No Tell 'EM Creek

We all have our rivers that we think of as our own; waterways that belong to us. And if we see other fishermen on “our” river, we feel like they are trespassing on our land. You pause and look at them like “who said you could be here?” When we get one of these rivers in our blood stream, we often rename them with names like “Holy Water” then we name all the holes. We go to these rivers because they hold something special to us, big fish, water type, terrain whatever it may be, they rise above the rest. Every fisherman has at least one of these hidden treasures.

But let’s be honest, there are no hidden creeks, or unknown streams.  There are no flows that no one else knows about. We go into fly shops and we whisper about where we have been, and we tell our tales of splendor and grand adventure, while hiding the true/exact location of where we’ve been.   But no matter how remote the water, there are no truly hidden treasures. I hate to say it, but you know that your private holy water has many other faithful praying upon its banks.

There is so much information at the touch of a finger, you can find out anything you want about any river anywhere. You can find You-Tube footage of almost every stream. And maybe that’s precisely why there can be a river here or there that can fly under the radar unnoticed. A cloaked gem can flow right out in plain sight and go undetected.

Today Johnny and I found that treasure; actually I have fished it once before, but did not have near the success we did today. We both have our own theories as to why this river has so many big fish. Johnny thinks it’s because our newly found little honey flows into a larger tail water that is flowing really high, forcing the fish are escaping the torrent and muddy water for a calmer home. I think this river has all the important ingredients to make it healthy: cold tail water, great rocky bottom, and tons of food.

I’ve been reading about what makes a healthy river and how a river produces a large amount of big strong trout. I’m trying to keep it simple and not over complicate it (an almost impossible task for me). Trout need some basic things, a safe place to sit comfortably in cold, oxygenated water so they can eat and eat and eat. That’s what fish do, be the predator not the prey--all day long. The only other drive is making new baby fish—spawning time, and that is seasonal. So it makes sense that a river that produces a lot of bugs will produce a lot of fish.

Johnny and I are probably both on the right track, and the things we’ve come up with are basic, components that anyone would say. This would be a great river to dig into and go past that obvious top level and really find out details, information that will lead to some universal understanding of river and trout health.

 It’s not often you find big healthy fish in a small stream. But when you do, it’s time to hold your tongue, and start thinking of a new secret name for it, and start naming its holes and…