Monday, December 13, 2010

Rock Crawl on the BC

As typical with most creatures: success and reward will result in repeated behavior. The Payday trip went so well…or should I say that fish were caught and I didn’t break an ankle, leg or get eaten by the mountain lion that haunts me in my dreams sometimes, hence another trip was set and I launched myself back into the B.C. This time however my attack came from a different route. There is a an old goat trail or what some still call a “road” that winds its way through a heavy rock canyon east of where I had fished before. Some of these rocks shoot straight up and garnish such names as Windtower or Rotwand. People actually climb these features with ropes on the vertical edges even in foul weather. Someone falls to his or her doom every year it seems. The stream runs at the base of these rocks or most of it does. Not being able to watch the stream and cast while looking for falling climbers I simply took my chances and kept eyes on the water.

“That’d just be my luck too.” I thought hopping from rock to rock moving upstream. “Get taken out by one of these rock climbin’ hippies and not even see it coming.”

First fish was a little stocked cutty and then another. Maybe they are just small cutthroat. A few pockets of water seemed to be brimming with little eager fish. Only the larger ones were willing to take on the spin gear.
Ice was a problem on the edges of the stream in some areas but free and clear in others. Deep rock canyons such as E.C. receive very little direct sunlight allowing ice to build up and dwell for long periods of time. Luckily most of the fishable areas were quite castable. This is almost unheard of this time of year but I will fish what I can get!

Up ahead is one of the larger pools with a sizeable waterfall rolling into deep water. The siren song of the creek is alluring enough but something about those deep, dark pools that you can’t see the bottom of captivates my focus immensely.

“A beast of a fish lives in this pool…I just know it!”

First cast into the waterfall, a slow drop and then start cranking on the reel handle to give the lure just a little rising action…bump, tap, WHAM! I set the hook on a sweet beauty brown. Maybe not the “beast of the pool” but those big dots put a smile on my face.
Rocky terrain is the most obvious and formidable opponent in this stretch of the B.C. Cliff dives are required to reach the water in some spots and rock hopping is required to move up and downstream. Some of the rocks are jagged and sharp as where some of them have been made smooth by centuries of flowing water. Slip on one to get gouged or scraped by the other. Just when you think you have a good foothold the rock may up and roll over on you trying to take out an ankle or two.

This is the first time for me fishing this 1.5-mile stretch and found it to be hit or miss on several accounts. The crowds and mixed recreational use definitely take away from the solitude. Timing the trip to less frequented times such as a weekday might have sweetened the deal a bit. All in all not a bad trout fix with a small parking fee.

My name is Matt and I’m a fishaholic.

3 comments:

Mark Kautz said...

Looked like a good day to me.

Mark

cofisher said...

Ok Matt, now you're just being cruel. I've lived a lot of happy years thinking that BC was frozen after the first snow. I'm getting an itchy casting hand.

Coloradocasters said...

@CoFisher: I believe this to be true as well. But this season is not normal and open water abounds.

This section of the BC is too crazy to fish in the summer due to crowds. Between fall and freeze...that is the sweet spot!