
Fished the EW yesterday, only the second time I'd ever been there. Was going to fish with a buddy but he caught a case of the wussies and bailed, so I went by myself.
WIND was the prevailing weather... it was windy, windy, windy and despite the sun being out in all her glory, it was kind of cold. Flows went up from 60 cfs on the 24th to about 120 cfs on the 26th. There were a few other anglers out, but not so many you couldn't find a spot to cast/catch.
I know little about the EW, really, but it seems all the people converge on the area just below the dam, but while driving up there, there wasn't a car on the lower sections. Don't know if that is because the fishing is actually that much better, or if it is just lore or reputation that packs the upper reach.
I started off with nymphs... tiny guys, hooked and lost two before landing my first fish. Caught a few more on small nymphs and was moving at a bjornian pace, meaning fairly quick. A guy came in behind me and just pounded the water, catching three nice fish in water I had moved through too quickly. That was a good lesson in taking one's time on the EW.
I don't know much about streamer fishing... it just isn't what I've done much of. I put on a big ole' streamer I got in MT for use on the Madison (but never used) and on my first cast with it in the toilet bowl below the dam, I had a big fish smash it, but it was only on for a fraction of a second. That got my attention. I kept throwing the streamer for the next 3 hours and I was really amazed at the number of big fish I saw come and check out the streamer... flash at it, roll on it, nip it. It was very exciting, even if I didn't catch many of those big fish. I eventually hooked and landed a nice, fat 14-15" rainbow on the streamer... fishing it under an indicator! Only caught one more brown on the streamer, about 14". I guess if you never try something new, you'll never figure it out.
As I moved down river I saw a stretch where fish were rising all over the place, despite there being no cloud cover to speak of and despite a strong, strong wind. I put on the dries and managed to land about 4 on the dries, which was nice.
All said, a good day. The wind was a bit tough and the fishing was about 1/2 as productive as the last time I was there, but I really enjoyed throwing the streamers, even if they didn't produce the big, big brown that I'm hoping to land one of these days. My top brown is still a 24" out of Manzanita Lake from about 2000 caught on a dry.
I'm looking forward to the Carson getting into fishing shape, as that is a bit closer. Still, a very nice day of fishing, a gift day from my wife. Who knows when I'll get to fish again.
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