GRAYLINGS GALORE…
aka Graylings Grope!
We began our resurrected Rocky Mountain Flycasters Fishing Trips on October 13, 2012 with plans to sample some Grayings up at Joe Wright Reservoir up the Cache la Poudre River near Cameron Pass. For some of us, that meant getting up a little earlier than usual.
43 degrees departure time—warmed to 52 degrees in lower-mid canyon—light snow began at about the Big South Trailhead and matured at Joe Wright Reservoir into 8 inches of snow and still snowing, and 29 degrees with about 45mph winds blowing horizontally across the reservoirs’ whitecaps.
After surveying the situation, estimating our prospects for capturing some graylings, and testing the numbness of our fingertips, we departed back down the canyon a bit to Joe Wright Creek.
We were below snow line upon arrival and well sheltered from the wind even though light snow soon started and wrapped the forest in its quiet blanket. The brownies were hungry and provided pretty good entertainment, though surprisingly to us, they hit almost entirely on dry patterns.
Fished until 1:00 and then drove down to Mile Post 83 and ate lunch while watching the skies and eyeing the path to the river.
We worked the Poudre from the north edge of the hatchery back up to the cars with spotty luck, while enjoying a broken sun warm-up to about 50 degrees. Clearly Adam was our star angler for the day with, among other lesser fish, an 18" rainbow and 17" whitefish both landed using a poison tung pattern.
Then we hit the canyon road homeward and after all had checked in at our home bases we enjoyed dinner and a brew at Coopersmiths. All in all, we agreed we had had reasonable fishing success and a friendly day on the river, and all vowed that we'd again venture forth for graylings at Joe Wright Reservoir—but at an earlier time during the summer.
—by Dennis Cook October 13, 2012