Fished the Beckler River last saturday about mid-day.
First time on that stretch, the water seemed extremely low, although I have
nothing to compare that from.
Caught 3 fish in the 6-8" range. Two after my dry fly got plunged, only one
on top.
Lots of boulders. Beautiful scenery. For the most part this is the type of
water I like best. Had my 5wt. Should have thrown the 3 wt in the car,
would have been a better fit. (Was throwing all sorts of flies, elk hairs
were the only thing I caught any fish on)
There were some FF on the lower sections, so I headed up and fished just
below the first one lane bridge. (Where the Gravel starts)
Drove over the gravel road to the other side where I ran into "troublesome
creek". Fished it for an hour or so with nothing. Again, more beautiful
scenery. Talked to some hikers and they said they saw a couple "ugly red
fish" a few hundred yards down. Near "San Juan campground".
Decided to drive to the Stilly for the evening rise.
Lots of little ones rising, was standing mid-river (like an idiot) tying up
a stimi when I heard this huge splash. First I thought it was a beaver. (It
was that big) I just caught a glimpse of a silver back and a huge tailfin
roll back into the water. This was not more than 15ft away from me. I froze
for fear of spooking him, and gently started to cast. I tried to ease
myself out of the water and got 2 casts in before I caught my boot on a
piece of rebar sticking up from the river bottom. I was sent splashing down
backwards. Turns out it was some measurement device, didnt get that good a
look at it, it was about the size of a $.50 piece zip tied in a 4" piece of
PVC with holes drilled in it. The rebar stuck about 18" straight up. I put
some large rocks around it to hopefully save the next angler from such an
event.
Caught three in the 8" range on an orange stimi, in the same vicinity.
Back to the salt for me...
